For many people, hotels and entertainment centres are ideal places for festive goers, their friends and family members. Meanwhile, children make the most of the joyful atmosphere and are certainly happy to receive nice gifts from Santa Claus. During these festive days, they want to explore the stories about kind-hearted Santa Claus who loves children and offers surprising gifts to those that are well behaved.

Accordingly, the door-to-door Xmas gift delivery services have recently blossomed in many cities to cater to kids’ diverse tastes. The service is offered by groups of students, florists’ and souvenir shops, with expenses depending on financial capacity of each family.

The colourful shop prepares gifts for customers

Receiving orders in early December, the Colourful shop in Hanoi began to deliver Xmas gifts to the first two customers in the South Thang Long Urban Area in Hanoi. Shop owner Nguyen Thi Hanh said the shop had looked for personnel, mostly students, to play the role of Santa Claus. Among the selection criteria, students must look old, have a big bell and a well developed sense of humour and a love of children.

Following Santa Claus’ footsteps, we went to the two families in the Nam Thang Long Urban Area in Hanoi, where Santa Claus offered gifts to five-year-old children Van Ha and Alba.

“I was so happy to receive gifts from Santa Claus, who even advised me to be a good child and obey my grandparents, parents, and teachers,” said Van Ha.   

Alba’s mother Sophie Nicanlt - a French woman - expressed her thanks to the service as it brought joy for her children.

“We are happy to see my daughter welcome Santa Claus to my house,” said Sophie. “We will be on holiday tomorrow, therefore, the presence of Santa Claus and his gifts today will make them feel excited over the next few days.”

Old-aged pensioner Nguyen Thi Nga in Hang Manh Street, Hanoi, shared the view that in addition to receiving nice gifts, she hopes that children will obey their parents and become good students.

Many businesses capitalised on this service through promotion and marketing activities. In late November, several milk and cosmetics businesses hired Santa Claus to market their products at supermarkets and schools, stirring up children’s curiosity.

After launching the service on December 10, Tien Phong Bookstore at 175 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hanoi, received numerous orders from customers and has had to hire three workers specialising in preparing and wrapping gifts. This year, the bookstore offers a free delivery service if customers buy products at the store worth more than VND100,000. With 30 Santa Claus working from morning till midnight, the bookstore hopes to meet the increasing demand for customers during the festive season.

Nguyen Thi Anh, head of the Tien Phong Bookstore, said this year in addition to chocolate, Santa Claus will offer a special gift to surprise customers, but she refused to say what it will be.

Meanwhile, Phuong Dong Flower Delivery Service did not miss this golden chance to increase its annual revenue. Kieu Hoa, who is in charge of the service, said that the centre began receiving orders at the beginning of December so that its staff had more time to arrange the deliveries on schedule.

This year, businesses are paying special attention to training Santa Claus actors to avoid unwanted incidents such as their getting lost in traffic jams. Last year, many Santa Claus presented gifts later than the time agreed upon in the contract due to congestion and unclear addresses.

Strolling along other Xmas gift delivery centres, VOVNews reporters could see tht many Santa Claus were ready to hit the road. From now on, when you leave your house, you can see white-bearded fat old men in red overalls, carrying large bags of gifts over their shoulders on the way to different homes.

VOVNews reporters Dang Khanh and Manh Hung