Practical gifts attract customers during the October 20th holiday.
(Baonghean.vn) - Instead of expensive imported bouquets and fruit baskets or high-value gift sets, this year, affordable flower arrangements and simple, practical gift packages are attracting many customers.
Fresh flowers seem to be an indispensable gift for holidays related to women. Therefore, in the days leading up to Vietnamese Women's Day, flower shops display many beautiful flower arrangements at various price points.
Ms. Ha, an employee at Xumi flower shop on Nguyen Van Cu Street (Vinh City), said: “This year, due to the difficult economic situation, although purchasing power has increased compared to normal days, it is still weaker than in previous years. Most buyers choose bouquets and flower arrangements at affordable prices, so the shop has prepared a large quantity of bouquets priced from 300,000 VND. Flower prices have increased slightly closer to the holiday compared to normal days, but the shop is still trying to maintain stable prices to attract customers.”
Anticipating a decline in purchasing power due to the overall economic difficulties, Ms. Mai Hien, owner of an imported fresh fruit shop on Nguyen Van Cu Street, is only importing a limited amount of goods. And high-end fruits and flowers are only produced upon pre-order.
"In previous years, at this time, orders worth millions of dong were quite common, with flower arrangements priced at 1.2-1.5 million dong and fruit baskets at 1-3 million dong… but this year, such luxury orders are quite rare. Therefore, instead of importing expensive flowers, we import domestic flowers at affordable prices, targeting a general customer base," said Ms. Mai Hien.
Accordingly, potted lavender and domestic roses, priced from 180,000 to 220,000 VND, are very popular due to their reasonable price, fragrance, longevity, and uniqueness compared to fresh flowers in arrangements. Therefore, the number of customers is quite high. “Just yesterday, our two stores sold about 150 pots of lavender to agencies and organizations as gifts for their female employees. The store also had to mobilize three additional part-time staff to serve customers,” Ms. Mai Hien shared.
With tight economic conditions, buyers tend to look for practical gifts that women appreciate more, such as cosmetics, fashion items, and jewelry. Therefore, gift products are very popular these days.
Ms. Nguyen Thuy Chi, owner of an imported cosmetics shop on Nguyen Duc Canh Street, said: Consumers are increasingly opting for useful gift items such as lipstick, powder, perfume, and shampoo… Although imported goods are not cheap, they are highly practical and essential for women, making them popular with customers.
In addition, to best serve our customers, we have also tried to find discounted items and apply discount codes so that customers can buy products at the best prices. During the week of Vietnamese Women's Day, store revenue increased by 50-70% compared to normal days.
Observations at many fashion stores show a bustling shopping atmosphere, not only due to discount programs for October 20th, but also because the weather is starting to get colder these days, increasing shopping demand.
This year, for the October 20th holiday, the market for goods and services was generally diverse, abundant, and of good quality. While purchasing power increased slightly, it remained relatively sluggish. In particular, affordable and practical gifts were popular choices.
At this time, most stores selling items such as handbags, shoes, clothing, perfumes, cosmetics, and jewelry are running discount programs ranging from 10% to 50% or even higher to stimulate consumer demand and boost sales in the final months of the year.
