A number of sport shops in Doha failed to meet their target sales over the first few days of Ramadan, describing it as an all-time low compared to the same period in previous years, it is learnt.
Speaking to Gulf Times, a source from one of the leading sport shops in the country said their daily sales was down by nearly 50% at the start of this month.
“Our minimum daily sales in previous years during this time of the year was around QR100,000, but this year, it hardly reached QR60,000,” he stressed. “Today (Monday), we only had QR59,000.”
He noted that the demand for almost all items at every branch had slowed down, including indoor equipment such as treadmills, gym equipment, and cross trainers, among others.
Sales of such items are usually high in many stores in the country even before the onset of summer, according to the source. But this year, sport shops recorded “very low sales”.
While footfall in Ramadan is high especially at night, the source said many people visit the shop to scout for items they plan to buy in the future or on payday.
Some shops benefit from their promotional offerings this Ramadan but total sales remained very low compared with in previous Ramadans.
The only items which are in demand are equipment used for water sports such as kayaking, mainly paddle boards, and jerseys.
“Most of the customers are Europeans, who love water sports especially during summer,” he added.
A supervisor in one of the sport shops in Doha told Gulf Times that a huge fraction of their sales before and the first few days of Ramadan came from expatriates who took their vacation this month.
Some of these items are mainly basketball and running shoes, as well as clothing (jerseys), which are cheaper compared with the prices in their respective home countries.
A number of Asian expatriates such as Filipinos prefer to buy basketball shoes as gifts for their children back home.
However, the supervisor admitted that they had to intensify their promotional offers to meet their sales targets this month.
Besides increasing competition, he said many residents in the country have opened accounts on online portals to buy sport items they want.
“In most cases, customers really wait for big sales offered by shops to save more money except those who love to own new models or items,” he noted.
In addition, many outdoor and indoor sport activities and events organised by some groups have slowed down this summer, according to the supervisor.
