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LAHORE: Shopping gains momentum a few days before Eid

By Hamid Waleed

Eid shopping has started gaining momentum from Sunday, Ramazan 25, night when leading shopping centres as well as leading brand outlets began registering an encouraging turnout of customers.

The market had been presenting a depressing look over the last few weeks after the October 8 earthquake. However, customers have started visiting shopping malls with a few days ahead of Eid.

“The turnout has started gaining momentum from Sunday night,” said Yawar Irfan from Hang Ten, a leading brand in the country, adding: “But still the sales are not encouraging due to the lack of traditional enthusiasm on the part of customers.”

“We have put off the announcement of a new range of products for winter season because of the gloomy mood in the markets where everyone is depressed because of the devastating earthquake,” Irfan added.

However, Moeed-ur-Rehman, the chief operating officer of Pace Shopping Centre at Main Boulevard Gulberg, said the turnout was good and there was only a marginal difference.

” Generally, the pubic is celebrating Eid festival with austerity and no one is spending heavily on embroidery work and such other fancy work relating to Eid,” he said.

According to him, the spending trend has registered a minor change, as vendors are reporting that buyers are 10 to 20 percent fewer this year. Aslam Khan, a marketing man at Bata (Pvt) Ltd, said the sale of shoes had registered a decrease of 10 percent in Punjab.

However, he said, the sale of Bata had registered a sharp decline of 70-75 percent in northern Pakistan due to the earthquake. Mr Khan said Bata felt no need of reducing prices in order to maintain its market share.

None of the traders in any leading markets of the city has reported a price reduction in order to allure buyers.

“Since the earthquake took place during first week of Ramadan, retailers in the markets had enough time to revise their orders to wholesalers,” said Mr Idrees at Ajwa Garments in Rang Mahal Market.

Asked why the market prices have registered a downward trend due to lower than expected buying trend, Mr Idrees said the traders had withdrawn heavy profits attached to the products under the fear of God, which was rare during previous years’ Eid shopping.

“The profit margins have steeped down by a great margin and put actual price tags to their products in the market, which are already marred with short selling,” he said. Managers at small manufacturing units said fresh orders from wholesalers had registered a sharp decline and they had no option but to close their units till Eid.

“We have little volume of Eid orders, so most workers leave for their home before Iftar,” said Mr Tanveer at Ravi Eva, a manufacturing unit of plastic shoes in Lahore, adding: “Earlier, we used to stay in the factory unit till 4am in order to meet market orders.”

There was a general impression that sale of children garment and toys registered no decline in the market. Assistants at toyshops and children’s garments said they had brought toy prices to normal level despite Eid shopping.

Some Eid Melas have also been organized by the private sector in big hotels where the number of buyers and window-shoppers has been encouraging.

Long queues are being witnessed at bangles, jewellery and imitation jewellery shops.

Vendors at leading grocery stores in the city reported normal buying and selling activity throughout Ramadan. According to them, there was no immediate impact on the sale of grocery items and they expected a continuity of trend even after Eid when the market could register a depression due to rising inflation.

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