Tet goods: Weak purchasing power, prices increase slightly

Prices of goods continue to increase even though people's purchasing power in the market up to this point is still not high.

There are only two weeks left until the Lunar New Year, however, according to distributors, the purchasing power in the market this year is not as strong as at this time in previous years. People are also gradually abandoning the habit of hoarding essential goods, if anything, the demand for products to serve the need for Tet gifts is only increasing.

Tet goods at the market have increased slightly

Despite the fact that purchasing power in the market is still quite slow and there is a surplus of goods, as a "tradition", every time Tet approaches, the market tends to see an increase in prices of many essential goods such as dried goods, confectionery, food, drinks, etc.

At some wholesale markets in Hanoi such as Dong Xuan market, Hom market, Ha Dong market, etc., prices of many items have increased by 5-15% compared to normal days.

At Dong Xuan wholesale market, shop owners have prepared a large number of goods, ready to serve the people's Tet needs. However, due to limited purchasing power, the price increase is not much.

For dried goods such as dried shrimp, chestnuts, melon seeds, mushrooms... prices increased by about 10-20%. Of which, shiitake mushrooms increased by more than 20,000 VND/kg; shiitake mushrooms in some places cost up to 340,000-360,000 VND/kg; dried shrimp also increased by 550,000 to nearly 1 million VND/kg depending on the type.

Prices of nuts such as pumpkin seeds, cashews, and sunflower seeds increased by about 10%; lotus seed jam, coconut jam, and pumpkin jam increased by about 10-15%.

Cooking oil, fish sauce, and MSG also increased by 5-10%.

Pork, chicken and beef are usually the items that will have a "fever" in price around Tet, but this year, at some markets, these items only increased slightly by 5-10%.

This year the economy continues to be difficult, people are tightening their spending so purchasing power will not increase dramatically during Tet. In addition, localities also supply a variety of price-stabilized goods in large quantities so prices will not fluctuate much. Traders predict that only near Tet, beyond the 23rd of December, will purchasing power likely increase sharply, and prices of goods may increase by another 5-10%.

Purchasing power is still weak

Walking around big supermarkets in Hanoi such as Big C, Fivimart,... shoppers are also starting to gradually increase, purchasing power is estimated to have increased by about 20-30% compared to a week ago.

At Big C supermarket, on the evening of October 13, people were bustling with people shopping for Tet. Besides essential items such as cooking oil, fish sauce, rice, etc., confectionery, alcohol and beer were also very popular.

A supermarket employee said that the number of shoppers has increased significantly. They have started to buy more items for gift giving, although most of the items have increased in price compared to before. However, compared to this time last year, the purchasing power is still a bit lower.

People often have the mentality of buying a lot and early when shopping for Tet to avoid overpaying because the closer to Tet, the higher the price of goods. However, people's Tet shopping trend is gradually changing. Instead of buying food to store for the whole week like before, people only buy enough food to eat for 2-3 days, because on the second day of Tet, some markets have started operating again. Therefore, people's purchasing power has not increased dramatically up to this point.

Vietnamese products are popular

The special thing about the Tet goods market this year is that domestically produced goods account for more than 90% of the total quantity of goods. Besides, the prices of confectionery, cooking oil, beer and wine of many domestic manufacturers this year have not increased, some brands have even reduced prices by 5-10%, and have improved designs and packaging to be quite eye-catching.

Meanwhile, imported goods have increased in price by 10-20%, so most customers choose domestic goods, which have affordable prices./.

According to VOV