With a revenue of 8 million/day, small traders still worry about having to eat moon cakes instead of rice.

No hope of "making a fortune"

"Before, people came to buy in large numbers, not having time to sell, earning 10-20 million VND per day was normal. But now people are tightening their spending, revenue has dropped to 5-8 million VND per day," said Nguyen Huu Loi (45 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City) sadly.

Mr. Loi sighed as this year's business situation is not very optimistic (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Mr. Loi used to be the owner of 5 mooncake stalls on Hoang Dieu Street (District 4, HCMC), but now he only has 1 stall left. The reason is that purchasing power is decreasing, the revenue is not enough for him to pay the stall rental fee.

"Compared to last year, purchasing power is only about 50-60%. I also learned from experience, importing less goods to avoid inventory and difficulty selling. Although after the Mid-Autumn Festival, if the cakes are not sold out, they can still be returned," Mr. Loi shared.

At Mr. Loi’s counter, the customers are mainly retail customers, usually arriving after 5 p.m. Although the counter has been open since the beginning of August, for more than a month now, only 4 businesses have come to place large orders.

"Last year around this time, more than 10 businesses placed orders, we were very happy. But this year, they probably laid off a lot of employees, the economic difficulties are very limited. Retail customers also buy a few for fun, but buying them as expensive gifts like every year is very rare," Mr. Loi confided.

Many businesses hang promotional signs to attract buyers (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Previously, he tried to apply promotional programs such as buying moon cakes and getting a can of beer or lanterns to attract buyers and clear the inventory. However, as soon as the promotion ended, the sluggish situation returned.

Mr. Loi's family has a drinking place as their main source of income, but every year they look forward to the Mid-Autumn Festival to "make a fortune". However, he himself is increasingly frustrated as the business situation is not very optimistic.

When asked about his prediction for the upcoming business situation or whether he will continue selling cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival next year, Mr. Loi just shook his head in disappointment: "I'm not sure."

Pointing to the moon cake stalls nearby, Mr. Loi said many small traders were also in the same slump as him.

Ms. H. (from Dong Thap province) is the owner of two moon cake stalls on Nguyen Trai street (District 5) and Hung Vuong street (Cong Hoa roundabout, District 10, HCMC).

Having been in this business for 5 years, this is the first time she has seen so few people buying moon cakes. Having opened a moon cake stall since the beginning of June, Ms. H. and her husband can only sigh as sales are sluggish every day.

"We had good sales after we opened after the Covid-19 pandemic. But this year, businesses are operating at a loss, many workers are unemployed, so revenue has decreased by 50% compared to the same period last year," said Ms. H.

At Ms. H.'s counter, the prices of moon cakes range from 60,000 to 120,000 VND each. Some special, premium types cost more than 400,000 VND each. The price of moon cakes this year has increased slightly due to rising prices.

For the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival, Ms. H. decided to import fewer goods than last year due to the poor business situation. Last year, many businesses came to buy gifts for partners, but this year, Ms. H. waited forever and saw no orders.

"We still have 2 weeks left, so we'll try to see what happens because this is a common situation, not just my counter. Even though the company has applied many promotional programs, customers are still not too interested," Ms. H. shared.

Like every year, after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ms. H. will try to stay for 3 more days to sell the remaining cakes. If she cannot sell all of them, the company will take back some of the cakes. The rest, Ms. H.'s wife will save to eat... instead of rice or bring back to her hometown to give to her family.

Unsold moon cakes... is obvious

Along the streets in Ho Chi Minh City such as Hung Vuong, Ly Thai To (District 10), Nguyen Tri Phuong (District 5), ... many mooncake stalls hang signs "buy 1 get 2" or even "buy 1 get 4". However, some stalls only have a few customers, the sellers outnumber the buyers.

The moon cake market in 2023 is gloomy due to decreased purchasing power (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

Dr. Dinh The Hien, an economic expert, said that the growth rate in the first 6 months of 2023 in Ho Chi Minh City was only 3.72%. This is the lowest level in the past 10 years, except for 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. Therefore, the sluggish moon cake business is obvious.

Accordingly, the reason is that businesses have reduced production, leading to a decrease in workers' income. From there, people's spending needs will also decrease, only spending on essential goods, limiting luxury items. Businesses also give fewer gifts to partners.

In addition, selling moon cakes is a seasonal business. When in season, the more sellers there are, the more competition there will be.

"This year, all businesses are difficult, people in other fields will find ways to earn more money so they will take advantage of selling moon cakes. Therefore, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival will have more people selling this item than last year. This is a market problem, supply is greater than demand," the doctor explained.

From there, Mr. Hien suggested that businesses need to clearly identify the actual needs of the market. Businesses need to understand where the investment and public spending flows to take advantage of opportunities.

In contrast to moon cakes, lanterns are a good purchase for small traders. According to Dan Tri reporters, there are still about 2 weeks left until the Mid-Autumn Festival but the street specializing in selling lanterns, Hai Thuong Lan Ong (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City) is already crowded with buyers.

Regarding rabbit-shaped lanterns alone, Mr. Dung (40 years old, a merchant on Hai Thuong Lan Ong street) has sold more than 500 in just 3 days. Accordingly, this type of lantern costs from 30,000 to 45,000 VND/piece depending on the size.

Mr. Dung said that in recent days, this type of lantern has been "sold out" due to the trend on social networks. Along the street specializing in selling decorations for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a series of vendors have hung rabbit-shaped lanterns with many different designs.

The trader said that since June, he had been busy preparing goods to sell for the Mid-Autumn Festival. He thought that this year would be a slow year due to the economic recession, but unexpectedly, traders like him were saved by the above trend.

Lantern traders are happy when purchasing power is stable (Photo: Nguyen Vy).

At the store, from 6pm until late at night, customers line up in long lines. The number of customers is expected to increase during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Here, Mr. Dung's products range in price from 25,000 to 300,000 VND.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/doanh-thu-8-trieungay-tieu-thuong-van-lo-phai-an-banh-trung-thu-thay-com-20230915214541982.htm