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Domestic products flooding supermarts
Supermarts all have predicted a boom of purchasing power on Tet, saying that domestic products, not imports will be the major products on sale.
Duong Quynh Trang, Foreign Affairs Director of Big C, said that the supermart chain has completed stocking up merchandise and the majority of the products it has hoarded for Tet sales are confectionary, jams, meat and garment products.
Trang said that domestic products account for 90% of the commodities. “Big C has spent nearly VND 120 billion on stocking merchandise, while trying to make payments soon in order to support domestic producers,” Trang said, adding that domestic products are being displayed in the best positions at the supemarts.
Of over 50,000 items on display at the supermarts, domestic products account for 95%, which is an increase of 5% over the beginning of the year.
The Metro supermart chain has also been stocking merchandise, estimating that the purchasing power will increase by a fourfold over ordinary days. Thanh Thuy, a representative from Metro, said that domestic products are being put in the best positions on the shelves at supemarts.
Lottle Mart, a new 100% foreign-owned supermart, also announced the ‘localisation’ of the products on sale at the supermart, with imports accounting for no more than 15% of product items.
Analysts said that foreign products are now inferior to domestic products on the shelves of supermarts. China-made products, including consumer products and home decoration items, which were once a favorite in Vietnam, are no longer the choice of Vietnamese consumers as they are now tending to select products that have reasonable prices and good quality.
Striving for the best price policy
Saigon Co-op also said that it will began negotiating with suppliers very soon and drew up a plan on stocking merchandise soon in order to have enough products for Tet sales at the best prices.
Bui Hoai Thu, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co-op, said that 80% of the products that need to be stabilized in prices are domestic products, an increase of 5% over the previous year, mainly consumer and food products.
According to Nguyen Phuong Thao, Director of Maximark Cong Hoa, there are many good things that come from selling domestic products. This can help stimulate the domestic production, while supermarts can negotiate with producers to get the best prices for consumers.
Thao said that the supermart will not raise sale prices on Tet, while the prices of many items like sugar, confectionary and tea will see 5-10% price decreases.
Luring consumers to supermarts
In order to attract more customers to supermarts during the belt-tightening period, supermarts have been trying to offer specific products with attractive prices. Bui Hanh Thu said that besides calling on producers to cut down prices, the supermart has also been offering Co-op Mart brand-name high-quality products at special cheap prices, which prove to be lower by 5-30% than the same type of products of different brand-names.
Most supermarts said that they do not intend to make a profit from their own products. Big C has decided to launch a big promotion program, under which it offers a 50% discount for nearly 600 product items. Citimart has spent VND 2 billion on promotion programs in addition to the sum of VND 30 billion to stock merchandise.
Tuoi tre
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