Customers buy vegetables at a Co.opmart supermarket in HCM City. Saigon Co.op bears losses to keep the prices of many essential products unchanged in the last few months since the fourth wave of COVID-19 began. — Photo courtesy of Saigon Co.op

 HCM CITY — Saigon Co.op’s retail networks have absorbed losses to keep the prices of many essential products unchanged in the last few months since the fourth wave of COVID-19 began.

Its supermarkets have experienced an overload in both offline and online sales in the period, with customers mainly buying fresh food (more than 75 per cent), the category with the lowest profit rate, it claimed.

Its supermarkets are absorbing the costs of finding new supply sources, transportation, quarantine, wastage, and others, it said.

In addition, amid the pandemic several new costs have emerged such as those for quick and PCR testing of employees and drivers, support policies for employees and rising shipping costs, it said.

Thus, for instance, it sometimes sells chicken eggs at lower than cost price, it said.

Many Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, and Co.op Food stores had to close temporarily after infections were found, hitting revenues.

Saigon Co.op recently announced discounts on more than 2,000 essential products to continue supporting customers during the hard times caused by the pandemic.

From now until August 25 Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food, and Co.op Smile will cut prices by 15 to nearly 50 per cent on products like seafood, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, personal hygiene products, disinfectants, and household utensils.

Saigon Co.op said it would also continue co-ordinating with local organisations to deliver goods to households, isolation areas and field hospitals. — VNS