Digital retail takes center stage at Hanoi’s July Promotion Festival
Hanoi’s festival fused traditional retail with digital innovation, attracting 50,000 visitors and showcasing cashless payments, online platforms and tech-driven solutions to boost consumption.
THE HANOI TIMES — Hanoi’s July Promotion Festival 2025 drew nearly 50,000 visitors, blending traditional sales with digital retail experiences, cashless payments and tech integration to boost consumption and support small businesses.
Local consumers shop at a booth showcasing regional specialties at Hanoi’s July Promotion Festival 2025. Photo: Hoai Nam/Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper
The festival, organized under Hanoi’s 2025 Concentrated Promotion Program, marked the opening of a year-long campaign to stimulate domestic demand.
Nearly one million online interactions were recorded, with several booths reporting double their expected revenue.
Retail giants such as Central Retail - manager of GO! and Topmarkets supermarkets, BRGmart, Fujimart, Winmart, AEON, Lotte, Co.opmart, MediaMart, Pico and others joined, offering discounts of up to 50% on thousands of products.
According to Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Communications Director at Central Retail Vietnam, these promotions boosted sales and supported the National Promotion Program 2025 launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Digital transformation was among the key highlights at the festival as retailers rolled out mobile apps, QR code payments and contactless solutions.
Vietnamese e-payment provider NextPay supported nearly 50 small traders in adopting QR payment systems. MoMo, a Vietnamese e-wallet, saw about 500 new accounts opened during the event.
“This is a positive sign for the digitalization of small-scale retail,” said Do Van Tu, Northern Business Director of NextPay.
The adoption of digital solutions brought practical benefits to local producers.
Minh Thuy, Director of Luc Ngan Green Cooperative in the northern province of Bac Ninh, showcased dried fruit specialties such as lychees and longans, offering both in-person and online ordering with home delivery.
Tech-driven convenience has also helped retailers expand customer bases.
Le Manh Phong, Northern Director of Go! supermarket chain, said that digital channels help supermarkets sustain their growth, especially among younger customers ready to shop online.
According to local officials, the festival had a tangible positive impact on the city’s consumer sector.
The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade said that the event built a digital consumption ecosystem, laying the groundwork for future mega-events like the “November Promotion Festival” and “Hanoi Midnight Sale 2025”.
Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Vice Chairwoman of the Association of Vietnam Retailers, said that modern payment solutions and digital sales channels improve consumer experience.
They also strengthen the "Vietnamese people prioritize Vietnamese goods” campaign in a competitive era, she added.
