Eid sales gaining momentum
Mohammad Wazed Ali | Monday, 13 June 2016
Eid sales have started gathering momentum at different city markets and shopping centres as one of the greatest festivals of the Muslims nears, traders said.
During visits to some key markets and shopping malls including New Market, Bashundhara City, Elephant Road, Bailey Road and Farmgate more rush of customers was witnessed in outlets dealing in garments of ladies, gents and children.
The sellers said sales have been gradually increasing since the first day of Ramadan.
Traders, however, said the transaction on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr would pick up in the days ahead.
"Actually, the price this year is slightly higher than that of the last year and varies according to the quality. We deal in only women's collections and at our shops there are products of different price ranges. The prices of three-pieces range from Tk 800 to Tk 5,000 and those of sari from Tk 600 to Tk 9,500," Ratan Kumar Paul, a trader of New Market, told the FE.
Mohammad Nayeem, the owner of Adnan Fashion in Gawsia market, said sale has been increasing from the first day of Ramadan and this year their business seems better than that of the previous years.
"It is only the beginning of the month of fasting; customers have just started coming for Eid shopping and it will take some more days to witness peak selling on the occasion", Nayeem added.
Gopal Pal, who runs a shop of sari at Gawsia market, also expressed his satisfaction that the response of customers is better than that of the last year.
"Last year, we did not notice such presence of customers at the beginning of Ramadan which gives us hope that we are going to have some good days ahead," he added.
S H Pintu, owner of Navil Fashion House at Bashundhara City, said Eid-related sales usually start from the first day of Ramadan but it takes some more days to witness peak selling.
"On Friday and Saturday of the first week of Ramadan we had a large number of customers which is a good sign for us indicating that full-fledged selling is going to start very soon," he added.
Meanwhile, footpath-based traders are also experiencing increased sales. Some hawkers of the New Market area said that their sale started to increase from the previous weeks and hopefully it will rise to a great extent after some days.
One the other hand, customers' perception is different in this case. Most of the customers think that the prices of products will be higher with the nearing of the Eid; so to get the best collections buying earlier is the best strategy.
A good number of shoppers were seen searching for clothes at different outlets of the city markets.
Towshik Ahmed, a student of Dhaka City College, shopping at New Market said he has already completed most of his Eid sopping. To him, buying at the beginning of Ramadan gives some advantages --- prices of the products are more or less the same as those of the normal times; there are a lot of alternatives and, above all, the market is not overcrowded.
Sumaiya Islam, a university student, who came for Eid shopping on Bailey Road said in case of Eid shopping she always likes to buy at the first week of Ramadan for a number of reasons.
"I think new additions, uncommon and beautiful Eid collections can be found at the beginning of Ramadan. Besides, before Ramadan 10 or 15 the shops remain less crowded which gives customers the opportunity of spending extra time to assess the quality, have bargaining options and buy products at a cheaper rate than that of the last days of Ramadan," Sumaiya added.
However, most of the Eid shoppers also claimed that prices of all kinds of products are higher this year than those of the last year.