Investing a lump sum of money - collecting the minimum amount of change
On weekends, Ben Thanh Market in District 1 receives a large number of people who are mainly tourists. Ms.T, an owner of a confectionery and fruit stall said that purchasing power has declined by more than 50 percent after the Covid-19 pandemic. Each stall in the market has been invested with a total investment capital of billions of dong but collected the minimum amount of change due to a lack of customers. Traders have not received large-volume orders from regular bulk-buying clients from other provinces.
Binh Tay Market in District 6 saw the closure of tens of booths, especially clothing shops.
According to Ms. L, an owner of stall No.895, the market has received a small number of visitors from the beginning of this year to the present, even on weekends, the number of shoppers is smaller than on normal days. If the situation does not improve, she will also close up her shop.
The owner of Phuoc Vinh cosmetic stall said that the store has mainly delivered goods to regular customers and sold products online while old clients have shopped online.
There were just a few tourist groups who came to visit and take pictures, but they didn't make any purchases, Ms. N.A, an owner of confectionery store No.676 added.
Hoa Hung Market in District 10 has also fallen into a situation of “many sellers and few buyers”.
A lot of worries
Ms. V, a longtime trader at Xom Chieu Market in District 4 said that she only earned VND70,000- VND150,000 after deducting the costs. It is even less than a pension.
Owners of the stalls expressed concerns about the information about developing Xom Chieu Market into a modern shopping facility with various additional fees. However, it is not sure that the purchasing power can increase. Binh Tay and Ben Thanh markets mainly attract tourists but traditional customers have significantly dropped compared to before. Previously, the HCMC People’s Committee planned to renovate and upgrade Xom Chieu Market into a commercial center, but the project has yet to be implemented due to funding issues.
An Dong Market in District 5 is one of the markets that was developed into a modern commercial center but it could not attract visitors and saw a weak purchasing power.
The management board of An Dong Market organized live online sales training courses to improve sales skills and boost purchasing power. However, only a few traders have achieved success in managing online sales but the old traders faced difficulty adapting to the new selling methods.
The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade has developed a plan to optimize the system of traditional markets in the city, including a goal of reducing the number of markets to 216. Of these, 199 markets will maintain their situation while 34 others will be cleared, relocated, and changed the use purposes.
According to the plan for HCMC trade development until 2025, with a vision towards 2030, the city will not increase the number of markets in the urban area, and focus on upgrading existing markets to meet the residents’ demand for buying and selling and promoting tourism, changing the use purpose of underperforming markets with an area of 800-1,000 square meters and above.
Deputy Director of the HHCMC Department of Industry and Trade, Nguyen Nguyen Phuong said that reducing the scale of traditional markets that are not operating effectively is inevitable in the current competitive situation. However, business owners must also actively seek different ways to approach customers via multiple social media platforms, improve the quality of services, avoid overpricing, and cheat visitors with low-quality goods. At present, consumers have many options for shopping, so traders need to change to attract clients.
