Valentine's Day gifts are diverse, but purchasing power is not high

Only selling gifts on Valentine's Day, this year, Ms. Bui Khanh Nhu (Bui Huy Oanh Street, Vinh City) invested more than 30 million VND to import imported chocolates, teddy bears, and wax flowers to sell. However, until now, on February 13, she has only sold less than half of the imported goods.

“There have been 5 Valentine sales seasons but none have been as sluggish as this year. Goods were imported and put up for sale before Tet but so far have only sold less than 20 million VND worth of goods. Wax flowers and teddy bears can still be sold on March 8, October 10 or other days of the year, but chocolate is considered a loss,” said Ms. Nhu.

Not only chocolate shops but also flower shops in Vinh city are quite deserted. The reason is that this year Valentine's Day falls on the 5th day of Lunar New Year, most people are returning to their hometowns to celebrate Tet, people are going on spring trips so this holiday is "forgotten". On the other hand, because they have just bought flowers for Tet, on this occasion, in families, there are still quite a lot of fresh flowers. Only a few people buy roses to give to their lovers and wives.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong, owner of a flower shop on Nguyen Van Cu Street (Vinh City) said: "With many years of experience in the flower business, I can predict the market, so I only import a small amount of Da Lat roses, limiting imported roses. Roses for this holiday season are not too expensive, but there are few beautiful flowers. The number of customers is also low, mainly individual customers buying baskets, bouquets or 1 flower, so revenue has decreased by 70% compared to last year's holiday season."

Other gift items such as: Fashion, shoes, cosmetics... are also quite quiet. The reason is that people have just gone through a rather expensive Tet shopping period, while the economy is difficult this year so luxury gifts such as expensive perfumes and cosmetics are not chosen by many people.

On the other hand, this year’s Valentine’s Day falls on the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, when people are busy arranging work and returning to the city to work after the Tet holiday, so it is not given much attention… In addition, many people give gifts to their other half along with Tet gifts, so on this day they no longer buy separate gifts. This also causes the revenue of gift traders to decrease significantly.

However, on this occasion, gold jewelry such as necklaces and couple rings are selling quite well. Ms. Pham Hoai My Kim, owner of a jewelry store in Dien Chau town, said: "Usually in previous years, the store opened on the 6th day of Tet, but this year, in anticipation of Valentine's Day, we opened the store on the 3rd day of Tet. In the past 2 days, the store sold a lot of couple rings, heart-shaped necklaces, engraved rings... to young couples and couples in love."

Nowadays, the trend of giving Valentine gifts as souvenirs is decreasing. Instead, people often give their other half gifts that match their preferences and are highly practical. For example, clothes, perfumes, skin care cards, jewelry or travel trips. Therefore, the market for souvenirs such as stuffed animals, wax flowers, etc. is increasingly gloomy and sluggish.

According to experienced business people, Valentine's Day often coincides with or is close to Lunar New Year and International Women's Day, so gift giving is not given much attention. On the other hand, the gift market is increasingly diverse and rich. Each person has many options when looking for gifts for their other half on Valentine's Day.

Therefore, traditional gifts such as artificial flowers and stuffed animals no longer attract much attention. Therefore, before importing goods, you should consider carefully, import a small quantity to test the market, and when it sells, buy more. You should not import large quantities, especially goods that are only sold on Valentine's Day, and are quite expensive, such as chocolate. Only buy them if there is a pre-order or a prior survey.