Eid sales painted a varying picture around the country, with some traders reporting brisk sales while others said the consumer turnout this year had been dismal.
Painting a grim picture, Anjuman Tajran City Faisalabad general secretary Chaudhry Mehmood Alam said that “the sales might have fallen but definitely not risen since last year”.
He claimed that workers in textile mills received salaries late instead of on June 10, while many were paid only half salaries.
As a result, these workers failed to turn up in the markets in large numbers.
Members of the lower and middle class throng the famous Faisalabad markets like Anarkali, Satiyar Road No. 9 Gali Market, Jhang Bazar, Anarkali Samnabad, Regal Road, and others while families of mill owners purchase Eid-related items from Lahore, Dubai, and abroad, he added.
Anjuman Tajiran Pakistan general secretary Razak Babar, while giving sales outlook of various cities of Punjab like Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala, and Bahawalpur, said that sales of children garments, shoes, mobile phones and electronic items soared 15% from last year, while wholesale sales of ladies and gents clothing fell by between 25% and 30%.
He said that the higher stitching cost of ladies and gents tailors in the past few years continued to push buyers towards buying ready-made suits, despite the lower quality of the fabric used.
Tajran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president and former Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) president Sharafat Ali said that sales have been depressed in Peshawar, by between 40% and 45%, from last year as people could not move freely due to issues related to the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit project.
“Consumers are spending a lot of time getting to the markets due to under-construction roads leading to famous markets of Peshawar such as Saddar Road, Arbab Road, Shafi Market, and University Road,” he said, adding that well-off families made their Eid purchases in Islamabad instead.
Ali said that sales in other cities like Mardan and Swabi have jumped between 15% and 20% from last year due to improved security situation.
Anjuman-e-Tajran Baluchistan general secretary Syed Abdul Qayum Agha said that sales in the province’s various cities, especially Quetta, have shown 20% growth owing to the improved law and order situation.
“Almost all the shopkeepers of different items are happy in the province due to boom in sales. Nobody told me that sales are lagging,” he said.
Anjuman Tajran Southern Punjab chairman and All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajran chairman Khawaja Suleman Siddiqui said that the sale of Eid items fell 20% in Punjab.
He claimed that in other cities sales remained below the target, and attributed the decline to the rising cost of living.
“Gone are the days when people used to order more than one salwar kameez. Now, due to the cash crunch, they can only afford one suit,” he said.
In Karachi, All City Tajir Ittehad general secretary and Traders Association Marriot Road Karachi chairman M Ahmed Shamsi said that sales of children’s garments, shoes, bangles, jewellery, ready-made gents and ladies garments went up by up to 25% due to the improved law and order situation.
“Sales this year would have been better if buying power had not come down in the past year,” he said, adding that the rupee devaluation against the dollar would further fuel inflation.
Alliance of Arambagh Markets Association (comprising Jama Cloth, Eid Gah, Allahwala Market and Jama Mall) chairman Asif Gulfam said that the sale of children-related items remained on higher side while gents and ladies items’ sales were below expectation.
“Parents have spent more on their children rather than caring for themselves,” he said, adding that most of the traders in Karachi were not satisfied as sales did not meet their expectations this year, especially in last 10 days prior to Eid.
Online buying experience disappointing for many
As last minute Eid al-Fitr shopping picked up pace, activity on the online shopping landscape is seemingly muted.
Not many discounts or good deals are available online, and what is there on sale are mostly outdated items, according to feedback by many shoppers who have enjoyed huge discounts during the Black/White/Blessed/Big Friday sales.
Though Karachi traders are eyeing a sales target of Rs60bn this Eid, however, no estimates are available for online sales during the said period.
The biggest online sales benchmark remains Daraz.pk’s 2017 Black Friday (later renamed to Big Friday) sales, which crossed the Rs3bn mark.
However, even this site turned down the request to share numbers related to Eid shopping.
A mobile phone vendor, who also sells via e-commerce websites, says that mobile sales always increase during Ramadan.
“It’s a convenient gift item. However, more and more people are going online to avail discounts though many sites don’t offer much on Eid. The same models which are at my shop get sold after a lot of bargaining, but a ‘20% off’ sign online attracts way more buyers who often end up at my store and ask for the same deal,” he says, adding that he often allows this online-to-offline sale because it saves him the commission that he has to give on each sale to the website.
“For Eid shopping, almost everyone sets aside money. Online retailers/websites need to look into expanding the discounts and services during Eid.
“If Black Friday can make it big in Pakistan, why can’t this be done for Eid?” the vendor continued.
Saman Javed, head of marketing communications at Daraz.pk, said that there is definitely a spike before Eid al-Fitr.
“Our Eid sales in the last few years have always been very successful. Our best categories at this time of the year are of course ‘Fashion’ and ‘Beauty’. The ‘Phone’ category does really well as well and revenues go up.
“Another category that sees a spike is the ‘Home and Living’ category where sales double as people revamp their homes before the Eid,” she said.
‘Studio by TCS’ director Sahar Ahmed said that there is an increase in sales during Eid.
Studio by TCS is an online platform that was launched in February 2017.
It offers some of the best Pakistani fashion which can be booked via the website and shipped to any part of the world.
“We are catering to the international market – predominantly the Pakistani diaspora. It’s a platform where they can engage. Sales tend to pick up during Eid, she said.
Residents shopping at a market in Karachi this week ahead of the Eid.
