Trade and services: Adapting quickly for development

After 3 years of experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, it has significantly affected the commercial activities of the whole country in general and Thanh Hoa province in particular. However, with the drastic participation of authorities at all levels, businesses, production establishments, and commercial and service business households in the province have flexibly adapted and proactively sought many solutions for development.

Trade and services: Adapting quickly for development Thanks to quick adaptation to digital technology , the revenue of Hasaki Beauty & Clinic cosmetics store is always guaranteed.

Currently, the province has 2 shopping malls, 27 supermarkets, 388 traditional markets and thousands of grocery stores and convenience stores distributed throughout the localities. Although the complicated developments of the pandemic and the implementation of social distancing have directly affected commercial activities, at some supermarkets and stores, the amount of goods sold to the market is still stable. This result is thanks to innovation and sensitivity in sales methods and approaches.

Sharing with us, Ms. Tran Ngoc Huong, Manager of Hasaki cosmetics store, Nguyen Trai street (Thanh Hoa city) said that the epidemic has been controlled but people are still afraid to go to crowded places. Many customers have switched to online shopping, so the store has recruited more staff to advise and take care of customers in order to connect quickly, advise on the right products and deliver as soon as customers need. Currently, on average, every day, there are also dozens of customers needing advice and buying online.

To keep up with the general trend of the whole society, shopping malls, supermarkets, and stores have also promoted online sales through trading floors and social networks associated with home delivery services. Winmart and WinMart+ stores are one of the pioneers in applying digital technology in goods management, customer care, and business; this system has nearly 60 supermarkets and stores operating in the whole province with a diverse and rich list of essential goods, such as: vegetables, fruits, fresh meat, dried goods, groceries, etc. Currently, Winmart supermarkets and Winmart+ stores have applied digital technology in 3 areas, such as using smartphones to trace the origin of all products; card payment on the bank's application and especially the online grocery shopping program on the VinID app to make it easy for customers to shop. Thanks to promoting sales and introducing products on the digital platform, Winmart+ has expanded its customer base; The store's revenue is always stable, the supply of goods is regularly replenished, basically meeting consumer needs.

In addition, other service industries are also adapting to new consumer needs, typically the tourism industry. According to Ms. Vu Ngoc Tu, Head of the Khanh My ticket office business department (Thanh Hoa city) - a unit specializing in passenger transport, tourism, airline ticket booking services... shared, for the low season of the market, the unit has proactively deployed "combo" packages for tourism, group travel to save costs for customers, while increasing the means of transportation to be flexible, saving time for picking up and dropping off passengers. In particular, recently, the unit has also diversified the forms of ticket booking, multi-channel payment on the website, on online bus ticket booking applications... to optimize the utilities for customers.

“In addition to connecting with payment channels and online ticket booking, in the near future, the ticket office plans to create and develop its own ticket booking website. Thereby, helping customers have more interactions, feedback and direct service experiences with the company,” Ms. Tu added.

With the goal of making trade a solid bridge between production and consumption, contributing to promoting socio-economic development, striving in the period of 2021-2025, the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue will achieve an average growth rate of 17.6%/year, of which the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue exchanged through supermarkets, shopping malls, convenience stores... account for about 30-35%, the provincial authorities and functional branches are increasing support for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, organizations and individuals producing and trading in the area to find partners, promote opportunities to buy and sell goods and provide services. Localities are completing synchronous trade infrastructure, reasonably distributing the network of markets, shopping malls, and convenience stores to build a system of goods distribution and service supply according to the chain to ensure the balance of supply and demand of goods in the market. In the development process, attention is paid to harmoniously combining traditional trade with modern trade. In particular, urban trade infrastructure is modernized, applying digital technology in exploitation, operation and management. Essential trade infrastructure in rural areas is fully developed, effectively serving business activities and people's living needs.

In addition, the digitalization "flow" is increasingly developing, creating an important stepping stone based on e-commerce applications, online business and service forms are increasingly flourishing and creative. This contributes to promoting the launch of Thanh Hoa E-commerce Floor, as well as the plan to anticipate the trend of the 4.0 industrial revolution and develop the province's digital economy. Currently, the province has successfully built and operated an E-commerce Floor with the domain name thuongmaidientuthanhhoa.vn. After 3 years of operation, the floor has had over 2 million visits and is operating with more than 300 products and services of nearly 40 enterprises, cooperatives, and business households in the province. In particular, the outstanding products are industrial products, small-scale industry and many processed agricultural products, OCOP products such as Phu Quang Lam tea, Ba Lang shrimp paste... The target for the period 2021-2025 is that the provincial E-commerce Exchange will reach 100-300 participating enterprises.

Mr. Tran Duc Luong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said: “According to the plan, from now until the end of the year, the department will continue to implement appropriate measures to ensure supply and demand of essential goods, closely monitor market developments to promptly apply measures to regulate supply and demand, stabilize the market, especially essential goods serving production and people's lives. Strengthen coordination with functional sectors in market management, inspection, control, anti-smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, goods of unknown origin, protect the rights of consumers and goods suppliers.

Article and photos: Chi Pham

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