Hanoi's retailers stimulate shopping demand by the year’s end

Retailers in Hanoi are boosting product supply by offering promotional programs to stimulate year-end shopping demand.

Local consumers are shopping at Big C supermarket in Hanoi. Photos: Hoi Nguyen/ The Hanoi Times

Statistics from the municipal Statistics Office showed the purchasing power has strongly rebounded in the first nine months of 2022. This recovery is expected to drive retail market growth in the last quarter of the year.

According to the municipal Statistics Office, total retail sales of consumer goods and services in Hanoi were estimated at VND512 trillion (US$20.5 billion), up 33.1% compared to the same period in 2021.

This is an impressive economic indicator, reflecting surged consumer demand and helping trade and services recover quickly, local experts said.

To meet the increasing shopping demand, in the past nine months, WinMart, Vietnam’s largest modern retail system has continuously opened hundreds of WinMart/WinMart+ supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide.

With the positive signals of the market, the retail chain is expected to grow by 20% in 2022 compared to the same period last year, said Operation Director of the WinMart retail system Nguyen Trong Tuan.

Sales Director of MediaMart electronics supermarket system Vuong Tuan Anh assessed that the purchasing power in the fourth quarter of 2022 is expected to increase strongly as this is the time of many big events  such as the World Cup, Hanoi Promotion Month events, and the city's Concentration Promotion Program, and shopping festivals during the New Year's Eve and the Lunar New Year.

“In the past nine months, the electronics supermarket system has put into operation an additional of 40 stores across the country and will continue to open new ones until the Lunar New Year,” Tuan Anh shared.

For its part, a representative of Central Retail's BigC and GO! supermarket chain said the company is also optimistic that by the end of the year the market will continue to recover and return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Local insiders said the retail market has faced obstacles amid the surge in prices of goods and raw material imports as well as supply instability due to the weather and diseases. 

Hanoi-based BRG Retail system plans to offer various goods to meet the increased demand.

To boost consumer demand at the end of the year, the city's retailers are actively implementing synchronous solutions. 

The WinMart/WinMart+ supermarket system plans to open another 300  supermarkets and stores nationwide. The supermarket chain has prepared an abundant stock and planned many promotional programs to stimulate shopping demand.

A representative from BigC and GO! supermarket system said they will diversify the supply to make up for the shortage, focusing on offering stable and low-priced goods, as well as carry out more promotional programs to retain   customers and attract new ones.

The MediaMart electronics supermarket system will also diversify products and will soon negotiate with its suppliers to ensure the source of genuine products of high quality and reasonable price. In addition, the retailer will continue to promote the online sales channel with many incentive programs.

To facilitate retail trade, acting director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan said that from now until the end of the year, the city will continue to roll out many promotional programs, such as Hanoi Midnight Sale 2022, Hanoi Black Friday 2022, with promotional offers of up to 100%.

She added, within the framework of the Concentration Promotion Program 2022, a range activities will take place in the city in order to support trade connections, brand promotion  and sales for local manufacturers and businesses.

“The city will step up support for local companies to develop showroom networks for the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program. The city has collaborated with other towns and provinces to present Hanoi's products and send working groups to localities to exchange management operational experience of OCOP stores,” Lan told The Hanoi Times.

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade will continue partnering with related units to  intensify the connection between supply and demand with provinces and municipalities to bring safe fruits and agricultural products with clear geographical indications to the city's distribution system.

Lan said these activities aim to stimulate domestic demand and increase the total retail sales of goods and services in Hanoi.