No buyers this festive season

Attractive discounts at malls and retail outlets fail to lure buyers because of swine flu pandemic

Attractive discounts at malls and retail outlets fail to lure buyers because of swine flu pandemic

It's festival time and you'd expect people shopping at various outlets in the city that are offering goods at throwaway prices. But that's not the case. Malls and luxury stores are disappointed at the low turnout despite the various discounts and schemes on offer. Shop owners blame the slowdown and the swine flu scare for the lack of business.

Sanjay Sharma, manager, Usha Lexus Furniture Showroom in Baner, said, "The sales have been very ordinary.

On an average, we get only 40 per cent of the expected customers despite offering an up to 40 per cent discount for Navratri." Shailendra Mahajan, assistant marketing manager, Pune Central, explained, "People are not in a mood to shop because of the swine flu pandemic. There is a complete lack of enthusiasm and it is affecting our business. Even during this festive season, we have only seen a 47 per cent turnout."

Window shopping
An executive from Home Town, a furniture store in Yerwada, on the condition of anonymity, told MiD DAY that there have been walk-ins, but nobody is actually buying. He said the scenario was the same during Ganpati, Eid and Navratri. He said, "People enquire about the furniture, but nobody is actually buying although there are attractive offers." Zahir Shaikh, business development officer, Laptech Solutions Pvt. Ltd, agrees. "Many people have been window shopping, but only about 30 per cent end up buying." The retail industry is doing only a little better, and term their business as 'just about average'.

Hopeful
Storeowners are hopeful that with Diwali around the corner, things will improve. A source from Westside said though the business has been average so far, sales are picking up and will improve in the coming days. Others, however, feel nothing is going to change. "We are not hopeful that the situation will improve during Diwali," added Shaikh.

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