Many supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City are entering the peak of summer consumer stimulus with a series of deep discount programs for food, beverages and heat-resistant items. Real-world records show that purchasing power at many supermarkets is increasing thanks to prolonged promotions, helping people both save spending and actively shop for their families in the context that prices of many items are still high.
At a supermarket on Ly Thuong Kiet street, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang (Phu Tho ward) said: "My family usually buys more drinks, ice cream and fruits this season. Seeing the supermarket deeply discounted, I took the opportunity to buy more for my family to use" - Ms. Hang said.
Similarly, Mr. Quoc Hung (An Lac ward) said that discount programs at this time help consumers reduce spending pressure when many other living expenses still increase.
Representatives of supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City said that a series of products serving the needs of cooling and supplementing summer energy are being simultaneously deeply discounted so that consumers can easily store for their whole families in hot days. Notably, more than 1,000 essential consumer products are also discounted up to 50%, aiming to both stimulate shopping demand and support people to optimize spending in the summer.
According to data from the Ho Chi Minh City statistics agency, in May 2026, the city continued to implement many trade promotion and consumer stimulus programs with the participation of many businesses. Promotional and discount programs with diverse designs have contributed to promoting purchasing power and increasing retail and service revenue.
Total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in May are estimated at 164,650 billion VND, up 3.8% compared to the previous month and up 14.2% compared to the same period last year. In general, in the first 5 months of 2026, total retail sales of goods and service revenue reached nearly 800,000 billion VND, up 12.8%.
In which, the retail sector increased by 16%, accommodation and catering services increased by 14.3%, travel services increased by 8.2% and other services increased by 8.9%. These figures show that purchasing power in the domestic market is gradually recovering thanks to stimulus programs and summer shopping activities.
However, price pressure is still an issue of concern to many consumers. The consumer price index (CPI) in May 2026 increased by 0.27% compared to the previous month, with 9/11 commodity groups increasing in price. Among them, the transportation group increased the most with 1.06%, followed by the housing and construction materials group increasing by 0.67%.
In the opposite direction, the food and food services group decreased by 0.16%, while the equipment and household appliances group decreased slightly by 0.06%.
Dr. Pham Viet Thuan - Director of the Institute of Economics, Natural Resources and Environment, said that to remove difficulties and promote consumption, there needs to be appropriate policies for business households. He proposed that a fixed tax policy should be applied to households with revenue from 1-5 billion VND per year in the direction of paying license tax, and at the same time encourage business households to self-declare and self-pay taxes on actual revenue at a percentage rate and register to issue electronic invoices when needed.
In addition, according to the expert, it is not necessary to require invoices for all goods transactions, but it is necessary to have documents recording the origin of products to serve state management work.
Regarding the goal of stimulating consumer demand in the last months of the year, Mr. Thuan proposed that management agencies study reducing the value-added tax on essential goods to 0% to support businesses and consumers, thereby reducing inflationary pressure. In addition, it is necessary to review fees and charges to consider appropriate exemptions and reductions, creating conditions for the retail market to continue to recover.
