HO CHI MINH CITY: Vietnam has huge advantages in developing furniture products suited to the business-to-consumer model on global eCommerce platforms such as Amazon.
Speaking at the “Vietnam’s Furniture Industry – Export Strategies to Win in the New Landscape” seminar last week, Phung Quoc Man, chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam’s wood industry achieved remarkable growth in the last two decades.
Exports rose from just US$200mil in 2000 to around US$17.3bil in 2025, making the country one of the world’s largest exporters of wooden furniture, he said.
But Man noted that the global market was changing rapidly, with environmental standards becoming more stringent, global supply chains being reshaped and trade models increasingly shifting from business-to-business (B2B) to direct-to-consumer (B2C) sales.
For many years most Vietnamese wood enterprises developed under the B2B model, producing goods for international brands, he said.
“This model helped the industry build strong manufacturing capabilities. But to increase value-added and become more resilient to market fluctuations, businesses need to gradually expand into B2C and reach consumers directly.”
While Vietnamese firms previously focused on manufacturing for global markets, the next stage would require them to learn how to sell directly to global consumers, he warned.
“The rapid growth of eCommerce is opening major opportunities for Vietnamese furniture companies.
“Businesses can now access millions of customers worldwide through digital platforms.”
Tran Xuan Thuy, southern regional manager at Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, said amid the rapid expansion of cross-border eCommerce, the US company outlined key strategic priorities for 2026 to support Vietnamese businesses.
One priority would be strengthening cooperation with government agencies and local authorities to help position Vietnam as an eCommerce export hub in South-East Asia, he said.
In recent years Amazon implemented various programmes with ministries and localities to support cross-border trade expansion, with furniture being among the priority sectors, he said.
Another focus would be enhancing the visibility of the “Made in Vietnam” brand within Amazon’s ecosystem through branding support programmes, market data sharing and consumer insights, initiatives that are expected to help businesses improve product quality, upgrade design capabilities and meet international standards, gradually building globally recognised Vietnamese brands.
He added that his company had launched Amazon Global Logistics in Vietnam, only the second country in Asia after China, to help businesses, particularly in the furniture sector, optimise logistics chains and improve export efficiency.
Pham Thi Trang Dai, senior account manager at Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, said one promising strategy would be combining different materials to create mid-range products that appeal to a broader range of customers.
For example, Vietnam’s strong textile industry would enable manufacturers to combine wood with fabrics to develop more diverse furniture designs.
Outdoor furniture would be another promising segment. Vietnam has abundant timber resources such as acacia, which is well suited for outdoor products and provides a natural advantage for developing specialised product lines.
Huynh Le Dai Thang, director of Nghia Son Wooden Furniture Co, said in 2022-23 many traditional B2B markets in Europe, the United States and Japan weakened, causing orders to stall.
The company then decided to expand into eCommerce and launched the Victory Relax brand targeting the US market.
During the early stages it had to explore the online market largely on its own. Limited experience and the lack of a clear strategy led to costly lessons in both spending and B2C operations.
“The traditional B2B model cannot simply be applied to eCommerce.”
After learning from these challenges and receiving training from eCommerce platforms, the company gradually stabilised its online operations, built steady revenue streams and is developing its brand in the US market. — Viet Nam News/ANN
