Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, after 20 years of trading goods in traditional way, shopkeepers and petty merchants have begun to sell products online. Dung, the owner of a grocery in Thanh Cong Market in Hanoi, said: “Buyers now just stay at home and place orders with their smartphones to get products at their home." Dung shifted to a new online sale method one year ago. Online petty merchants are informed about orders via app and prepare the goods before delivery people come and take them away. Online payment is used for many orders. Thuy, a petty merchant in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi, said at first she hesitated to sell goods online. “I felt worried because I had to deliver goods before getting payment,” she explained. However, Thuy said she has no other choice. If she doesn’t accept this, she will lose customers. At present, online sales just account for 30 percent of total revenue, but she believes the figure will be higher in the future. Tam, the owner of a store in Linh Dam new urban area in Hanoi, who introduced herself as an "older woman who hesitated to use a smartphone" has also made a decision on renovating her business and now uses high technology in store management. Now Tam can place orders for products via apps with her smartphone directly with manufacturers. “Products go directly from producers to retail points, thus ensuring the best quality of products,” she said. Dung, Thuy and Tam are among the owners of 1.4 million groceries and 9,000 traditional markets with total revenue of $10 billion a year in Vietnam, accounting for 75 percent of market share, according to Nielsen. “Traditional markets and groceries are facing stiff competition,” Dung said. “The business has been going downhill. People don’t go to traditional markets now." Instead of going to markets, customers now order products online and get deliveries at home. Changing the way of thinking Nguyen Thai Hai Van, CEO of Grab Vietnam, said that Covid-19 has …
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