On the afternoon of the 28th of Tet, after a few hours of considering and choosing in the supermarket, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhu's (in Ton That Tung, Dong Da, Hanoi) shopping cart only contained 1kg of candy, a few trays of meat, some vegetables, fruits, a bottle of cooking oil and 2 Chung cakes. Alcohol, soft drinks, flowers and Tet decorations were all cut. Roughly estimating that this shopping cart cost about 500,000 VND. Ms. Nhu shared that this was the amount of food for her family to use during the Tet holidays in Hanoi.
Before going to the supermarket to shop for Tet, she calculated the items and quantities she needed to buy. All unnecessary items were completely eliminated.
“This year's salary was cut by 30%, and the Tet bonus is only half of last year's, so tightening the budget for Tet shopping is mandatory,” she said.
In fact, in the days leading up to Tet, the number of people going to markets and stores to shop for Tet has increased sharply. At supermarkets and shopping malls, consumers also jostle for Tet shopping, waiting for hours to pay. However, the value of Tet shopping baskets has shrunk as people tend to “tighten their belts” and cut spending.
Sharing with PV. VietNamNet , a representative of WinCommerce (the unit managing the WinMart supermarket chain and WinMart+/WIN convenience stores), said that in the days leading up to Tet, purchasing power increased by about 15-20% compared to normal months of the year. Notably, revenue from online sales increased by about 21% compared to Tet 2023. The number of orders increased by 30% compared to normal months and increased by 25% compared to the same period.
However, the average value of each order only fluctuates between 250,000 and 260,000 VND. From January 30 to February 5, the average value of the shopping basket is about 450,000 and 460,000 VND. Of which, meat, fruit, dried food, household goods, Tet candy, Tet jam, and drinks are the most purchased product groups.
At supermarket chains such as Saigon Co.op, AEON, BigC... it is estimated that purchasing power is increasing by 10% but the value of each order has decreased sharply. Accordingly, customers only focus on essential items for Tet, items with big promotions.
During Tet in previous years, gift baskets and buffet sets were commonly priced at 700,000-800,000 VND, but now they are only 400,000-600,000 VND, shared Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Communications Director of Central Retail.
Similarly, the director of a large supermarket chain in Hanoi also admitted that this year people shopped frugally, and large-value orders decreased sharply.
“In previous years, the value of Tet shopping baskets was from 2-5 million VND, there were even orders of over ten million VND. Cashiers printed out payment receipts for customers up to 1-2 meters long. But in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, orders of over 1 million VND were quite rare, mostly around 500,000 VND,” he said.
At markets and food stores, traders also said that people tightened their purse strings for Tet shopping, so the amount of goods sold decreased by about 50-60% compared to the same period last year.
Mr. Phung Van Tien - owner of a seafood shop in Hoang Mai (Hanoi) said that around this time last year's Tet, many types of high-end seafood were "out of stock", and shippers could not deliver all of them. Mr. Tien had to personally deliver some orders to meet the customers' delivery time.
This Tet season, all types of seafood are sluggish. Only 1/4 of loyal customers return to the store to buy seafood as gifts for Tet. Notably, the value of these orders has also decreased significantly.
Even VIP customers who have bought large quantities of seafood for Tet for their families and as gifts for relatives and friends for 5 consecutive years, this time when invited to buy, they also shook their heads and refused because of economic difficulties, Mr. Tien shared.
In fact, people tend to “tighten their purse strings” as predicted earlier due to the economic difficulties this year. When planning to prepare goods for Tet, businesses are quite cautious in stockpiling goods. The amount of goods stocked for Tet this year is lower than previous Tets.
Some supermarket chains have also stepped up promotions to stimulate Tet shopping. Opening hours for shopping have also been extended, even staying open throughout Tet.
For example, the WinCommerce supermarket system (including WinMart and WinMart+/WIN) will open until 12:00 on the 30th of Tet and reopen on the 4th of Tet. From now until the 29th of Tet, this system will extend its service hours to 23:00. During this time, WinCommerce also strengthens its online sales channel and supports many delivery policies.
At AEON supermarket, from 27-29 Lunar New Year, the operating hours are also extended to 11pm every day. On the first day of Lunar New Year, AEON department stores and supermarkets are open from 11am-12am. From the second day of Lunar New Year, supermarkets will open at normal hours.
At the Co.opmart and Co.op Food supermarket chains, they are open until 12:00 on the 29th of Tet. The supermarket will only be closed on January 10 (the first day of Tet) and will reopen on the second day of Tet. From the second to the fifth day of Tet, the supermarket will be open from 8:00 to 12:00. On the sixth day of Tet, the supermarket will return to normal operations.
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