In mid-December, when the Christmas atmosphere began to spread everywhere, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street (Cho Lon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City), which was considered the "capital" of Christmas decoration, fell into a quiet situation, with no customers shopping.
According to Lao Dong on December 16, along Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street, stores have fully sold Christmas items such as pine trees, Santa Claus, street lights, handles, decorative accessories... at quite "soft" prices, from only a few tens of thousands of VND to about 1 million VND per product.
Many shops also have launch boards, deep discounts, and publicly list prices to attract customers, but the number of customers is still sparse.
In previous years, the Christmas market was deserted, this year it is even deserted. We mainly sell wholesale to other provinces, but orders have decreased sharply, making business increasingly difficult, a trader shared.
According to business households, in addition to general economic factors, there are still many difficulties, floods and natural disasters that have occurred in many localities in recent times have also greatly affected purchasing power. Many customers in the province - which is the main source of consumption - now have to tighten spending and limit shopping for holiday decorations.
Not only sellers are complacent, but buyers also say they need to consider more carefully when spending money on Christmas decorations. Ms. Thuy Linh (residing in Xuan Hoa ward) said that although the market this year has many new products, beautiful designs, and reasonable prices, due to economic difficulties, she only bought some basic items. "My family took advantage of old things from previous years, only bought more pine trees and decorative lights to create a Christmas atmosphere, not daring to invest as much as before," said Ms. Linh.
To stimulate demand, many stores have arranged staff to wear sunscreens and bring chairs out in the middle of the street to greet customers. If the consumer stops the vehicle, the staff will advise and introduce the product on the spot. However, this effort has not yet brought clear results as the number of customers coming to buy is still very small.
In the context of declining purchasing power, many traders expect that the number of customers will increase somewhat in the days before Christmas. However, with the current situation, many stores are concerned that a gloomy Christmas season will continue, causing great pressure on costs and inventories due to the approach of Christmas.
