Smartphones become bridges
Faced with the digital transformation wave, tens of thousands of business households in Lao Cai are gradually changing their sales methods, management and customer approach.
No longer confined to highland markets, many agricultural products and specialties of ethnic minorities have now appeared on digital platforms, known and ordered by consumers across the country after just a few taps on the phone.
One of the typical examples is Mr. Sung A Tua, an official of Phinh Ho commune, a H'Mong person, with the journey of bringing the ancient Shan Tuyet tea of his homeland into the digital market.
Understanding the concerns of people when producing agricultural products but struggling to find outlets, Mr. Tua once boldly committed: "People just raise, just plant, I will buy products.
But he realized that just purchasing cannot help people escape the vicious circle of "bumper crop, price drop". To develop sustainably, products must find consumers and must build a brand.
From that thought, he taught himself how to film videos, create clips, livestream and build social networking channels named "A Tua - commune official".
Videos recording the daily life of the H'Mong people, night propaganda sessions, tea picking scenes on hundred-year-old Shan Tuyet trees or peaceful scenes in the forests of Phinh Ho have attracted millions of views.
From that foundation, he and the people established Phinh Ho Shan Tuyet Tea Cooperative, built a methodical production process, put products on e-commerce platforms and sold goods via livestream.
In just over two years, Shan Tuyet Phinh Ho tea has been present in many provinces and cities in the country, and is also exported to demanding markets such as the US, Japan and South Korea.
Many households that used to only sell fresh tea now have stable income from processed products, and the value of ancient tea trees has also increased significantly.
In Chau Que commune, the story of digital transformation is also being written from the vast cinnamon hills.
Ms. Ban Thi Duyen, owner of the TikTok channel "Red Dao Girl", has turned her smartphone into a bridge to bring cinnamon, cinnamon essential oil, cinnamon powder and many local specialties to customers across the country.
In 2023, she started building Facebook and TikTok channels to share simple videos about the life of the Red Dao people. Realistic content quickly spread.
To date, her TikTok channel has attracted nearly 154,000 followers and more than 4.1 million likes. Each livestream session has thousands of views, bringing in hundreds of orders, not only consuming family products but also creating stable output for many cinnamon growers in the region.
Besides revenue, the most important thing that the digital environment brings is the opportunity for local products to reach consumers," Ms. Duyen expressed.
Reduce costs, shorten intermediaries
According to statistics, the whole province currently has about 72,000 business households, most of which are small-scale. This is a force that plays an important role in local economic development, creating jobs and consuming agricultural products.
In addition, Lao Cai has more than 500 businesses, cooperatives and business households participating in online sales. Many OCOP products and typical local agricultural products have been uploaded to e-commerce platforms and social networking platforms.
According to the leader of the Lao Cai Provincial Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center, livestreaming is no longer a trend but has become an effective solution to help elevate local agricultural products.
This form helps cooperatives and business households directly reach consumers nationwide, shorten intermediaries, reduce selling costs and product promotion.
Customers can directly observe the production process, product quality and interact with sellers right in the broadcast session, thereby creating greater confidence compared to traditional sales methods.
