Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - With traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City strugglingamid the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more of their shop owners are looking tosell their goods on online channels such as delivery apps and social media.

According to the management of Ben Thanh Market in District 1, most stallsexcept those selling fresh produce have few customers, especially handbag,clothing and handicraft shops.

Demand has dropped by 80 percent compared to the same time last year, andaround half the stalls remain closed.

An Dong Market in District 5 is suffering a 90 percent drop despite a recentrenovation that has greatly improved its appearance.

Nguyen Thanh Chau, head of the management of Thai Binh Market, said sales weredown by half and some stalls that closed down had not even reopened for Tet.

Traders learn online selling

Traders in markets have been looking at selling online. Truong Thi Hue, who sellsclothes at An Dong Market, said for the past two months her daughter had beenshowing her how to use Facebook and Vietnamese social media Zalo to sell herproducts.

Nguyen Thi Thai Trang, another clothes seller in the same market, said aftershe took part in an online Cho Lon Market fair last September, she was able tonetwork with many businesses, including Co.opmart, which greatly benefited herbusiness and her employees.

She has asked An Dong Market also to organise online market fairs.

Foodstuff, fruit and vegetable traders in Ben Thanh Market are selling theirproducts via delivery service Grabmart.

Duong Thi Thanh Thuy, a confectionery seller there, said while her familybusiness had been relying on customers and tourists over the last 60 years, shenow had to make use of technology.

According to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, a beo (water fern) cake seller in the market,doing business through food delivery service Now.vn boosts her income by around30 percent helping it survive COVID-19.

Some traders said selling online had not been profitable so far since it wasstill new to them, but, nevertheless, these were new channels and in the longrun could be more profitable.

Ben Thanh Market is working with the District 1 Information Technology Centreto improve its website to help traders sell their goods online.

Tran Huy Cuong, director of District 5’s Centre for Economic Development andLabour Supply Assistance, said the district had organised online fairs to helptraders get used to using online channels. They were also being taught how touse social media to sell their goods, take photos and write about theirproducts, he added.

According to Associate Professor Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the city FoodSafety Management Board, many Tet food items are being sold online, a low-costmethod that limits close contact during the pandemic, but safety risks areinvolved since there are no checks.

While traders on large online platforms are monitored, small ones that operateon social media such as Facebook are not well monitored, and so customersshould look for trustworthy sites to shop.

The city reduced shop rents in traditional markets by half for the last sixmonths of 2020./.