Developing civilized and modern trade and services

Determining trade and services as important factors directly impacting socio-economic development, in recent times, the province has paid attention to leadership and direction and proposed many tasks and solutions to commercial and service activities that develop synchronously in both quantity and quality in a professional, civilized and modern direction.

Customers use cashless payments when shopping at the OCOP Phu Tho Trade and Product Fair 2024.

Innovating to improve quality

Since the beginning of the year, commercial and service activities in the province have grown quite well. The commodity market is diverse, people’s purchasing power has increased, especially for food items, foodstuffs, and household appliances. The goods distribution network has developed in both breadth and depth, and service quality has improved. The rapid development in the number and scale of operations of convenience stores, buffet stores, supermarkets, traditional markets, etc. has contributed to promoting the production and consumption of domestic and foreign goods outside the province.

Along with focusing on building a synchronous trade network, shopping centers, supermarkets, and specialized stores have proactively innovated management methods and sales methods in the direction of modernization so that people don’t just stop at shopping but also enjoy entertainment, play, and preferential policies, especially preferential price policies, an important factor in attracting customers.

In recent years, commercial and service activities have developed in a modern direction, increasing convenience, saving time, and safety in shopping thanks to promoting digital transformation. Typically, at the Winmart store system, Winmart+ has applied digital technology in goods management, customer care and business. Mr. Vu Ngoc Trung, Manager of Winmart Supermarket Phu Tho town, said: "Currently, the Winmart supermarket system has applied digital technology to implement product traceability, non-cash payment and the use of the VinID App for customers to shop online. Thanks to promoting sales and introducing products on digital platforms, Winmart has sought and expanded the customer base, and the source of goods is controlled and fully guaranteed to meet consumer needs".

In addition to creating convenience and clearly affirming the origin of the product, the application of digital technology through online sales is also an opportunity for businesses and business units operating in the field of commerce. The service regularly updates price status, ordering methods, product details, promotions, discounts, incentives specific to each customer.

Thanks to implementing innovative solutions and improving service quality, trade and service activities in the first months of the year have prospered. In the first 5 months of 2024, the province’s total retail sales of goods, service revenue and consumption are estimated to reach over VND23,000 billion, an increase of 14.4% over the same period. Of which, retail revenue is estimated at over 19,000 billion VND, an increase of 16%; service, accommodation, and food revenue is estimated at nearly 2,400 billion VND, an increase of 11%; and revenue from travel services and other services is estimated to reach over 1,500 billion VND, an increase of 2.2%. Revenue from retail activities accounts for over 80% of total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the province.

Winmart Viet Tri supermarket sells a variety of products, meeting people’s shopping needs.

Synchronous and effective development

Developing trade and services not only promotes socio-economic development but also creates jobs for local people, contributing to improving and enhancing the quality of life, thus orienting trade development. The province’s trade and services to 2025, with a vision to 2030, are determined to be consistent with the province’s socio-economic development plan and the country’s international economic integration process, in which the tasks The focus is on market development in urban centers and expanding markets in rural, mountainous, and remote areas. At the same time, continue to improve commercial infrastructure to consolidate and improve the business environment and meet the increasingly rich and diverse consumer needs of the people, making a major contribution to the economic growth of the province. Synchronously develop and reasonably distribute the market network, modern commercial infrastructure, warehouse system, and petroleum stores in districts, cities, and towns.

The goal is to strive for total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue to reach an average growth rate of 11.5-12%/year, of which total retail sales of goods and consumer services exchanged through supermarkets, shopping centers, convenience stores, etc. account for about 30–35%.

According to comrade Dang Viet Phuong, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, in order for the province’s trade and service activities to continue to grow, to be a solid “bridge” between production and consumption, to develop commensurate with its potential and the province’s strengths, the Department continues to issue documents directing enterprises, cooperatives, and business households engaged in commercial and service activities in the province to implement production and business planning, research and arrange reserves of essential goods, and arrange appropriate goods supply networks to ensure supply and demand for the people. In particular, the Department also proposed many solutions to stabilize the commodity market: Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of supply and demand for goods, avoiding shortages and sudden price increases...

According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade, the whole province currently has 4 commercial centers, 15 supermarkets, and 197 traditional markets. In addition, the province also has a number of retail systems operating in chains such as Winmart, Mediamart, Mobile World, Dien May Xanh, and over 20,000 other general stores in the area.All levels and sectors continue to research and promulgate support policies to attract investment to develop trade and services; Focus on supporting investors in legal procedures, compensation for site clearance, investment in connecting transport infrastructure, electricity, water, etc. Encourage domestic and international investors to invest in construction, build all types of commercial and service infrastructure, expand the scale of business capital with preferential policies such as tax, credit, land, etc.

Along with that, relevant departments, branches and units coordinate to organize training programs to improve the ability to synthesize and analyze market information, management capacity, and food safety knowledge. products and commercial civilization for businesses and commercial establishments to improve the quality of human resources working in the field of distribution and retail of goods.

At the same time, promote the application of information technology and management software in business activities, especially accessing and applying software and applications in e-commerce business methods on computers and smartphones with utilities such as traceability, non-cash payment, etc., to affirm and improve competitiveness, expand product consumption markets, and aim to develop a stable and sustainable market.

Ha Nhung