Purchasing power decreased, fashion shops in Nghe An imported goods sparingly.
The weather is gradually turning hot, summer fashion in Nghe An has been put on the shelves to serve consumers. However, purchasing power has clearly slowed down, shop owners are cautious about importing goods...
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Walking around fashion stores on major streets such as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Nguyen Van Cu, Truong Thi (Vinh City), one can see that summer designs have begun to be displayed. However, the shopping atmosphere is quite quiet.
“The products have been on the shelves for a month now, but sales are very low. Most customers only come to look at the designs, ask for prices, and try on clothes, but very few buy. Revenue has decreased by 50-60% compared to last year,” said Nguyen Thuy Trang, owner of a famous women’s fashion shop on Nguyen Van Cu Street.
The same situation also occurs in men's and children's fashion stores. "Normally, the transition season is the peak time for fashion businesses. Especially children's fashion, because they are growing up, each year they increase in size, requiring new purchases.
However, this year, even though the weather has turned to summer, the number of customers is only sparse, there are days when there are no orders at all," said Ms. Tran Mai Phuong, owner of a children's clothing shop on Hong Bang Street (Vinh City).
After the Tet holiday with many large expenses, in addition to economic difficulties and reduced income, many consumers have proactively cut down on non-essential expenses - including clothing purchases. According to some store owners, not only has the number of customers decreased, but the average spending for each summer fashion order this year has decreased by 30-50% compared to the same period last year.
Purchasing power has decreased, so stall and shop owners have also imported goods sparingly. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Lan - owner of a women's fashion stall at Vinh Ga market said: "Every year, right after Tet, we research summer fashion trends and around this time I have imported 3-4 new batches, each model of dress, shirt, pants takes dozens of pieces.
This year, we only dare to import in moderation, only taking 1-2 of each model to "warm up" the market, if customers close the order, we will take more. Because sales are slow, we dare not keep the goods, capital stagnates, and we lose money.
The economy is in trouble, so consumer shopping behavior is gradually changing. Instead of spending a lot of money on trendy fashion items, many people choose to buy clothes that are “enough to wear” and “affordable” – especially the group of ordinary workers, students, housewives, or young civil servants.
If in previous years, high-end fashion models of famous brands were quite "popular", designer goods, exclusive models, Korean - Japanese trends were popular, then this summer, affordable, cheap fashion is dominating.
Mr. Ngo Van Tuan Anh, a customer, said: "Before, I only bought branded goods, but now I switched to domestic designer goods, which are half the price but still beautiful and comfortable to wear."
Grasping consumer tastes, fashion shop owners have also shifted to the affordable segment. On bustling fashion streets such as Minh Khai, Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Van Cu (Vinh City), it is not difficult to see shops hanging signs "Same price 79K", "Combo 3 items 199K", or "Sale of the whole shop from only 59K".
Ms. Nguyet Nam - Owner of a chain of men's and women's fashion shops on Ly Tu Trong Street (Vinh City) said: "Previously, I sold high-end Guangzhou goods. In the past three years, I have imported domestic or Chinese goods with good prices, simple designs, and easy to wear.
What is special is that this year's popular fashion has improved designs, using light, airy materials such as cotton, linen, cool elastic... with minimalist color combinations, easy-to-wear forms. That helps consumers, even though they "buy cheaply", still have a good aesthetic experience.
In addition, fashion shops are simultaneously launching flexible stimulus measures to clear inventory, rotate capital and retain customers. In Vinh City, a series of fashion shops have hung signs saying “clearance sale at the same price”, “50-70% off”, “buy 2 get 1 free”, and some even include lucky draw coupons and early summer lucky money… to stimulate shopping.