Branded goods compete for year-end discounts

Many products that normally cost millions of dong are now discounted to just a few hundred thousand dong.

A survey by VnExpress.net at a number of fashion and cosmetic stores and shopping malls in Ho Chi Minh City shows that most places are offering deep discounts to clear out inventory at the end of the year.

A famous fashion store on Dien Bien Phu Street (District 1) constantly changes its discount board to attract customers. Many products are discounted up to 80%. A bodycon dress previously priced at 1.5 million VND, after a 50% discount, is now priced at 750,000 VND. A stylized shirt priced at 900,000 VND is now only over 200,000 VND...

Children's fashion is on sale for only a few hundred thousand dong. Photo: Hong Chau.

Employees at this store said that thanks to the discount, the number of customers has increased significantly, 3 times higher than usual. "Last year, the store only reduced prices by 50%, but this year, because purchasing power is so weak, we took advantage of the right time to reduce prices to stimulate demand," said an employee at the store.

Rarely do they have year-end discounts, however, this year, a foreign-branded fashion store on Nguyen Huu Canh Street (Binh Thanh) has launched a series of promotional programs with discounts of up to 70%.

"A dress that used to cost more than 2 million VND is now only 1 million VND. This is a designer item so it rarely goes on sale, but to increase purchasing power at the end of the year, the company has reduced the price by 20-70%," said an employee at this store.

At stores specializing in Korean, Japanese, and American fashion on shopping streets such as Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Hai Ba Trung, etc., imported clothes and shoes are also discounted by up to 50%. Many clothing stores, with original prices ranging from 2 to 10 million VND, are now reduced to several hundred to several million VND per product. Shoes are also priced around 600,000-1 million VND....

Clothing products are competing to reduce prices sharply. Photo: Hong Chau.

Besides the stores selling branded goods at the end of the year, large shopping malls such as Vincom, Paskson... also massively discount up to 70%.

At Hoang Phuc fashion store, over 50 product groups are 50% off. Dresses and shirts that cost over a million VND are now only a few hundred thousand VND. For new products, this company offers a 50% discount when buying 2 products. For example, a fur coat costs 6 million VND each, if customers buy 2, the total price is only 6 million VND.

At the children’s clothing store in Vincom, products were also reduced by half compared to 2 weeks ago. Instead of a dress for children costing 800,000-1 million VND, it is now only about 400,000-500,000 VND. There are even products priced at only 200,000 VND.

Assessing the market in the days before Tet, many shop owners said that purchasing power this year is not very vibrant, customers mainly focus on weekends, so the amount of goods sold in the last days of this year is much lower than last year.

"In 2014, my company really faced difficulties. Sales of 4 out of 6 high-end brands that we distribute dropped by more than 40%. Partly because the market is down, partly because the product segment is luxury goods, with picky customers," shared the CEO of a company distributing luxury goods in the top 3 today.

Meanwhile, many customers said that although branded products are discounted, it is not easy to find good products that suit their preferences. Many products are discounted up to 80%, but because they have been imported for a long time, the quality has decreased, or there are no longer types that fit customers' sizes.

According to VnExpress