High gold price fails to deter shoppers

Photo: AFP

Demand for gold jewelry on the domestic market has not significantly changed despite the fact that the cost of gold has climbed to its highest ever level, according to industry experts.

"In recent days, we have had a large number of customers across the country," said General Director of Bao Tin Minh Chau Joint Stock Co Vu Minh Chau.

Chau added that as the wedding season approached, his company had seen no change in customer volume.

Sai Gon Jewelry Holdings Co (SJC) reported business had remained unchanged.

"The number of people buying wedding jewelry still remains high. However, the number of customers shopping for everyday jewelry is down 20 percent," said Tran Thi Ngoc Suong, head of SJC's Jewelry Department.

To maintain customer volume, gold companies have designed a variety of new products comprising less gold.

"Our company has introduced many new products. We cut down the gold weight so that more customers can afford them," said Chau.

He added that with only about VND1 million (US$52), customers could buy a wedding ring.

"We use modern technology, which helps us produce light weight gold jewelry," he added.

The company has also organized a number of discount promotional programs.

These new methods seem to be working for the gold companies, attracting large numbers of mid-income earners.

"It is a clever choice to buy cheaper wedding jewelry with good design when the gold price is so high," said Van Anh, a customer.

The price of gold on the domestic market has significantly increased. It climbed to VND31.64 million ($1.600) per tael (1.2 troy ounces) on Monday.

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High gold price fails to deter shoppers

Demand for gold jewellery on the domestic market has not significantly
changed despite the fact that the cost of gold has climbed to its
highest ever level, according to industry experts.

"In recent days, we have had a large number of customers across the
country, " said General Director of Bao Tin Minh Chau Joint Stock
Company Vu Minh Chau.

Chau added that as the wedding season approached, his company had seen no change in customer volume.

Sai Gon Jewellery Holdings Company (SJC) reported business had remained unchanged.

"The number of people buying wedding jewellery still remains high.
However, the number of customers shopping for everyday jewellery is down
20 percent," said Tran Thi Ngoc Suong, head of SJC's Jewellery
Department.

To maintain customer volume, gold companies have designed a variety of new products comprising less gold.

"Our company has introduced many new products. We cut down the gold
weight so that more customers can afford them," said Chau.

He added that with only about 1 million VND (52 USD), customers could buy a wedding ring.

"We use modern technology, which helps us produce light weight gold jewellery," he added.

The company has also organised a number of discount promotional programmes.

These new methods seem to be working for the gold companies, attracting large numbers of mid-income earners.

"It is a clever choice to buy cheaper wedding jewellery with good
design when the gold price is so high," said Van Anh, a customer.

The price of gold on the domestic market has significantly increased.
Yesterday afternoon, it climbed to 31.64 million VND (1.600 USD) per
tael (1.2 troy ounces)./.

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• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
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Companies encouraged to know their customers

HCM CITY — People buy products not merely for their utility value, but also for what they mean.

Understanding this and other aspects of consumer behaviour was crucial for Vietnamese enterprises looking to build customer loyalty, experts said at a conference in HCM City last week.

However, the bottom line of quality, durability and convenience of products remained unchanged, and enterprises needed to ensure this before paying attention to competition via promotion programmes, they added.

Participants at the conference, titled "Understanding customer behaviour to be successful in business", agreed that now, more than ever, building customer loyalty was critical for a business to thrive in the marketplace.

"Customer behaviour is the study of processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires," said Prof Ton That Nguyen Thiem, director of Brussels-based United Business Institute's MBA programme in Viet Nam.

He said customers' purchasing decisions were influenced by what a product means or how it projects their personality or defines their place in modern society.

This explained why many local consumers were fond of foreign goods, he said, noting that if local producers wanted to win consumers' hearts, they might find measures to create pride for consumers when they used their products.

"Researching consumer behaviour will help us understand it clearly and scientifically and help managers make better marketing decisions," he added.

Understanding consumer behavior would be a sound basis for developing marketing strategies including product positioning, identifying market segments, developing new products as well as developing brands, said Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, general director of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Company.

Each primary marketing activity would be more effective if it was based on knowledge of consumer behaviour, she said.

To convince customers to use local products, enterprises must display the strengths of their products, not merely call on the patriotism of Vietnamese people, said Vu Kim Hanh, director of the Business Study and Assistance Centre in HCM City.

According to a research on consumer behaviour conducted in HCM City by the Sai Gon Tiep Thi magazine, top concerns for Vietnamese consumers are durability and safety of the products, not their prices.

Customers also tend to pay more attention to the product's brand, model and information listed on the package when they opt to buy it.

Along with the surge in e-commerce, there are now unlimited places for customers to spend their money, especially the youth.

Modern distribution channels, including supermarkets and shopping centres are attracting more customers.

However, long-standing customs and community culture have ensured that traditional channels like local markets and grocery stores still play an important role in the retail sector, the research has found.

This required businesses not only to widen their distribution systems, but also to improve them to reach out to different markets in order to expand their market share, experts said. — VNS

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