Consumer goods market: Abundant supply, stable prices

(Baonghean) - In the first 9 months of 2014, the consumer price index increased by 3.45% compared to the same period last year. There are many reasons for this low index, but mainly because the price increase of many essential consumer goods groups is insignificant, market prices in recent months have been quite stable.

Walking around some central markets in Vinh City, it is easy to see that the supply of consumer goods is quite abundant, the trading pace is basically stable, and there are few fluctuations in prices. Currently, the wholesale and retail prices of vegetables, tubers, and fruits are decreasing compared to the beginning of September; food and fresh food products have not changed compared to the beginning of the year. According to the Vinh Market Management Board, since the beginning of the year, the amount of goods from provinces and cities pouring into the market has been steady and not "interrupted", so prices have not fluctuated as erratically as in previous years. In particular, the price increases of essential goods such as gasoline, gas, and electricity at the beginning of the year have not greatly affected the prices and business situation of small traders. In addition to stabilizing the prices of essential goods, the supermarket system also organizes many promotional programs for customers with a value of hundreds of millions of VND. With 3 promotional programs at the same time in September, namely "Loving Family", "Joy in the Kitchen", "Warm Mid-Autumn Festival", Big C Nghe An Supermarket attracts customers at all times of the day with a large number of cheap promotional products, accumulating points on shopping cards.

Customers shop at BigC Vinh supermarket. Photo: Thanh Le

To stimulate the market and boost purchasing power, fashion clothing companies are also simultaneously displaying discount signs to clear out inventory. For technology products, promotions, discounts, and gift giving programs are "run" regularly, without having to wait for holidays, New Year, openings, or the change of seasons. Service industries are also bustling with many customer appreciation activities. Mr. Le Xuan Thang, in charge of business at FPT shop, said: "For products imported for more than 3 months, our store will discount 10% on each product"... According to statistics from the Trade Management Department - Department of Industry and Trade, from the beginning of 2014 until now, the department has approved 32 lucky draw and lucky draw promotion programs (an increase of 30% compared to 2013), with prizes worth more than 1.8 billion VND; received over 3,700 promotional announcements, total prize value is over 30 billion VND.

In addition, to stimulate consumption, many business plans have been implemented by functional sectors and enterprises. Ms. Nguyen Hong Lam - owner of Huy Lam Private Enterprise specializing in distributing cooking oil, instant noodles, soft drink seasonings, and milk in Vinh City and Cua Lo said: "To increase revenue, increase profits and avoid backlogs, we choose to have a team of employees "drive" to deliver goods directly to small retail stalls. With this sales method, businesses will reduce costs, grasp the actual demand for each type of product to adjust service methods more appropriately."

Since the beginning of the year, Nghe An Trade Promotion Center has organized 4 Vietnamese goods fairs in Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Que Phong and Thanh Chuong districts with more than 20 enterprises from inside and outside the province participating; each fair has about 30 booths with a variety of goods; such as HacoPro household appliances, An Thinh supermarket electronics, Cuong Ngan fish sauce, Nghi Duc wine...; estimated to attract about 5,000 - 7,000 visitors to shop every day. In addition, at the beginning of September, the Trade Management Department, Department of Industry and Trade also organized a trip to bring Vietnamese goods to Thai Hoa town with 6 participating enterprises...

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hung - Director of the Trade Promotion Center said: “The fairs are organized every year to respond to the campaign of “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods”; support people to access Vietnamese goods and services at affordable prices, guaranteed quality and receive specific advice on product information. For businesses, participating in the fairs is an opportunity to promote and introduce images and products to consumers, and at the same time learn about the shopping habits of local people, thereby fully and best assessing the advantages of each region and locality to come up with suitable plans for the development of their distribution network. In addition, through the fairs, businesses also consume a large quantity of goods because the shopping demand in rural and mountainous areas is very large”.

According to the assessment of the Department of Industry and Trade, the market price of goods in the first 9 months of the year in our province is relatively stable. Supply is always abundant, consumer demand is still not high, purchasing power is low. The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 3.45% compared to the same period last year. Total retail sales of goods in the first 9 months of 2014 are estimated at 25,742.2 billion VND, up 11.32% compared to the same period last year. By retail group, the food and foodstuff group accounts for the largest proportion with revenue in the period estimated at 7,683 billion VND (accounting for 29.85% of the total), up 12.92% compared to the same period last year; the group of household appliances, tools and equipment reached 3,511.1 billion VND, up 11.68%; the group of wood and construction materials reached 2,939.7 billion VND, up 21.17%; Means of transport is 3,467.9 billion VND, up 13.84%....

As a rule, in the last months of the year and before Tet, the demand for goods for production and consumption increases sharply. Many projects and works accelerate the progress of implementation and construction. People have a high demand for building, repairing houses, and shopping. The weather and livestock epidemics are complicated... The above issues will strongly affect the supply-demand relationship of goods, increasing the overall and local "demand" of the market. If the supply is not met in time, prices will be pushed up spontaneously and uncontrollably, causing market instability. To ensure that the commodity market in the last months of the year does not fluctuate, and that purchasing power in the market is improved in a sustainable direction, in addition to the directional solutions of State agencies, businesses must be aware of their roles, responsibilities, and ethics in production and business. At the same time, actively participate in industry associations to support each other in production and consumption of products, ensuring the balance of supply and demand of goods. Along with that is the attention to investment, innovation in production technology, improvement of designs to improve quality, reduce product costs; focus on building brands to increase competitiveness in the market, establish a distribution system to expand the product consumption network to consumers. Industries and functional forces need to strengthen market control, strictly handle acts of speculation, hoarding, unreasonable price increases, and commercial fraud. Manage price posting and selling at listed prices, strictly control the quality and food hygiene and safety of goods.

Ngoc Anh