Promotions and discounts have attracted consumers to spend money on shopping in HCM City during the September 2 holiday. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Thanks to promotional programmes during the September 2 holidays (Việt Nam National Day), shoppers' spending power in HCM City increased during the holiday.

Nguyễn Thị Thanh, in District 5, shared that supermarkets in the city had many attractive promotional programmes on the occasion of the September 2 national holiday. So she took advantage of the promotion and discount programmes to buy essential consumer goods.

Specifically, she prioritised buying daily consumer goods that can be preserved and used for a long time, such as fish sauce, cooking oil, condensed milk, shampoo, shower gel, laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid.

"Last weekend, I spent more than VNĐ5 million (US$200) on shopping, while on other weekends I only spend about VNĐ2 million ($80)."

Similarly, Trần Thị Tuyết Mai, in Tân Bình District, said that in order to take advantage of supermarket promotions as well as meet the increased demand for food and drink during the holidays, she spent about VNĐ10 million ($400), three times more than usual, on daily consumer goods as well as food and drinks for the holidays.

According to a quick report from some retailers in the city, people's purchasing power during the September 2 holiday this year increased two to three times compared to normal days.

The product groups with the highest purchasing power include vegetables, fruits, seafood, frozen foods, beverages, laundry detergent, shower gel, shampoo and floor cleaner.

One of the reasons for the increase in purchasing power is that promotional programmes are increasingly attractive and closely follow consumer tastes.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thắng, director of operations from Co.opmart, said the Co.opmart and Co.opXtra supermarket chains are running a promotion programme to stimulate consumption from now until September 18. The promotion programme focuses mainly on essential consumer products.

As a result, sales across the system have increased by 30 per cent compared to normal days.

In addition, in order to better serve the increased demand, the Co.opmart and Co.opXtra systems have mobilised more staff to serve customers shopping at the supermarket, while increasing the number of staff on the hotline for online ordering, home delivery teams and ensuring connection with technology applications so that people can shop more conveniently.

Similarly, at MM Mega Market shopping mall, customers shopping here will have the opportunity to scan the QR code to receive promotions and discounts up to 50 per cent, buy two get one free and enjoy the low price of VNĐ79,000 ($3.2) for items from now until September 11.

Meanwhile, the City Department of Industry and Trade has coordinated with a number of units to organise fairs with promotions of up to 80 per cent at Union Square Shopping Center in District 1, SCVivo City and the Southern Center for Science and Technology Information in District 11.

Lê Huỳnh Minh Tú, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said these promotional programmes will help retail businesses recover quickly in the difficult economic context, boost domestic production and consumption, and create growth momentum for the economy. — VNS