Spending a whole afternoon shopping, a young girl from Hanoi was surprised to find that only a few shops had sales on in the run up to the National Reunification and Labour days.

In previous years, sales had started as much as two weeks ahead of the holidays, but trying to find a good deal on famous shopping streets such as Pham Ngoc Thach, Chua Boc, Cau Giay and Ton Duc Thang was proving difficult, she said.

A member of staff from Tracy 's fashion shop on Ba Trieu street said she had not been informed of any upcoming promotions ahead of the National Reunification and Labour days.

Shop owners explained that they ran promotions throughout the year anyway, and they felt it unlikely that holding one now would be beneficial to them.

The owner of An Linh Shoe Shop on Nguyen Trai street said that she had held a promotion over the Hung King's holiday, but revenue had not increased so she was not going to bother this time.

Lots of people travel at this time of the year, so the number of customers would be down too, she added.

Duc Manh, owner of a shoe shop on Nguyen Thai Hoc street , said promotions he had held in the previous years during national holidays had failed to attract customers.

Customers only cared about the discount, not the occasion, he said.

Some customers, however, said they preferred sales during special occasions, rather than throughout the whole year.

Customers would be confused and unhappy if they could buy discounted products the whole year round without knowing if it was actually a promotion or not, said Thanh Thuy from Cau Giay district. /.