As the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday approaches, more and more people are finding supermarkets and shopping centres more convenient as modern urban life means they have neither the time nor the inclination to go to traditional markets.

“To save time, I have being going shopping in the supermarket for a long time, it has become a habit of mine,” said Hong Mai, a patron of Fivimark.

Shoppers can buy whatever they like in supermarkets, where they can find various goods, including specialties from across Vietnam, of good quality and at reasonable prices, she added.

Pham Hoang, a resident of Nguyen Du Street, said that his family considers supermarkets and shopping centres as attractive places to visit together.

The transformation of the shopping habits of Vietnamese people is especially seen on days near the Tet holiday, when most supermarkets in Hanoi are crowed, even overloaded.

The number of customers has recently grown by 20 percent compared with the average figure and numbers rise at the weekends, said Pham Tuyet Mai, the manager of a Unimart supermarket, adding that commodities such as wine and sweets are the most popular as they are often used as gifts during the Tet festival.

Currently, more and more online shops are also helping today’s customers, especially young people, to save time.

Thanh Ha, leader of an online website named VDCsieuthi.vnn.vn, said that her website gets dozens of orders every day, mostly from businesses.

Vietnam’s consumer rate in supermarkets and shopping centres increased from 9 percent in 2005 to 14 percent in 2007 and is expected to rise by 24 percent in 2010, according to the Vietnam Retailers’ Association.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, purchasing power during the lunar New Year in 2010 will increase between 20 and 40 percent and some commodities such as foodstuffs and electronic appliances may even rise as much as 40 percent.

Vietnam now has over 140 supermarkets, 20 shopping centres and one million square metres of shopping areas./.