HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Delivery services providers in HCM City areworking hard to meet the surge in demand in the run-up to Tet (Lunar New Year),the year’s biggest holiday.

Tran Thi Thu Thao, a clothing store owner in District 3, said the number ofbuyers as well as requests for home delivery had increased by two to threetimes compared to an average day.

Le Diem Hang, a shipper from District 4 in HCM City, said “on a normal day, Ideliver about 40 to 50 packages. But a few weeks before Tet, I delivermore than 100 packages around HCM City, so I drive hundreds of kilometres.However, I earn more than 1 million VND (45 USD) a day.”

Lan Anh, an accountant living in District 3, is over-worked as the Lunar Yeardraws to a close. She has plenty of reports to finish and very little time tospare for shopping, even for the most traditional, must-have food items for Tet.

For professionals like her, online shopping is a boon. Ordering and payinghave become easy and convenient.  

Many consumers have said that the hectic year-end schedule keeps them so busythat they can’t go shopping.

But the development of e-commerce and e-payments is helping them avoid going tostores or supermarkets. Now, without leaving their office or home, they canplace orders online and wait for goods to be delivered at home.

“To prepare for the New Year, I have ordered some traditional dishes from thecentral region, like pickled scallion, salted figs and papaya shrimp sauce,”Lan Anh said.

With Vietnam boasting a large internet community and a young, digital-savvypopulation, the domestic e-commerce market is buzzing with activity ahead ofthe upcoming festival.

Phuong Anh, a resident in HCM City’s Binh Thanh district, said he had purchasedsome products via e-commerce after seeing many sellers advertise their goods onthe social network.

“I bought everything for the upcoming holiday from e-commerce. I can shop andcomplete my work at the same time as all the transactions are conducted online.I just wait for the bills and goods brought to my house,” she said.

As the nation pushes its way to modernisation and deeper internationalintegration, online shopping is set to become a habit for many. This isfacilitated by several factors including diverse services and products, fasttransaction speeds, quick payments and attractive promotions.

Nguyen Thanh Tu, a professional shipper in District 3, said that during the twoweeks before the holiday, he received around 500 to 600 delivery orders."I have to ask my family’s members to share the work with me.”

Many residents from the provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta have come toHCM City to work as shippers to increase their income before Tet. However, many delivery firms and supermarket still face a shortage ofworkers.

Nguyen Anh Duc, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co.op, said that to ensuredelivery service, the supermarket arranged 10 shippers for each supermarket and18 shippers for each large supermarket. However, his company has to work withGrab if there are too many delivery orders.

For private and small businesses, they are working with professional deliveryfirms such as GHN, J&T and MrSpeedy to ensure their orders.-VNS/VNA