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 period 2021-2025, promoting brand building, promoting and supporting the consumption of OCOP products on digital media is one of the key solutions of the program.

Currently, the consumption of agricultural products on e-commerce platforms helps build brands, promote and expand markets for local OCOP products. In particular, Son La is one of the localities promoting the application of information technology and implementing digital transformation in the fields of agriculture and agricultural product consumption.

Previously, agricultural products in Song Ma district were mainly consumed through traditional markets and traders. This not only limited the market but also made farmers dependent on intermediaries, causing price fluctuations and reducing profits. However, with the emergence and development of e-commerce, farmers in Song Ma district are having the opportunity to directly reach consumers through online sales channels, expanding their business scale not only domestically but also internationally.

The leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Song Ma district said that Song Ma currently has over 10,870 hectares of fruit trees of all kinds. Currently, the district is maintaining and developing production and consumption chains in agricultural production with over 892 hectares of fruit trees, such as longan, mango, grapefruit, orange... 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 Plant Protection Department to evaluate and grant 48 growing area codes, with nearly 482 hectares, output of over 4,500 tons; of which, 12 longan growing area codes are exported to the US market, 23 longan growing area codes are exported to the Chinese market, and 13 longan growing area codes are exported to the Australian and New Zealand markets.

The district has 74 cooperatives and agricultural production households, of which 7 units have products sold through e-commerce platforms, the majority of the rest sell on social networks. Realizing the potential of e-commerce in solving the problem of agricultural product consumption, 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 of Son La province are promoted and consumed in many markets (Illustration photo).

In particular, the district also coordinated with the Central Youth Union and Son La Provincial Youth Union to organize a training conference to enhance skills in selling OCOP products through digital media for rural youth and livestream to introduce Son La's OCOP products directly implemented and guided by KOLs and KOCs (influencers, consumers with great influence in the market). Organized a forum on digital transformation in communication to promote OCOP products for young people with the theme "Exploiting the potential of the digital economy in promoting local OCOP products for 400 delegates.

One of the typical initiatives is to link with major e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Shopee and Tiki so that farmers can put their products on the platform, reaching millions of consumers. Along with that, businesses and cooperatives have built their own fanpages to increase the ability to bring agricultural products to consumers, such as Facebook, Zalo, Tiktok... In addition, Song Ma district has also provided technical support to help farmers become familiar with tools such as online payment, shipping and order management.

Applying e-commerce platforms and digital transformation has helped cooperatives expand their agricultural product consumption markets. Participating in the OCOP program of Song Ma district, cooperatives have promoted agricultural products in many different ways. 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, Tiki.vn... In just a short time, the cooperatives' revenue has nearly doubled compared to before relying only on the traditional market.

In addition, cooperatives also sell products on social networks such as Facebook, Zalo, Tiktok, integrating QR codes to trace the origin... Therefore, they have many advantages, sell more products, and many customers know about their products.

Similarly, other cooperatives in Song Ma district have achieved great success in 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.

Proactive trade promotion measures to expand consumer markets on digital platforms will create a strong change in awareness for the majority of consumers in 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 across the country in general to bring products to consumers in all regions conveniently and quickly.

Vu Viet