City supermarkets say no to price increase by distributors
City supermarkets say no to price increase by distributors
Supermarkets in HCM City have held off pressure from distributors to hike prices.
Nguyen Thanh Nhan, director of Co.opmart, said there would be no price increases in October though many distributors wanted his supermarket chain to raise them.
Nhan told Viet Nam News that Co.opmart could keep prices unchanged because "there was a big volume of goods in stock."
"[But] we are carefully considering the demand from distributors. If they are reasonable, we will discuss with them how to share the burden with consumers."
Any price increase would be gradual, he promised, adding, however, that the prices of goods that have been in price-stability programmes would not be increased.
Duong Thi Quynh Nga, director of public relations at Big C, too said her supermarket would not increase prices in October.
Her supermarket was also examining distributors' demands, she said.
Since the end of last month supermarkets in the city like Big C, Co.opmart, Citimart, and Maximark have been pressured by more than 100 distributors to increase prices by up to 15 per cent in October, mostly of processed foods, cosmetics, and home appliances.
The distributors blamed the need to hike prices on the higher cost of cooking gas, petrol, and raw materials. They pointed out that prices had been untouched since the beginning of the year.
Supermarkets are comparing various distributors' prices to choose the lowest. Many of them agreed that the time was not ideal to hike prices.
They are not only committed to keeping prices stable, but also are planning more promotions.
In the first half of October Co.opmart, Lottemart, and Big C are set to roll out discounts of up to 50 per cent.
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