Currently, Dong Khanh brand mooncakes are being offered at many retail outlets in Ho Chi Minh City as a "buy 1 get 4" promotion, but purchasing power is still not as expected - Photo: N.TRI
With only a few days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, many sellers are rushing to launch "buy 1 get 3, 4", sell at the same price... in the hope of attracting customers and avoiding the situation of having a lot of unsold goods.
"Buy 1 become 4" still afraid of having inventory
Recorded on September 15, currently on main roads in Ho Chi Minh City such as Pham Van Dong, Cach Mang Thang Tam, Quang Trung... it is easy to see that most of the moon cake stalls and shops hang signs with discounts of "buy 1 get 3, 4", or list big discount prices for customers.
While selling to customers, Ms. Ngo Thi Hong, owner of a shop on Pham Van Dong Street (Thu Duc City), said that purchasing power has increased sharply since the company applied the promotion "buy 1 get 4" for Dong Khanh cakes in the past few days. However, sales are still not as expected.
According to Ms. Hong, with the price of 80,000 - 120,000 VND/piece depending on the type, "buy 1 for 4", each cake now costs only about 20,000 - 30,000 VND, a very good price.
Similarly, in addition to applying deep discounts on Dong Khanh cakes in order to sell the remaining 2,000 cakes, Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, representative of a store on Quang Trung Street (Go Vap), said he is planning to return more than 70 boxes of Kinh Do cakes to the company.
According to Mr. Duc, Kinh Do's policy of allowing returns reduces pressure on retailers, while Dong Khanh cakes are bought and sold in installments, so they have to take care of themselves.
"If I return the cake now, I won't get a bonus if I don't meet the sales target. But anyway, I'd rather accept a small profit for peace of mind," Mr. Duc calculated.
Just stopped by the store to "buy 2 and get 8", Ms. Ngo Thi Huong (Binh Thanh) said she craved cakes but the prices were too high at the beginning of the season, so she's just "waiting" to buy them.
"If the store sells at a good price from the beginning and applies a pricing policy, both customers and sellers will find it easier to buy and sell, without having to rush to clear out inventory like now," said Ms. Huong.
In addition to retail outlets, many supermarkets such as Winmart, Co.opmart, MM Mega Market, Bach Hoa Xanh... are also applying additional discounts on many mooncake lines, some even offering discounts of up to 50%.
High prices mainly due to taste?
In a recent interview with Tuoi Tre Online , Kao Sieu Luc, general director of Asia Confectionery Joint Stock Company (ABC Bakery), said that the types of moon cakes are currently quite diverse, and there are also many high-priced cake segments.
However, according to Mr. Luc, the price of moon cakes has increased partly due to the impact of increased input material prices. In addition, the consumption trend of moon cakes has changed a lot compared to the past, because they are not only for children, but now they are also used as gifts...
Producing moon cakes at a business in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: N.TRI
"The general mentality is that cakes given as gifts cannot be made cheaply. Therefore, cheap cakes can still be produced, but expensive cakes are often of better quality and more suitable for gift giving," said Mr. Luc.
Many businesses admit that if the selling price is 2, or even 3, the production cost may be only 1.
With a product that costs 1-2 million VND/box, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Huong, a representative of a moon cake factory in Ho Chi Minh City, said that cakes that are cheap, even a few tens of thousands of VND, or even a few thousand VND, can still be produced. However, the company's orientation is that the cakes are gifts, so they must be luxurious, in which the cost of the box sometimes costs twice as much as the cost of making the cake.
Meanwhile, responding to the opinion that "moon cake prices are too high, businesses making big profits" from consumers, Mr. Trinh Phuc Nguyen, director of a confectionery company in Ho Chi Minh City, said that "the profits are not as big as many people think".
Moon cakes made from red-fleshed dragon fruit were recently introduced to the market by a research enterprise - Photo: N.TRI
According to Mr. Nguyen, there are usually 3 distribution levels including official distributors, agents managed by distributors, and the 3rd level is stores.
Accordingly, the official distributor will usually receive a 25% discount from the manufacturing company and an additional 5% at the end of the season if the distributor reaches the sales target. Then this discount is further divided by the distributor to the dealer, from the dealer to the store, not to mention that at the beginning of the season, customers also ask for a discount.
"In the past, if a customer bought 1,000 boxes in bulk, they would get a 20% discount, and 5,000 boxes would get 30%, but now customers who buy in relatively large quantities all demand the highest discount. The profit is now divided into five or seven parts due to the demands of consumers, the distribution system, operating costs... so in fact, the company does not 'take' it all," Mr. Nguyen affirmed.
High cost, many risks involved
Many businesses admit that the production cost is 1 but the selling price can be 2, or even 3. However, the profit from moon cakes is not as "fragrant" as before.
Specifically, because it is a seasonal item, the operating costs and investment costs of a moon cake shop... are often higher than normal goods, not to mention the high inventory ratio, so the risks involved are great.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-ban-le-cao-doanh-nghiep-san-xuat-banh-trung-thu-lai-lon-20240915215626328.htm
Comment (0)