Sales campaigns not luring customers to shops The year-end sale season has not been as busy as in previous years, with many big sale campaigns in large cities attracting only window shoppers. The boards with the words “buy one and get one more free” are hung over the entrance of fashion stalls at a large shopping mall in Hanoi. Lotte, the retailer from South Korea, has launched a year-end sale promotion campaign at 300 stalls. Meanwhile, at The Garden and Parkson chains, the 20-50 percent discount rates have been applied to many products. Trang Tien Plaza, in the central area of Hanoi and closed for months for restructuring, is going to open again, targeting middle-class customers, not just high income earners as before. However, observers say the sale campaigns have not attracted urbanites, who are continuing to try to fasten their belts in the economic recession. High end shopping malls still cannot attract buyers, despite big discounts. Mai Thu Hien, an office worker in Thanh Xuan District in Hanoi, noted that the products advertised as “dirt cheap” are still too expensive for her. “I came to a shop, planning to buy some clothes for my son after I heard about the 50 percent sale-off there. However, in fact, the prices have decreased by 10-30 percent only,” she said. “Meanwhile, the products affordable to me were out of date.” Thu Ngan, a media executive at an ad firm, noted that the price cuts have not been large enough in the sale season. Ngan and her office co-workers went to shopping malls last Black Friday, but could not find anything good to buy. “Branded goods in Vietnam are always more expensive than in Thailand and Singapore,” she noted. “You would be better to order online from foreign websites and then pay for shipment. You would get products at reasonable prices and high quality,” she added. The general director of a retail chain admitted that purchasing power is very weak with sales “standing still”. “The only solution to stimulate demand is to cut selling prices,” he said, adding that this is a must, even though manufacturers and distributors have to sell products at cost. “In fact, shopping malls have been deserted since 2013,” he said. Hang Da Galleria in the central area of Hanoi remains deserted, though its management board has tried to attract merchants by exempting them from the kiosk rents. The Hanoi Industry and Trade Department predicts that total retail sales in 2014 will be 13 percent higher than that in 2013. D. Anh, VietNamNet Bridge