Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -  Consumers were increasingly attachingimportance to sustainability over time, said Dang Thuy Ha, northern director ofNielsenIQ Vietnam, at a recent event in Hanoi.

The June 28 event titled "Vietnam Consumer Trends Forum 2023: Trends andRetail Market", was held by the Institute for Brand and CompetitivenessStrategy (BCSI).

Important factors when consumers choose a brand were reasonable price, safetyand hygiene, good for health, reliable brand, sustainability andeco-friendliness, said Ha.

55% of consumers surveyed by NielsenIQ Vietnam in 2023 appreciate thesustainability factor in consumption.

As proof, Hà said that 49% of consumers brought their own bags or use recycledbags when shopping.

47% only buy essentials and avoid waste. 45% are conscious of savingelectricity at home and 45% sorting recyclable waste.

Specifically assessing from separate research on consumers in Hanoi and HCMCity, Trinh Nguyen Ngoc Linh, Senior Manager of Intage Vietnam Project, saidthat 95% of consumers in these two big cities have an awareness ofenvironmental protection.

59% of consumers choose to eat green vegetables and grains more often.
61% prioritise making use of natural light as much as possible, 44%reuse old clothes instead of buying new ones unnecessarily.

This study also shows that consumer segments are aware of green consumption, inwhich 24% said living green to save, 22% green consumption to focus on health;and 9% accompanied the trend.

Do Van Viet, representative of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom), saidthat more and more consumers choose e-commerce as a regular shopping channelbecause of its multi-faceted convenience.

Currently, e-commerce in Vietnam is developing rapidly with a double-digitgrowth rate per year.

More and more businesses and sellers are turning to e-commerce to reachconsumers, especially on channels such as social networks and artificialintelligence.

Citing the example of Bac Giang provincial Youth Union selling lychees onTikTok Shop Vietnam, Viet said that many live stream sales sessions in just afew hours could sell tonnes of lychee with thousands of orders.

"Businesses need to grasp trends, have solutions to access e-commercechannels and need to deploy multi-channels to create many touch points withcustomers," he recommended.

Emphasising digital transformation solutions to bring agricultural productscloser to consumers, especially young consumers, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director ofthe Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy (BCSI), said that theleading role was a very important need in the transformation; at the same time,digital transformation needed to be tied to the real world, the real strategyof the business could be successful.

In addition, thanks to the "online shop" developed in the digitalenvironment such as Tik Tok, Facebook, thousands of households makingagricultural products from mountainous areas such as Lang Son and Lao Caiprovinces have sold hundreds of orders just through “livestreams”.

“Thanks to the new business models that digital transformation brings, thereare aspects of business that can caught up. Although it may be expensive in themedium term, in the long term, digital transformation brings great economicbenefits to the Vietnamese retail market,” said Thanh.

Suggesting for manufacturing and retail businesses, Đặng Thúy Hà,northern director of NielsenIQ Vietnam, offers short, medium and long-termsolutions.

That was developing a new retail model associated with greenproduct experience, establishing clubs for sustainable consumers, awardingpoints for buying sustainable products, she added.

She also suggested businesses replace or reduce plastic inpackaging; develop carbon-neutral factories and farms; use electric vehicles,and develop regenerative agriculture.

At the event, Nguyen Minh Tien, Director of the Trade PromotionCentre for Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,shared, recently, the trend of safe food of natural origin and environmentalfriendliness has become popular and become a modern consumption. This is aninevitable trend not only in Vietnam but all over the world.

Facing the trend of consuming safe products, especially organic products withsales in Vietnam reaching 208 billion USD last year, Tien recommended solutionsin which authorities need to control the quality of agricultural products onthe market, improve the effectiveness of consumer protection; promoteinformation and communications so that clean producers can see the value ofstandard production, and consumers understand the value of clean agriculturalproducts; especially need to improve agricultural production capacity to meetmarket demand./.