By Joey Aguilar
Leading hypermarkets and supermarkets in Qatar have started offering special discounts on various items for their year-end promotions.
A department store is offering 20% to 50% discount on garments, sarees, churidars, footwear, ladies bags and toys. The sale started yesterday with a large number of shoppers thronging the outlet.
While there are no special discounts for laptops, tablets and mobile phones, most stores offer gift vouchers ranging from QR100 to QR250 for every item purchased.
An electronic shop gives free power packs and other accessories for every purchase of a smartphone.
One of the salesmen told Gulf Times that his outlet recorded huge sales of televisions a week before December.
“Many of them were expatriate workers, who wanted to take bigger screens back home,” he said.
With only a few days before the year ends, one of the supervisors said they will also launch new special promotions before the New Year.
“I’m not yet sure of the details of the offers but one thing is for sure, every week these promotions change,” she said.
For food items, she said they only have the usual weekend offers. However, she believes the management will offer huge discounts and reasonable prices for their customers especially during this time of the year.
Some bicycles for adults and children were also on sale with 20% discounts including sport apparel at the department store.
Another hypermarket also offers the same “special deals” on TVs, entertainment sets and cameras. Gift vouchers ranges from QR100 to QR250.
Prices of many appliances have remained the same except for items such as refrigerators and air conditioners. One supervisor expects a significant rise in their sales starting on December 30.
“It’s pay day and a day before the New Year. People always want to have something new in their houses or for themselves,” he said.
Since many residents travel in December, he said bags of all sizes are among their most saleable items.