HCM City (VNA) – Le Minh Tuyen of HCM City, who was choosing a Tet (Lunar New Year) gift hamper to send to a relative in the city's Binh Thanh district, said, "products for this Tet are a🎉bundant, diversified and have more eye✃-catching packaging compared to previous years, especially confectionary and sweets."

Prices are also reasonable, she said, adding that she took advantages of promotions to buy for Tet, which helped her save a lot. Supermarkets and malls in the city are overflowing with a wide variety of products for the upcoming Tet, which falls on February 8 this year. Besides increasing stocks by many times, they are also offering steep discounts on most items ranging from fresh foods and gift hampers to household utensils and fashion products. Co.opmart and Co.opXtra have stocked large quantities of fruits, vegetables, poultry meat, pork, chicken eggs and others. They are offering big discounts on various kinds of meat pies and Chinese-style sausages and a variety of Tet products in a promotional programme until February 7. Hong Anh, Marketing Director of Saigon Co.op, which owns the supermarkets, said the promotion is aimed at helping consumers shop safely and economically for Tet. The two supermarkets sold more than 200,000 Tet gift hampers last month, much higher than last year. The number of customers who have registered for free delivery of gifts has gone up four-fold from last year. Big C supermarket said sales had risen strongly, especially of packaged foods, confectionery, Tet hampers, home appliances, and fashion products. It expects sales to rise further from now through the New Year. The supermarket is offering up to 49 percent discount on thousands of products like confectionary, sweets, beverages, meat pies, dried and processed foods, household utensils, cosmetics, and electronics until February 7. The supermarket has stocked 500 tonnes of fruits, including gold-bullion grapefruits, square watermelons, watermelons engraved with the words "Tai Loc", and bottle gourd-shaped grapefruits. Lotte Mart has increased stocks by 30 percent compared to last Tet, including of canned foods, confectionary, sweets, Chinese-style sausages, and meat pies. It is also offering attractive promotions on hundreds of Tet products like gift baskets and dried fish and shrimp. SC VivoCity has been decorated based on the theme "Tet in three regions" and is organising some traditional New Year-related activities such as sticky-rice cake wrapping classes, calligraphy sessions, a bazaar, a lion dance performance and more. To meet the massive shopping demand, the mall is offering discounts of up to 50 percent on selected items and even offers a Ford Fiesta Sport 1.5L car for a lucky draw. To meet the Tet rush, supermarkets have extended their opening hours as well as increased the number of cashiers to ensure convenience during the country's biggest festival.-VNA