People shop at BigC Thang Long in Hanoi. Video by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
A large number of customers were seen at 4 p.m. at BigC Thang Long on Tran Duy Hung Road, a popular shopping spot in southwest Hanoi.
This year, many stores are offering 30% off, and some are even offering a “buy one, get one free” policy.
The candy and biscuits section attracted many customers who bought by the kilo.
Thu Thanh, a resident of Cau Giay district, said she had just received her end-of-year bonus and now had time to do some Christmas shopping.
“Tet is only a week away so I am willing to wait a little longer at the checkout,” Thanh said, referring to the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration which begins on February 8 this year.
Many people bought gift boxes containing sweets, jam and wine for a price of 200,000 VND ($8.21).
At 5 p.m., the 20 cash registers were working non-stop. Customers must wait for their turn for 15 to 20 minutes.
Supermarket BigC has pushed its closing time back 30 minutes to 10:30 p.m. to serve a growing number of customers over the festive period.
At Aeon Mall Ha Dong, seven kilometers away, all 30 checkouts were filled with customers, who are encouraged to pack the checkout goods themselves to speed up the process.
Many people were buying jams and dried fruits.
Nuts and jelly also attracted a large number of customers.
Other customers decided to spend their time shopping for heavily discounted clothing.
The mall will remain open until 6 p.m. on Friday, the last day of the Lunar New Year, and until 12 p.m. the following day.
In Ho Chi Minh City, Co.opmart in Thu Duc City saw many waits at checkouts, all with large orders.
The number of customers began to increase at 10 p.m. by about 30% compared to a normal day, an employee said.
Nguyen Ngoc Thang, operations director of Co.opmart, expects the number of customers to increase by 15-25% year-on-year.
The gift basket is currently the best-selling item, he added.
GO! The Go Vap district supermarket was packed at 7 p.m. The outlet offers discounts on pork to stimulate demand.
