Christmas season: Opportunity to stimulate the market at the end of the year

(Baonghean) - Christmas is coming very soon, right from the beginning of December, all over Vinh City's streets are filled with the atmosphere of preparation and colorful decorations to celebrate the festival... This is also an opportunity for businesses to actively discount many types of goods with the expectation of stimulating the consumer market at the end of the year.

Customers come to register for the "Christmas Gift" service at Nghe An Post Office.

Rich market

For many years now, Christmas has become a common cultural activity of the whole community. Decorating Christmas trees, hanging Advent wreaths, and stars in families is no longer exclusive to Christians. Therefore, the Christmas market is increasingly bustling, bringing a warm atmosphere to the whole community... In addition to pine trees made of PVC plastic, the pine tree models that are "popular" this Christmas season are made of fishing line with a variety of shapes, just like real pine trees. With the same size, the price of new pine trees is double or triple that of PVC pine trees. Pine trees 1.5 - 2.2m high, made of PVC, cost from 350,000 - 600,000 VND/tree; pine trees made of fishing line cost 1,000,000 - 1,700,000 VND. The new point of this year's Christmas market is the appearance of high-end LED pine trees. This type of pine tree is 2 - 3m high, equipped with a dense LED light system with a variety of colors so there is no need to decorate with other objects; the product costs from 7 - 50 million VND/tree depending on size...

In the decorative accessories, this year there are more models of balls, stars, hand-woven straw shoes... with unique patterns and designs; each accessory costs from 10,000 - 65,000 VND/product. Decorative decals have shifted to embossed, 3D shapes, creating a realistic and eye-catching feeling; Price from 20,000 - 150,000 VND/set... Souvenirs are mostly handcrafted quite delicately and uniquely, such as Santa Claus statues made of polymer plastic with many poses priced at 35,000 - 60,000 VND/piece, dwarf statues made of terracotta priced at 45,000 - 75,000 VND/piece, Santa Claus clocks priced at 150,000 VND/piece, rattan bells priced at 25,000 VND/pair... Although Christmas greeting cards are not a new item, every year this item attracts customers in terms of design and material. The main customers of this item are still students...

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang - owner of a Christmas decoration shop on Le Huan Street (Vinh City): This year's Christmas decorations are not only more diverse and beautiful than previous years, but more importantly, domestic manufacturers are taking the lead. At his shop this year, about 70% of the products are made in Vietnam. Normally, businesses selling Christmas goods often provide full Christmas tree decoration services for customers, and from the end of November, they place orders for full Christmas tree decoration. Restaurants, hotels, and businesses place orders for building facade decoration very early. They often choose to decorate on glass with pre-made logo designs, or "contract" the service, so the price is also "multi-faceted", the cost of full decoration ranges from 800,000 - 2,500,000 VND...

As a solemn holiday of the year for Catholics, in the parishes, the decoration and preparation for Christmas are carried out quite busily and thoughtfully. In Nghi Tan ward - Cua Lo town, where many Catholics live, the streets are filled with sparkling colors of lights; grottos, snow-covered pine trees, Santa Claus, and statues of the Virgin Mary... are also brightly decorated by the parishioners right in front of their houses and on the sidewalks. Similarly, in the parishioner village of Anh, Nghi Phong commune (Nghi Loc), for many days now, parishioners have been taking the opportunity to decorate and embellish the Christmas holiday to make it more cozy.

Business opportunity

Grasping the increasing shopping demand of people during Christmas and New Year, businesses have not missed the opportunity to stimulate the market with many forms of promotions and discounts... Not only consumer goods, Christmas decoration accessories but also electronic products such as LCD TVs, electric cookers, electric kettles... have simultaneously "posted signs" of discounts, promotions from 10% - 30% and also given meaningful gifts for the Christmas season. At the end of the year, technology products such as computers and phones are also not out of the race to attract customers by discounting. The motorbike market in the last month of 2014 recorded a quite exciting atmosphere. Most major motorbike manufacturers in Vietnam have promotional programs for models on the market. In order to stimulate year-end shopping, "following" Christmas, supermarkets also organize special shopping programs for consumers, with many attractive discount programs and promotions.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are receiving much attention and anticipation from the public. Therefore, the travel industry also considers this as the peak season to stimulate tourism and expects the number of visitors during this time to increase by 5-10%. This year, the holiday has a long number of days off, promising to boost the tourism and entertainment market. Especially after the State officially announced the number of New Year holidays to be 4 days, the number of visitors registering for tours at travel agencies has increased rapidly compared to November. For domestic tours, visitors are focusing on choosing 3-4 day resort routes such as Sa Pa, Moc Chau, Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hue, etc.

According to Mr. Tran Le Son - domestic tour guide of Vietravel Nghe An: The central coastal routes with the characteristic warm climate all year round are always attractive to tourists from the North. Currently, Moc Chau - Son La (3 days) priced from 1.9 million VND, Sapa (3 days) priced from 3.25 million VND and Ha Giang (4 days) priced from 3.2 million VND are three prominent East-West North routes of the domestic market this year thanks to the schedule associated with sightseeing spots to see white mustard flowers, buckwheat flowers, and Japanese cherry blossoms. In addition, the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway has been put into use, helping to significantly shorten travel time, stimulating many families to go on vacation...

Over the past year, the general purchasing power in the market has decreased, inventory is high, so businesses and shop owners are trying to stimulate consumer demand during the biggest shopping season of the year, hoping that sales will increase. However, with the current difficult economic situation and consumers tightening their spending, businesses still have to make efforts and... wait. The best way to stimulate the market today, according to economic experts, is the connection between "manufacturers - retailers" to directly reduce prices and reduce financial pressure on consumers. In this connection, the policies that retailers put forth must demonstrate to consumers the benefits when they buy that item. In addition, in order for goods to be consumed well, consumption should be stimulated all year round, not just at the end of the year.

Ngoc Anh