KARACHI - More than 20 largest shopping areas and hundreds of mini markets in the financial hub of the country are expected to set a new record of Eid sale with Rs60 billion.
During last year, the port city witnessed Eid sale of Rs50 billion.
Following the overall situation, traders expect a turnover of Rs60 billion this year, an expert from the markets informed The Nation.
Jama Cloth, Jubilee, Tariq Road, Saddar, Clifton, Liaquatabad, Shah Faisal, Zamzama, Samama, Goal Mart, Bohri Bazaar, Haidery Market and many other main shopping areas of the city witnessed jam-packed on Chand Raat. Talking to The Nation, Attique Mir, chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, said continuous power breakdowns had created a fear among the traders who invested billions of rupees to cater to the demands of the consumers during the Eid season but the situation is now under control.
He said after a long time the developing situation of law and order in the city brought happiness for everyone. Traders invested more money to capture the market share at the time of Eid.
The ongoing season have lucrative incentive especially for those who have small setups and the main shopping areas of the city play an effective role in Eid shopping but the power breakdowns put a halt to the trading activity.
A trader from Tariq Road informed The Nation that 65 percent shop owners have no resources and they depend on candle or emergency lights during the peak hours while some 35 percent are using the generators, which is not affordable for everyone. “We are putting our best to capture this season but different crises did not give us a chance to overcome the situation,” a stall-holder informed The Nation.
On the other side, most of the plastic card holders are facing trouble due to unavailability of cash or disorder of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) during the peak hours of shopping. Especially in Karachi, most of the customers avoid carrying cash but cash outlets have failed to facilitate them in shopping areas.
Most of the of bank account holders have complained that they could not withdraw cash due to out-of-order ATMs during Eid shopping or because the ATMs were out of cash. A customer in Saddar area of Karachi told The Nation that during Ramazan, ATMs are mostly out of cash and banks have short timings to cater to the problems of the customers. Out-of-order ATMs have dashed the hopes of many consumers as many bank customers left the ATMs empty-handed.
It is also pertinent to mention here that the law enforcement agencies and traffic police have smartly controlled and manage the situation at most of the renowned shopping areas including Saddar, Zainab Market, Tariq Road, Bahadurabad and Centrum and declared them as pedestrian zone to maintain smooth shopping on Chand Raat.