Black Friday, originating from the US, has become a popular shopping event in Viet Nam with retailers offering promotional sales to boost revenue while shoppers line up to find attractive discounts.

The excitement could be felt at shopping centres like Vincom and Aeon, as well as stores along shopping streets like Chua Boc, Ba Trieu, Bach Mai, Luong Ngoc Quyen and Pham Ngoc Thach. Online stores were also seeing a wave of customers.

According to Pham Minh Duc, in charge of sales at M2 Fashion which was offering Black Friday discounts of up to 50 per cent at its stores nationwide, the number of shoppers rose by 20-70 per cent on Friday compared to normal days.

The number of shoppers was expected to rise even more in the late afternoon to evening after people finished work. The deals will continue this weekend.

Le Thi Ly, who lives on Bach Mai Street in Ha Noi, said that compared to several years ago, Black Friday was now more popular among Vietnamese retailers and consumers. Discounts were now more attractive and shoppers could buy good products at good prices on this occasion, she said.

However, before buying a product, shoppers should check its quality carefully, she said.

Online shoppers were also hunting attractive deals on e-commerce websites like Lazada, Tiki, Shopee and Sendo and even from foreign websites like Amazon.

According to estimates of Black Friday Global, Black Friday shopping contributed to boost revenues of stores and websites by around 145 per cent on average.

Data from Google showed that internet users searching for Black Friday have doubled every five years.

A survey found that half of Vietnamese citizens would shop on Black Friday this year, up 16 per cent over last year. Around 36 per cent said they would shop at physical stores, 27 per cent would go online and 36 per cent would do both.

Market researcher Doan Dinh Hung said that sales revenue on Black Friday was a test for the health of the retail sector.

According to the Viet Nam Competition Authority, recently Vietnamese retailers and consumers were showing growing interest in Black Friday promotional sales and it had become a popular shopping day.

The authority, however, warned that consumers should choose products carefully, with a focus on quality and after-sales services rather than just low prices.

Vietnamese consumers will also have the chance to shop for discounts on Online Friday 2018 which takes place on December 17. Retailers are targeting revenue of VND1.5 trillion in 24 hours, up by VND300 billion compared to Online Friday 2017.

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the US, the fourth Thursday of November, which is regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. — VNS