Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - There is more than half a month to Mid-Autumn Festival, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities and provinces, including Hanoi, have implemented social distancing, so there are no shops selling traditional mooncakes on the streets.

Instead, online sales are being carried out by businesses with a variety of products from the common to the high-end.

During the pandemic, the spending power of consumers is limited, which has affected demand.

Mooncake brands have chosen to sell products online and bring goods directly to consumers.

Traditional confectionery companies are promoting online sales through various e-commerce sites with diverse types and prices ranging tens of thousands to several hundreds thousand Vietnamese dong for just one cake.

Dao Tien Thanh, marketing manager of Hai Ha Confectionery JSC, said that the company would approach this year's market completely differently due to the pandemic.

Sales will minimise contact with customers and be replaced by selling through the development of online marketing channels and e-commerce, he added.

To support consumers during the pandemic, most of Hai Ha's mooncake products have maintained stable prices, despite a significant price increase in input materials, he said.

A representative of Maison Mooncake said that the pandemic was affecting most industries and services, including the Maison Mooncake brand.

To prepare for the mid-autumn season, Maison had planned to mass produce new box models for this year to meet market demand and for dealers who have physical points of sale.

However, due to the pandemic, fixed sales agents and points of sale were not allowed to operate, so Maison has promoted online channels to partially meet customer needs and adapt its business plan.

Due to the prolonged pandemic, demand has also dropped significantly, especially as fixed sales agents are not active, which greatly affects sales compared to previous years. 

Along with social distancing, the delivery of goods is also quite difficult, the representative added.

The price of mooncake this year is reasonable, with many diverse options. Consumers can easily find and buy gift combos suitable for gifts as well as family use.

The cake brands of large hotels such as Sheraton, Hilton, and JW Marriott are also selling on their Facebook pages and other e-commerce channels such as Shopee and Tiki.

Besides domestic mooncakes, a large amount are being imported, mainly from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The prices of these imported cakes go from a few hundreds thousand dong to more than 1 million VND (43 USD) per box.

Continuing the trend of previous years, the number of homemade cakes for sale on social networks is growing because under social distancing many workers are not allowed to go out.

Buying cakes online is convenient, just a few steps and the cakes are delivered to your home, ensuring safety against the pandemic.

However, authorities have warned online customers to pay attention to the origin of products, as well as food safety and hygiene./.