Eid brings buying binge
Shoppers rush in and out of Bashundhara City, a hotspot of Eid shopping. Photo: Shafiq Alam
As the Eid approaches, people ride on a buying and selling spree. It is very usual. So British supermarket trader late Jack Cohen's business motto -- pile it high, sell it cheap -- does not work much this season. Sellers pile it high indeed, but obviously do not need to sell it that cheap. And buyers also do not care to buy it high. Because it is the Eid time.
The sales ahead of the Eid, the biggest festival of the Muslims, are gaining momentum as the confident customers already buoyed by political stability, are crowding the city shopping malls. And the crowd is becoming dense in an every new day.
Market operators said good economic climate, improved by huge inward remittance by expatriate Bangladeshis and export of readymade garment, and stable political situation boosted the spending spree of the confident customers.
Even a few years ago many middle class consumers could not buy a branded shirt spending more than Tk 1,500, but now there are more than 50 local brands selling their products at higher prices.
Officials of different brands of garment items said the sales of their products are ever increasing and the number of such brands has been going up to grab the newly emerged fashion conscious customers.
Moreover, people are confident this year for a relatively peaceful political situation and less petty crimes such as snatching and mugging, said the market operators.
Echoing the views of market operators, Iqbal Gani Chowdhury, a young executive of a company, said he is going to spend more this year although the Eid shopping has become more expensive this time compared to that of last year.
"I am a Sylheti man. I have no financial problem. I have a lot of relatives in the UK. I have bought some shirts for my family members and me. I will buy more before Eid," said Gani at Bashundhara City, one of the country's posh shopping malls.
Like Gani, thousands were crowding the shopping complex to purchase their Eid merchandises.
At the Bashundhara City, mainly the young and female customers were seen busy buying their choices, although the shop owners were not satisfied, saying most of the customers are still window shoppers.
The market operators said they are happy as both the Eid and Durga Puja (main religious festival of the Hindu community) will coincide.
"The selling binge has got an extra stroke due to Eid and Puja going to happen almost at the same time," said a shop owner at Bashundhara City.
Sales of festival products especially garments have increased, the market operators said.
A senior official of the Westecs, a local brand of men's garment items, expects that the Eid sales will began reaching the pinnacle after September 16, as the government has already announced closure of all educational institutions for Eid vacation from this date.
"Family shopping is the main attraction for the shop owners ahead of the Eid. It will start after September 16 when all schools, colleges and universities will close for Eid celebration," said the official of the Westecs.
But the existing trend indicates that the sales will be higher this year compared to last year, as the gathering of the customers is very dense, he said.
A salesman at the Yellow, a brand of Beximco Group at the Bashundhara City, said they are happy with the rush of the customers.
"The sales this year are higher compared with the last year's," said the 20-year-old salesman.
A section of customers prefers to complete their Eid shopping earlier to avoid hassles of traffic jam and save time, said Managing Partner of 'Rang', another local brand of dresses, Soumik Das.
Talking to The Daily Star Soumik Das said he was afraid that the customers will not be able to afford their choices this year as the prices of essential commodities went up in the local markets abnormally, putting the people especially of the middle class under pressure.
But, the rush indicates a different trend. Customers are crowding the malls apparently showing that their purchasing capacity has increased, he said.
"The prices of garments are higher this year as the production costs have gone up in the local market," Soumik said.
He said the consumers' behaviour has also changed a lot over the last few years following the economic development of the country. "Now people are more inclined to brand items although those charge high," he said.
Like Bashundhara City, other shopping malls in the city's Gulshan, Naya Paltan, Elephant Road, Mirpur Road, Mirpur, Dhanmondi and Gulistan areas are also pulling the busy Eid crowds.
Shop owners said the demand for local clothes is higher this year as the foreign designs of dresses, especially the Indian designs, have become very common here in Bangladesh over the last few years.
Previously, the demand for Indian designs was high in Bangladesh, but this year local brands are attracting the customers more.
With the mad rush of customers as their capital, the shop owners have collected a lot of new designs this year, said an official of Khan Brothers, a fashion house in the city's Gulshan area.
Like many other fashion houses, Khan Brothers has also collected a huge quantity of such fashionable items as Sari, Kamiz, Lehenga, Panjabi and Sherwani -- waiting to bring a buying binge.
Comments