Big customers spend billions on tomorrow
Since last weekend, spring flower markets in Ho Chi Minh City have been bustling with visitors and shoppers. Notably, despite economic difficulties, it is not uncommon for customers to spend billions to have the most beautiful flower trees to display during Tet.
Present at Phu My Hung spring flower market (District 7), known as the "rich" flower market because it always gathers the most "unique" ornamental flower works with a price of billions. This year, although the quantity has decreased slightly, there is no shortage of high-end products. At around 11am on February 4 (December 25), under the scorching sun of 34 - 35 degrees Celsius, the market is still bustling thanks to the increasing number of visitors. Visitors to this flower market mostly come by car, each car "carries" at least 5 - 7 pots of various types of chrysanthemums, tiger chrysanthemums, daisies, daffodils, peonies, marigolds... The prices of these decorative flowers range from 200,000 - 400,000 VND/pair.
One of the four yellow apricot trees is priced at over 1 billion VND.
Ms. Ngoc Thu, living in Phu My Hung area, said that in previous years she bought several old apricot trees to play with, and after Tet, she took them to a gardener who hired someone to take care of them. Thanks to the professional artisans, every year the apricot trees in her house bloom right on Tet, very beautifully. Therefore, she only needs to buy about a dozen types of decorative flowers to make her house bright with spring colors. "Spring is the season of flowers and plants blooming and bearing fruit. The lack of bright colors of flowers also reduces the Tet atmosphere. I spend money on flowers, but in return, I feel happy, excited, lucky, and successful in life to start a new year," Ms. Thu shared.
Perhaps with the same thought, at noon on the 25th of Tet, at this flower market, a customer placed an order worth more than 1 billion VND including 4 large apricot trees to bring home. The owner of the QC apricot garden said that in addition to this "big" customer, he also sold another ancient apricot tree worth nearly 300 million VND. For "billion-dollar" orders, the garden owner had to hire a crane to move the apricot trees to the customer's home. According to our observations, in just the weekend morning, most of the high-value apricot trees of the QC garden were sold out. The remaining products are cheaper, about a few tens of millions of VND/type. The garden owner's representative said that if customers need more, they still have "unique" products in the garden and can deliver them directly to their homes. "Because it's close to Tet, I don't allow more products to be brought to the flower market, but if customers need them, I can still meet them," the seller said.
Gardeners at the flower market in the park on September 23rd are busy closing orders.
At the "rich" flower market, beautiful apricot trees cost 700 - 800 million VND/tree; medium-sized ones cost 10 - 30 million VND/tree. Similarly, large Nha Trang chrysanthemums cost about 8 - 10 million VND/pair, medium-sized ones cost 6 million VND/pair and small ones cost about 4 million VND/pair are also abundant.
If Phu My Hung flower market is "hot" from the weather to the price, even at noon, the flower market at 23/9 park is still cool. Under the shade of ancient trees, dozens of different types of flowers are blooming brilliantly; nearby restaurants and cafes are playing spring music; many young couples, young families, and tourists are taking the opportunity to take souvenir photos... making people feel that Tet is very close. Because it is a central market, the buying and selling atmosphere here is much more bustling than many other places. A middle-aged customer who bought dozens of large orchid pots and many large peach trees said that these flowers will be delivered to several pagodas in the city for offerings. This has been her habit for many years and every year she spends a "budget" of several hundred million VND for this.
Garden owner Nguyen Van Tu, who specializes in selling chrysanthemums and marigolds, shared: Growing a beautiful pot of flowers is very hard work, but the Tet flower market only opens for a few days each year. This year, due to difficulties, Mr. Tu's garden has proactively reduced the selling price compared to last year, with flowers only selling for 200,000 - 400,000 VND/pair. "We hope that people in the city will support the garden and traders, buy flowers early to display for Tet so that we can also enjoy the joy of welcoming the New Year with our families," Mr. Tu honestly said.
Food is popular, luxury goods are sluggish
It was not until the last weekend that people in Ho Chi Minh City were busy shopping to prepare for the upcoming Tet holiday. At noon on February 4, at Thiso Mall, Thu Duc City, shoppers gathered on the E-mart supermarket floor with the most popular items being food, candy, and household goods. Mr. Bui Tuong Nhan, residing in An Khanh Ward, Thu Duc City, said: "Taking advantage of the days near Tet, my family and I went shopping to buy a few more things to prepare for Tet. All kinds of food have been fully stocked, today we only bought candy, instant noodles for the kids". According to Thanh Nien reporters' observations, the checkout area at E-mart had to operate at full capacity, opening all counters to pay as quickly as possible for customers. However, the number of customers waiting in line to pay was much larger than usual.
At MM Mega Market supermarket on Song Hanh Street, Thu Duc City, the number of shoppers on weekends has also increased significantly. Waiting in line to pay at the cashier for quite a while, Ms. Doan Thuy, living in Binh Thanh District, shared: "I often choose to buy wholesale food and milk for my children here to get discounts. With a few days left until Tet, I take the opportunity to buy items for display, offerings and to stock up on food such as meat, eggs, and fish for the long holiday." The Co.opmart supermarket chain also recorded a high number of shoppers.
At Co.opmart supermarket on Hanoi Highway, Thu Duc City, customers flocked to buy food, dry goods, household items, and crowded at the checkout area. Ms. Le Bich Phuong, living in Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc City, commented: "This year the economy is difficult, I work as a nanny and have been unemployed for several months. My husband's company also reduced wages because of few orders. Even so, as Tet approaches, we still have to take advantage of buying food to stock up. I heard that many people are returning to their hometowns for Tet early, but I didn't expect that there would still be a lot of customers shopping in Thu Duc City."
Vendors were busy weighing and measuring at An Dong market yesterday morning (December 25).
Similarly, at Van Hanh Mall, visitors to entertainment and shopping also increased significantly on weekends. However, non-essential sales areas such as fashion, footwear, etc. were still quite deserted, visitors mainly concentrated on the ground floor with food, discounted items and necessary household items. The same was true at Hung Vuong Plaza Shopping Center in District 5. On the ground floor, many brands were selling at 30-70% off, but very few customers came to shop.
"These products are almost out of stock, not enough sizes, so the company is selling them at a discount," said a sales staff of a garment company. Other areas in the mall that sell luxury items such as fashion clothes, handbags, watches, phones, etc. are almost deserted, with many sales staff idly playing with their phones to kill time.
Tet gift baskets "flood the market", sale items overflow onto the streets
Surveys at major traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City show that the buying and selling scene is still quite modest compared to the expectation that purchasing power will increase sharply in the last week before the Tet holiday. In previous years, Tan Binh, 5, 6 districts... were the areas that prepared for Tet the earliest in the area due to the presence of many wholesale markets as well as routes specializing in supplying wholesale goods. However, by December 25, according to Thanh Nien reporters, the scene of buyers, sellers and goods all "shrink" a lot.
In particular, wholesale goods are almost gone, with only a few retail customers. At Tan Binh market, the scene of packing goods to be transported to the provinces until February 4 has almost disappeared. Instead, many stalls in the market and the market area have closed for the Tet holiday. Stalls have a lot of unsold goods, and vendors have piled them up on the surrounding streets to post sale signs with "unprecedentedly low" prices. A fashionable dress, according to the seller, usually costs 220,000 - 250,000 VND wholesale, 280,000 - 350,000 VND retail, but is now being sold for 120,000 VND/piece. Similarly, men's jeans are piled up at 60,000 - 65,000 VND/piece, men's shirts are 40,000 VND/piece.
"The year-end sale is for the poor, people who are too busy to buy things for Tet... After a year of shopping, at the end of the year, they are so busy that they can stop by and buy a new outfit for less than half the price of a few days ago. Many people wait for the year-end sale, so why not buy it? When the year ends, the price will increase again," said Ms. Dieu, a saleswoman on Le Minh Xuan Street (Tan Binh District). Even the ao dai for children and adults to wear for Tet are discounted in bulk to clear out inventory.
Supermarkets open all cashier counters to pay for customers.
Similarly, at An Dong market (District 5), customers mainly buy retail fashion clothes, but there are very few. Many stall owners at the market sighed and said that they opened their stalls mainly to wait for the Tet holiday debt, because selling fashion goods at this time is no longer profitable. More comforting is that in the basement area of An Dong market, customers shopping for dried goods, jams, candies, and nuts of all kinds are still bustling and busy. There are many stalls, customers waiting to buy in layers, unable to squeeze in. Sellers weigh and calculate money continuously. Customers at the market are mainly overseas Vietnamese, Chinese people... each person buys many types of dried goods, jams, candies, and cakes, packed into boxes to take away. "Dried goods can be opened for sale until near Tet, regular customers and regular customers still come to buy until the 29th of Tet. The prices of goods do not increase or decrease, just like the selling prices from half a month ago," said Ms. Nhung, a vendor at An Dong.
Walking around Ben Thanh Market, District 1, the shopping situation on the weekend before Tet holiday is also quite deserted, the fruit stalls are almost deserted. Foreign tourists mainly concentrate in the food area, or buy traditional Tet cakes and jams. In front of Ben Thanh Market gate, a Tet food fair has been decorated, attracting quite a lot of visitors to take pictures and enjoy the food. The Tet atmosphere is concentrated in this area, instead of inside the market.
It is worth mentioning that the Tet gift baskets have officially "flooded the market". Along An Duong Vuong, Hung Vuong, Au Co, Ba Thang Hai, Chau Van Liem streets... which specialize in "treating" Tet gift baskets, by December 25, both buyers and sellers have decreased sharply. On An Duong Vuong street, the owners of large fruit shops have been selling Tet gift baskets of cakes, candies, wine, jams, nuts... since very early but they are still very unsold. Sales staff at the gift basket selling point on Chau Van Liem street (District 5) sadly said that there are absolutely no wholesale customers at this time, only retail customers and they only buy baskets with a value of less than 1 million VND. No one asked about large, luxurious gift baskets priced over 1.8 million VND.
At 11:45 a.m., at the largest Tet gift basket store on An Duong Vuong Street, two customers came to buy gift baskets for a funeral, priced at VND590,000. The seller said the lowest price here is VND550,000/gift basket, the VND590,000 type will have an additional can of Coca imported from Japan. The seller said that from morning until now, this is the third customer of the store. Meanwhile, the store is displaying an estimated 200 gift baskets of various types, worth from VND550,000 to VND2.5 million. At TT store on Ba Thang Hai Street, two women came in to buy two Tet gift baskets, each worth VND1.45 million after a VND50,000 discount. "Dried goods, mainly candy, alcohol, and soft drinks. If they can't be sold before Tet, they will be sold after Tet. The goods are not expired, so there is no way to reduce the price and sell at a loss," said the owner of a Tet goods store on Ba Thang Hai Street.
As predicted, the demand for Tet shopping this year has decreased sharply. However, the atmosphere, flavor, and scent of Tet have permeated everywhere. As we write this article, Tet gift baskets, trucks carrying peach blossoms, apricot trees, marigold pots, etc. on the streets are still increasing. The cheerful colors are like the hope for a warmer, more peaceful new spring.
According to the General Statistics Office, in January 2024, trade and service activities were quite vibrant, serving people's consumption needs during the Lunar New Year. Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in January 2024 were estimated at VND 524,100 billion, up 1.6% over the previous month and up 8.1% over the same period in 2023. This is a fairly high increase, but still lower than the 13.3% increase in the same period last year. Excluding the price factor, according to the General Statistics Office, the increase was 5.8%, also lower than the 9.1% figure in the same period last year. In a research report on ASEAN consumer sentiment in 2023, published by UOB Bank in November 2023, Vietnamese consumers remained quite optimistic, with 76% of respondents expecting their personal financial situation to be better by June 2024, higher than the 74% of Indonesia and 68% of Thailand.
More than 1,000 specialties from 30 provinces and cities flock to the "Green Tet - Vietnamese Gifts" market in Ho Chi Minh City
From February 3 to 6, at 135A Pasteur, Vo Thi Sau Ward, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, the Center for Business Research and Enterprise Support together with the Association of High-Quality Vietnamese Goods Enterprises organized the "Green Tet - Vietnamese Gifts" market to serve Tet. The market sells nearly 1,000 specialty agricultural products for use during Tet, open to serve consumers from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. The most impressive point of the market is the specialties from localities that are not easy for people in Ho Chi Minh City to enjoy on normal days. For example, Thanh Hoa spring rolls are wrapped in banana leaves, grilled, rolled with fig leaves, and polyscias fruticosa leaves, which the owner of the Thanh specialty stall invites customers to try at the market; or the Banh Chung Dat To is wrapped from sticky rice of yellow flowers, which is very sticky and has a special aroma; The green beans used as the filling must be small, whole beans... In addition, modern products such as soy sauce made from coconut nectar, carp dumplings... are also introduced at this market. This is the 10th Tet market organized in Ho Chi Minh City by the Center for Business Research and Enterprise Support.
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