Supermarkets rather than traditional markets seem to be the preferred destination for HCM City Tet (lunar new year) shoppers this year.

Bui Hanh Thu, deputy director of supermarket chain Saigon Co.op, said sales has risen by half ahead of Tet.

People are flocking to French retail chain Big C to buy clothes, confectionery, and dried foods.

Duong Thi Quynh Trang, director of public relations and foreign affairs at the chain, said Big C is offering discounts of 2 to 50 per cent on 1,400 products and keeping the prices of 200 kinds of fresh foods stable.

Many supermarkets have increased the number of cashiers and expanded parking lots to serve the increasing number of customers.

Ngo Van Hai, deputy director of Citimart, said sales had soared, adding that prices are more stable than in past years.

In contrast, many markets are going through a quiet time.

According to the management of Binh Tay (District 6), An Dong (District 5), and Ben Thanh Markets (District 1), sales have plunged compared to Tet time last year.

This is partly owing to the rash of adverse reports about the safety and quality of products – watermelon seeds having carcinogenic substances, unhygienic production of cakes, jam, and candy, and so on – in recent weeks as a result of which buyers are preferring supermarkets.

At supermarkets products are often carefully packaged and branded, which make consumers feel secure, a Ben Thanh Market management official said. However, despite the poor patronage, prices of many products, especially food, have been gradually increasing at the markets.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News