HCM City consumers favouring cheaper goods amid rising prices
HCM City consumers favouring cheaper goods amid rising prices
Consumers in HCM City are favouring inexpensive brands due to quickening global inflation, encouraging businesses to invest more in affordable products.
Nguyen Thi Hong Dieu, an egg supplier for convenience stores in District 12, told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) Newspaper that due to rising petrol prices jacking up prices of eggs, her income had slowed and she began cutting her family expenses.
“Now I buy just enough food to eat, I stopped buying new clothes and have switched to cheaper, on-sale brands of detergents and shower gel.”
Nguyen Viet Anh from Binh Thanh District told Viet Nam News that his income had not recovered from the COVID pandemic, so he was opting for cheaper food brands that may not be as high quality as what he used to buy.
Local businesses have reported that the recent trend of consumers saving money and preferring cheap brands is affecting their sales in the first half of the year.
They are focusing on market research to come up with new product lines to satisfy new demand.
Nguyen Ngoc An, general director of Vissan, said that the company had been offering sales promotions and making efforts to stimulate customer demand at the cost of profit, but the increase in sales had been low.
“After the COVID-19 pandemic, most consumers’ income has not increased, but since prices are rising, many are switching to cheap brands. Some have even stopped caring a lot about quality and food safety. Food businesses are finding that affordable product lines are selling better than others.”
Food businesses such as Vissan were producing and developing more affordable food products while trying to maintain their quality, and this would require investment in new technologies, he said.
Dinh Quang Khoi, head of MM Mega Market marketing department, said that the supermarket was taking part in HCM City’s massive sales promotion with 447 other businesses, which was providing a great boost to its revenue.
However, this would not persist after the promotion ends July 15, so retail chains should develop their own personal product brands to keep customers and maintain a good relationship with manufacturers amid rising prices, he said.
Vo Hoang Anh, private label director of Saigon Co.op, said that consumers were getting more price-sensitive and favouring affordable brands.
Retail companies were heavily affected by the drop in customer demand, but their own personal product brands were seeing higher growth compared to the general market, he said.
