Black Friday is only really exciting at night, sellers worry about not having enough sales

Although many stores have launched big promotions for Black Friday, shopping demand is mainly bustling in the evening. With an unbalanced number of customers, many stores are worried about not reaching their sales targets.

On November 29, many stores were "deserted" by customers at dusk despite hanging up huge discount signs - Photo: NHAT XUAN

According to Tuoi Tre Online on November 29, the Black Friday shopping atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City only really becomes exciting in the evening.

Huge discount but only evening customers, can sell cheap goods

Specifically, at around 5:30 p.m., many fashion stores on busy shopping streets such as Le Van Sy, Tran Huy Lieu... (District 3) were still deserted.

At a large handbag store, despite the 80% discount sign, no customers came to buy.

Many fashion stores on this street apply massive discount programs such as "buy 1 get 1 free" or up to 70% off, same price... but the number of customers during the day and late afternoon is quite sparse.

Late afternoon of November 29, a store on Le Van Sy Street (District 3) applied a discount of up to 85% but had almost no customers - Photo: N.XUAN

As a rare customer looking at clothes discounted up to 60% at the 9X fashion store (Quang Trung Street, Go Vap) in the late afternoon, Ms. Nguyen Bich Thuy said that she saw a deep promotion on her way to work so she stopped by to look, but had no intention of shopping beforehand.

"I bought a bill of more than 900,000 VND. These are the products with the deepest discounts and are practical for my needs," said Ms. Thuy.

Starting from 7pm, the atmosphere on shopping streets such as Tran Quang Dieu and Tran Huy Lieu (District 3) gradually becomes more bustling but there is a strong differentiation between crowded and empty areas.

Cheap and affordable fashion stores have become the destination of many customers. Brands with products ranging from 300,000 VND or deeply discounted under 1,000,000 VND/product attract many shoppers.

By the evening of November 29, some deeply discounted stores gradually became more bustling as more customers came and went - Photo: N.XUAN

In contrast, high-end stores, despite heavy discounts, are still quite picky about customers. Some places are still waiting for visitors, despite implementing attractive incentive programs.

According to observations, customers mostly focus on brands for young people and the masses, where products are reasonably priced and the promotions are really attractive. Many low-cost stores recorded a sudden increase in the number of customers compared to the afternoon, and staff had to work at full capacity to serve.

Unstable customer volume, sellers worry about low sales

An employee of a men's fashion store on Le Van Sy Street (District 3) said that despite running the Black Friday program early, the number of customers did not change significantly, and revenue was the same as on the weekend.

Even though it's Black Friday and evening, a night market in an industrial park in Thu Duc City still has quite a few customers - Photo: N.TRI

"Customers now seem to be less interested in promotions because discount signs are everywhere. Usually, it's not until around 7-8 pm that there are many customers," he said.

Meanwhile, many sellers said that despite running promotions of up to 50% for over a week, most customers only buy in the afternoon and evening, and the number of customers depends on the day, so revenue only reaches about 60% of the set target.

"People probably wait until after work to go shopping or when they have free time, instead of rushing out to the streets to compete to buy deeply discounted items like every year," said Nguyen Dinh Duc, owner of a fashion store on Vo Van Ngan Street (Thu Duc City).

A store that offers 70% off and displays its products on the sidewalk attracts a lot of customers in the evening.

Similarly, at many shopping malls such as Gigamall (Thu Duc City), Van Hanh Mall (District 10), Vincom (District 1)..., although many cosmetic and fashion stores have been running deep promotions for more than 10 days, according to records, the number of customers is only moderate, even quite sparse on weekdays.

Mr. Trinh Thanh Bang, an employee at a fashion store at Van Hanh Mall, said that on weekdays and during the day, there are very few customers, only about 15-20% of the number of customers compared to weekends or evenings.

"Although this year's promotions are deep and boisterous, the number of customers is quite unbalanced and unlucky compared to previous years. In previous years, sales were almost even within half a month, but this year it was only stable for 3-4 days, with very few customers left," said Mr. Bang.

Cheap products are really attracting customers. In the photo: customers shopping on the evening of November 29 at a fashion store on Tran Quang Dieu Street (District 3) - Photo: N.XUAN

On this occasion, many supermarkets and electronics stores also enthusiastically participate in the Back Friday festival such as Thien Hoa, Dien May Xanh, Dien May Cho Lon... applying 10-40% discounts on many products of machinery and refrigeration supplies.

However, according to records, the number of customers at many points of sale is also relatively sluggish, crowded almost only in the evening or on weekends and the products sold are mostly in the low-priced segment, with deep promotions such as fans of all kinds, speakers, televisions... priced from a few hundred thousand VND to 10 million VND.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/black-friday-chi-thuc-su-soi-dong-buoi-toi-nguoi-ban-lo-khong-du-doanh-so-20241129215027949.htm