Online sales of consumer goods increase sharply during Tet holiday

Near the Lunar New Year, trading activities to serve the daily life of local people are taking place through both online and offline channels. While trading activities at traditional markets are still gloomy, online channels show excitement and bustle.

Staff of Winmart+ Quang Tri supermarket prepare goods ordered online for home delivery to customers - Photo: TU LINH

Having been selling spices, candies, jams, nuts and dried foods for Tet at Dong Ha market for many years, Ms. Truong Thi Thu said that this time of year, the Tet market is quieter than previous years. She always listens to the market, sells as much as she can, and does not dare to stock up on large quantities. The economic situation is difficult, so people are tightening their spending, and this year's Tet is expected to have lower purchasing power than last year.

Not only Ms. Thu, many vendors at Dong Ha market said that while in previous years at this time people started to buy dried foods for Tet, this year there were almost none. Many vegetable sellers at the market are currently only selling vegetables or spices that modern retail stores and supermarkets do not sell.

Along with that, sellers of rice, cosmetics, etc. also said that the amount of goods sold has decreased significantly due to the competition from modern stores and supermarkets. Goods in modern stores and supermarkets are not only displayed in a space with many amenities, clean, tidy, and air-conditioned, but are also displayed outside for easier access to buyers, and are also promoted and have clear price lists.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thanh, Deputy Head of Dong Ha Market Management Board, admitted: “The price competition process of retail chains that has taken place recently is a great pressure that traders in traditional markets have to face. Along with that, the shift in consumer shopping needs, rapid changes in forms and sales platforms are issues that traders in the market need to adapt to in order to survive. We encourage traders to try to proactively equip themselves with knowledge and skills to serve sales through social platforms in order to consume goods better, gradually adapting to social progress.”

While shopping at traditional markets remains sluggish, online shopping is very vibrant and bustling. To serve the Year of the Dragon, Winmart+ Quang Tri supermarket has many promotional programs and provides free delivery service within a 10 km radius. Currently, the supermarket has a program "Bringing Tet to your home with home delivery service".

The manager of Winmart+ Hoang Dan supermarket in Quang Tri province said that with 27 stores covering the whole province, Winmart+ ensures to fully supply goods to serve the people's Tet needs. During the difficult economic period, consumers' psychology is almost focused on spending on essential goods, so the system strives to maintain stable prices for these items.

In order to sell more products, in addition to focusing on price competition, the system also has many accompanying promotional programs, accumulating purchase points. Especially compared to last year, this year online shopping is more popular. Currently, the rate of consumers shopping online at this supermarket is higher than last year. Because the supermarket's goods always have clear origins, quality, and are full of attractive and novel regional specialties, consumers trust online shopping to be served at home.

Not only Winmart+ Quang Tri supermarket, modern supermarkets and retail stores focus on online sales. The trend of online sales this Tet holiday is bustling on Facebook, Zalo, TikTok... There are personal Facebook pages that sell nearly a hundred Tet orders every day.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa from Gio Linh district temporarily residing in Ward 1, Dong Ha city, works as a fast delivery man and said that due to the rapid increase in online shopping demand, his daily job is usually to receive goods from online sellers and deliver them to customers' homes; on some days when orders increase, he cannot serve them in time, and for some orders that are not urgent, he has to wait until after 9 pm to deliver them.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Huong Giang in Ward 5, Dong Ha City, recently she and many of her friends have switched to online shopping for more than 90% of their family's consumer goods, even during the Lunar New Year. The advantage of this form of shopping is that it saves travel time and allows you to freely compare prices between many suppliers, saving more money than shopping directly at markets, supermarkets... thanks to customers being able to apply many promotional codes. In her phone, she always saves many delivery staff numbers and installs online shopping software.

In addition to reputable supermarket systems and retail stores, one of the issues that consumers are still concerned about is the quality of goods and services when shopping online on personal websites. This poses risks when it is difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake goods, and it is very difficult to check product quality. Therefore, to protect the rights of consumers through online shopping, authorities recommend that people need to be more careful when buying and selling goods not only on social networking sites but also on e-commerce platforms.

It is necessary to check and carefully research information about the seller; only make a transaction when the seller's reputation has been confirmed. Make sure that the seller has sufficient detailed information about the product, quality images and accurate descriptions. Do not transfer money or make any payment in any form without determining the seller's reputation and the quality of the product to ensure the buyer's rights.

Shopping on social media platforms has become a new consumer habit, much more convenient than traditional shopping and has been widely applied in Tet shopping. In today's retail competition, in addition to price, flexibly switching to new shopping trends to effectively reach customers is always an important factor that many retailers need to pay attention to.

Tu Linh

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