TMO - With the goal of diversifying sales channels and keeping pace with the explosion of digital technology, many entities and businesses operating in the agricultural sector of Song Ma district, Son La province, have recently intensified the promotion and sale of their products on digital platforms.
E-commerce is one of the pillars contributing to the growth of the digital economy in Vietnam today. For the agricultural sector, in order to realize the goals of the "One Commune, One Product" (OCOP) program for the 2021-2025 period, promoting branding, advertising, and supporting the consumption of OCOP products through digital channels is one of the program's key solutions.
Currently, the consumption of agricultural products on e-commerce platforms helps build brands, promote, and expand markets for OCOP products from various localities. Son La is one of the localities actively promoting the application of information technology and implementing digital transformation in agriculture and agricultural product consumption.
Previously, agricultural products from Song Ma district were primarily sold through traditional markets and traders. This not only limited the market but also made farmers dependent on intermediaries, causing price fluctuations and reduced profits. However, with the advent and development of e-commerce, farmers in Song Ma district now have the opportunity to directly access consumers through online sales channels, expanding their business scale not only domestically but also internationally.
According to the head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Song Ma district, Song Ma currently has over 10,870 hectares of various fruit trees. Currently, the district is maintaining and developing production and consumption linkages in agricultural production with over 892 hectares of fruit trees, such as longan, mango, pomelo, orange, etc. It is also maintaining and developing 47 safe agricultural and aquatic food supply chains.
In addition, the district has coordinated with the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center I of the Department of Plant Protection to evaluate and grant 48 planting area codes, covering nearly 482 hectares, with a production of over 4,500 tons; of which, 12 planting area codes for longan exported to the US market, 23 planting area codes for longan exported to the Chinese market, and 13 planting area codes for longan exported to the Australian and New Zealand markets.
The entire district has 74 agricultural cooperatives and households, of which 7 units sell their products through e-commerce platforms, while the majority sell through social media. Recognizing the potential of e-commerce in solving the problem of agricultural product consumption, the functional departments of Song Ma district have implemented many solutions to support farmers and cooperatives, such as organizing training programs on online business skills, applying technology to product management, and building brands...
Agricultural products from Son La province are being promoted and sold in many markets (Illustrative image).
In particular, the district also coordinated with the Central Youth Union and the Son La Provincial Youth Union to organize a training conference to enhance the skills of selling OCOP products through digital means for rural youth and livestreamed the introduction of Son La's OCOP products, directly conducted and guided by KOLs and KOCs (influencers and consumers with significant influence in the market). A forum on digital transformation in the communication and promotion of OCOP products by young people was also organized with the theme "Exploiting the potential of the digital economy in promoting local OCOP products" for 400 delegates.
One of the key initiatives is the collaboration with major e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, and Tiki, enabling farmers to list their products on these platforms and reach millions of consumers. In addition, businesses and cooperatives are building their own fan pages on platforms like Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok to increase the reach of their agricultural products to consumers. Furthermore, Song Ma district has provided technical support to help farmers become familiar with tools such as online payment, shipping, and order management.
The application of e-commerce platforms and digital transformation has helped cooperatives expand their agricultural product markets. Participating in the OCOP program in Song Ma district, cooperatives have promoted their agricultural products through various methods. In particular, they have boldly experimented with selling honey products on e-commerce platforms such as Postmart.vn, Sanviet.vn, Topmaxsale.vn, Vinmart.com, Lazada.vn, Shopee.vn, and Tiki.vn. In a short period, the cooperatives' revenue has nearly doubled compared to before, when they relied solely on traditional markets.
In addition, cooperatives also sell their products on social media platforms like Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok, integrating QR codes for traceability... As a result, they have many advantages, selling more goods and gaining more customers' awareness of their products.
Similarly, other cooperatives in Song Ma district have achieved great success by applying product traceability technology on e-commerce platforms. Integrating QR codes on each product helps consumers easily track the production process, thereby increasing their trust and choice.
Proactively implementing trade promotion measures to expand consumer markets on digital platforms will create a strong shift in awareness among the majority of consumers, prioritizing the selection and use of agricultural products or OCOP products. This is an optimal solution to help businesses, cooperatives, and farmers in Son La province in particular, and other localities nationwide in general, bring their products to consumers in all regions conveniently and quickly.
Vu Viet