A shopping centre in Cau Giay District is quiet on Singles' Day on November 11. Photo by Danviet.
Shops along famous fashion streets, including Chua Boc, Cau Giay, and Pham Ngoc Thach, have all set up large banners with big sales announcements. However, few customers are coming.
Shops on Pham Ngoc Thach Street. Photo by Danviet.
A shop assistant at a famous fashion brand on Pham Ngoc Thach Street said that since Sunday, they have offered big discounts, but sales have been very slow.
"Singles' Day is among our big sales events during the year's end shopping season," he said. "But this year, fewer customers are coming than in previous years. Maybe the economic downturn is one reason, and more people are turning to shopping online."
Some big fashion brands, like Uniqlo, Nike, and Adidas, have offered meagre discounts of between 10 percent and 30 percent on old collections, while new arrivals have the same prices.
Photo by Danviet.
Small brands offer more significant discounts of up to 50 percent or more.
A market research officer, Thu Tra, said that Vietnamese people tend to spend more on fashion products on Black Friday or the Tet Lunar New Year Festival than on Singles' Day.
Tra, however, predicted that sales may fall this year compared to previous years due to the difficult economic situation, which has led to many people tightening their budgets.