Demand weakens as Tết nears

Traders selling vegetables at a market in Hoàng Mai District. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

HÀ NỘI — The domestic market is experiencing sluggish demand for essential Tết (Lunar New Year) goods as the country’s largest traditional holiday nears.

In some traditional markets such as Xổm, Hà Đông, Nghĩa Tân, Trung Văn, and Long Biên wholesale market in the capital city of Hà Nội, Tết goods like dried bamboo shoots and vermicelli, mushrooms and processed foods are abundant and the selling prices are stable. However, demand for Tết goods in these markets is slower compared to the same period last year.

Thuỷ Cường, a trader at Long Biên market, told Công an nhân dân Online (Public Security News) that every year around this time, wholesalers usually buy large quantities of goods to reserve for Tết. This year, few of them have come even though the selling prices of goods are stable, as the demand remains low.

Nguyễn Thanh, another trader in Hà Đông District said the supply of agricultural products is now quite abundant and their prices remain stable, but so far not many consumers have come to her shop.

Thanh said she hoped that demand would soon increase.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Ngọc Yến who sells food products for Tết in Hai Bà Trưng District, said she has not had large orders this year despite a stable number of wholesale customers.

Yến said that every year, she receives an order for beef cuts and coconut candy worth over VNĐ100 million (over US$4,000), but this year customers only ask for prices and do not place orders, as they are surveying local demand.

Amid sluggish demand in the local market, supermarkets are offering promotional campaigns to attract more customers.

A representative of the WinCommerce retail system said that WinMart supermarkets and WinMart+/WIN stores nationwide have put many Tết goods such as dry goods, candy, beer, wine, and soft drinks on the shelves at preferential prices.

Similarly, BigC is offering a 50 per cent discount on personal care products, beauty care, household appliances, fresh food, dry food and spices, according to a representative of the Central Retail system.

Trần Thị Phương Lan, Acting Director of the Hà Nội Department of Industry and Trade, said that Tết goods at wholesale markets or big supermarkets are quite abundant and prices are stable.

Ministries, branches and localities have been implementing activities to connect supply and demand and facilitate the consumption of goods, especially Vietnamese-made ones, during the Tết holiday.

The country’s revenue from retail trade and services totalled an estimated $256 billion last year, rising 9.6 per cent year-on-year, lower than the 20 per cent growth seen in 2022.

If the price factor was excluded, the 2023 growth would be 7.1 per cent, less than half of last year’s 15.8 per cent increase, the General Statistics Office said.

Retail sales revenue in 2023 was estimated at $200 billion or 78 per cent of the total and up 8.6 per cent year-on-year. Of these, food and foodstuff revenue increased 11.7 per cent and sales of household appliances rose 7.5 per cent over last year.

Revenue from accommodation and eating out topped $27.7 billion, making up 10.8 per cent of the total and surging 14.7 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, revenue from travel services increased significantly to $1.56 billion, up 52.5 per cent.

The GSO said revenue from services hit $27.2 billion, up 10.4 per cent year-on-year. — VNS