Vincom Dong Khoi shopping center was choc a bloc with people at opening time. A branded fashion store had a long queue of people waiting to try products.
All Vincom malls extended their operating hours by one hour to 11 p.m. to cope with the rush.
Footwear was one of the categories with the steepest discounts on Black Friday, with many brands offering reductions of up to 80%.
Most customers were office workers who came around lunch time, taking advantage of their break to shop.
As most parking lots in malls were full, some shoppers had to park outside and pay a higher fee.
Tran Hoang Van Uyen, an office worker, had made a list of items and tried to visit as many shops as she could during the one hour she had for lunch.
Nguyen Thuc Trang held more than 10 items on her hands, saying her favorite brands rarely offer discounts and therefore she wanted to take the opportunity to shop for the upcoming holidays.
The handbag section, which had discounts ranging from 10% to 30%, was crowded.
"I really like the handbags here, so I always come during Black Friday to find discounted items,” Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhung (second right) said.
She spent VND800,000 (US$32) on a handbag, down 20% from a normal day, and planned to shop the entire day.
In Hanoi, a Vincom shopping center on downtown Ba Trieu Street was filled with customers since morning.
A wide range of brands, from cosmetics and fashion to household goods, offer 50-70% discounts through Sunday.
Some sports and footwear stores offered “buy one get one” promotions for their new lines of products.
Ngoc Ngan said for around VND1 million she had many options to choose from, and most of them were new models. She was happy with this year’s deals.
Inside many stores, staff were busy helping customers try on clothes and footwear.
Viet, an employee at a fashion store in Vincom Ba Trieu mall, said: "The number of customers this year is higher than in previous years. We’ve tripled our inventory for this event.”
