Revenues of supermarkets and plazas increased by 200 to 300 percent during National Day, contrary to a previous forecast that purchasing power during the holiday was not likely to be strong.

Revenue of the Pico Plaza, specialising in electric and electronic appliances, rose by 250 percent to almost 10 billion VND (560,000 USD). Best sellers were washing machines, LCD TVs, fridges and air-conditioners.

The Nguyen Kim-Trang Thi plaza saw an increase of 200 percent in turnover, focusing on some promotional and discounted goods.

Along with the plazas, major supermarkets performed well in attracting purchasing power.

The number of customers to BigC Thang Long climbed to 45,000, doubling that of the weekend, which is normal the peak time in any given week.

BigC Vice Director Nguyen Thai Dung estimated this year’s purchasing power among the people would be up 40-50 percent against the same period last year.

Fivimart unveiled a year-on-year increase of 23 percent in revenues during the holiday.

The business circle attributed the impressive results to the supermarkets’ effective promotions of products most-favoured by consumers.

The results are a good sign of economic recovery, according to the circle.

The recovery is expected to be maintained and soar in the final months of the year, when the traditional Tet festival is approaching and month-long promotions are implemented in localities, according to plazas.

Despite difficulties from the global economic crisis, the country’s total revenue from the retail sector saw a high growth rate of 18.4 percent in the first eight months of this year to 743 trillion VND, the Industry-Trade Ministry said.

The retail sector earned 970 trillion VND in 2008./.