Year-end electronics and home appliance market less busy than expected

It is now the high shopping season, but buyers are ignoring electronics and home appliances. Retailers say that consumers are just spending money on key goods, while they haven’t budgeted for appliances.

Despite many sales promotions, home appliance centres in HCM City these days are not as bustling as expected.

Thai Thanh Son, marketing director of Nguyen Kim Trade Company, said that consumers seem to have purchased everything they need a month ago, when retailers launched New Year promotion programs.

In principle, people always purchase new TVs before the Lunar New Year, because Vietnamese people have a tradition of gathering at family parties and watching TV on Tet days.

However, LCD TV sales has been going more slowly than the previous Tet. Nguyen Thi Quyen, deputy marketing director of Thien Hoa Home Appliance and Furniture Centre said that it is unlikely that there will be a product shortage. Producers have launched many models which means more choices for consumers.

While purchasing power has increased just a little in the electronics market, the market for high-tech product remains gloomy. Retailers say sales have decreased, while the value of products people purchase are low.

Chairman of Thanh Cong Mobile told Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon that purchasing power at all the shops of Thanh Cong chain is weak and lower by 30 percent than the same period during previous years.

“It seems that the biggest interests of Vietnamese consumers now are traveling and eating, not purchasing mobile phones,” Bao said.

Mobile phone retailers have said that demand for high grade mobile phones valued at 3-10 million dong is low, just five percent of the total demand – a sharp reduction from the previous year’s 15 percent. The demand for mobile phones priced at 1.5 to three million dong accounts for 20-25 percent, while demand for low cost products is the largest, accounting for 60-70 percent of total demand. That explains why the number of mobile phones sold has increased, but the turnover has decreased.

However, Dinh Anh Huan, marketing director of The Gioi Di Dong, a big mobile phone distributor, still hopes that the market may become more bustling just several days before Tet. He said consumers will shop more after receiving bonuses.

VietNamNet/TBKTSG

Tags: Vietnam electronics market, Vietnam home appliance market