It has proved to be an effective measure in helping businesses restore production and promote consumer consumption, especially for those with stockpiles of goods in stock as their market share declined.

Catering Towards Consumer Tastes

To promote domestic consumption of products made in Vietnam, businesses and distributors have to supply high-quality products and good service to their customers.

They have to diversify the design of their goods, increase quality, stabilize production costs and focus further on after-sales service.

Furthermore, it is important for them to have a good understanding of Vietnamese consumer taste and culture.

Tran Quy Thanh, General Director and Chairman of the Administration Board of the Tan Hiep Phat Group, said that his company was conducting surveys on consumer demand and setting up a special department for product research and development to meet local consumer demand.

“We will aim to cater towards consumer’s taste in order to create products that our other competitive rivals cannot match,” Mr. Thanh noted.

Meanwhile, Tran Quoc Viet, Deputy Executive Director of the Southern Kinh Do Joint-Stock Company, said that his company has a market research department which provides consultancy services for the administrative board of the company on both product design and distribution services, with the aim of supplying better quality products and services to its consumers.

For example, the company recently added several new flavors, such as Lotus to their line of confections which were identified as being popular ones in rural areas in the Northern Region. These products have become quite popular among consumers in the Region.

Along with increasing the quality of their products and renewing product patterns, expanding distribution and retail networks is also a key factor in the successful implementation of the “Vietnamese People use Vietnamese Goods” progamme.

Focusing on the Rural Market

Vietnam now has a total population of more than 86 million, with over 70 percent of them living in rural areas. Rural people’s income has increased in recent years, especially in areas which are urbanizing, thus increasing demand for cosumer goods.

A survey of the rural market by the TNS market research company showed that 95 percent of rural households want to buy TV sets, and 92 percent can afford to buy electric or gas cookers.

About 33 percent of rural families can also afford to buy radios and entertainment centres, 30 percent can buy refrigerators and 9 percent want to buy computers according to the survey.

Nevertheless, the rural market has not yet received due attention from domestic Vietnamese businesses. Most products in rural areas are of low quality or not properly labelled.

As well, no large promotion campaigns and advertisement programmes have been launched in these areas.

According to Mr. Viet, it’s time for businesses to explore the potential of the rural market.

Previously, businesses concentrated on developing high-quality products, or products having high added value to earn bigger profits. However, they are now changing their business operations to focus on consumption volume.

In fact, no multi-national groups have entered Vietnam’s rural market for fear that rural consumers cannot afford their products.

Therefore, local businesses should grasp this opportunity to expand their market share in such areas.

At present, the Central Government is intensifying consumption promotion measures, and rural people are enjoying the benefit of this.

Local businesses should increase the amount of their stock and promote goods consumption in order to ensure an adequate supply for the rural market.

It is also necessary to send promotion teams to rural villages to give away free products in order to consolidate consumer trust.       

Source: VietNamNet/VOV