Shops now pinning all hopes on Eid-ul-Azha
It has been 8 weeks since shops have already been keeping their doors open to greet shoppers and register some sales.
But the earnings stream was insignificant in the first month as two-thirds of the month fell in the government-declared shutdown, which targeted at reining in the spread of the rogue coronavirus.
The federal government lifted the restriction on mass movement at the start of June to bring the economy back from the verge of collapse, protect incomes and curb job losses. Subsequently, people's mobility increased.
Dhaka now sees a return of traffic jam or long queue of vehicles at signal points. Folks are trying to adjust to the brand new normal in these abnormal days amid the rising number of infections and an increased death toll.
Shops also see a noticable difference in customer turnout.
Even from then on, sales have already been below the pre-pandemic level as consumer spending has still been mostly limited by essentials.
A section of people does not have enough money to invest due to job and income loss, said Delowar Hossain Babu, general secretary of the Eastern Plaza Shop Owners Association, among the oldest shopping centres in the capital city.
"We see some sales of mobile handsets and cosmetics. Clothes and footwear sales have been dull. As weddings and other social festivals have almost been placed on hold, the sales of saris and other items have already been very weak," he added.
Bangladesh has a lot more than two million wholesale and retail shops and Dhaka city houses 2.4 lakh of these, based on the National Association of Shop Owners of Bangladesh (NASOB) and the Dhaka Metropolitan Shop Owners Association.
Retail and wholesale trades are a crucial pillar of Bangladesh's $300-billion economy. It accounted for 13.92 % of the GDP at 2005-06 prices, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data showed.
"We were the next customer at a footwear store we visited today," said Apurba Saha, who accompanied his friend yesterday to buy footwear and clothes.
Saha, who also offers a stake in a fabric store in Gausia market, said the presence of customers increased but that sales aren't enough for many shops even to clear monthly rent, staff salary and other bills.
"It can't be said that a lot has changed. Improvement has been very slow," said Azharul Hoque Azad, managing director of traditional clothing brand Sadakalo, adding that sales in a few of the stores are too meagre to even realise electric bills.
To withstand the crisis, many operators are providing discounts and giving increased thrust on boosting sales online -- a location entrepreneurs have not explored much before the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The majority of consumers are still keen on shopping in a brick-and-mortar store rather than too tech-savvy.
"The extent of the crisis is such that it will never be possible to remove it. We are increasing our adaptability to create a turnaround," said Khalid Mahmood Khan, a director of Kay Kraft.
Due to the slump in turnout of shoppers, the neighborhood fashion house improved its Facebook page to aid customers and took initiatives to revamp its web portal to equip itself to handle the brand new reality and recover the sales lost from the brick-and-mortar stores.
"Most are still too afraid to leave their houses, aside from go shopping," said Shahrukh Amin of Almira, another fashion brand.
As the unprecedented collapse in sales continues to bleed businesses, space owners expressed generosity, standing by tenants by reducing or waiving section of the rent. Even from then on, many retailers are shutting stores or squeezing businesses to sustain.
"We have to trim how big is businesses for a year," said Amin, who accommodated two more brands in his space on Banani-11 to create it a multi-designer store.
Operators of 10-15 % shops are closing outlets as a result of losses in sales and high rent, said NASOB President Md Helal Uddin.
"Businesses have been very bad. None is buying out of impulse," he said.
Now, shop operators are considering the Eid-ul-Azha festival to regain the losses they have incurred because the outbreak of the coronavirus, that was first reported in the united states on March 8.
The second-biggest festival of Muslims is ranked the third-biggest shopping season after Eid-ul-Fitr and Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla twelve months.
The deadly virus dashed the dreams of good sales in the first two festival seasons. The coming Eid-ul-Azha remains the last expect the year.
"We expect sales increase marking the Eid. We are in a position to recover the losses to some extent if the federal government extends the shopping time by two hours," Helal Uddin said.
Earlier this week, the NASOB appealed to the general public administration ministry seeking an extension for shop opening hours to 10:00 am to 9:00 pm from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm now. The association urged the federal government to grant the extended opening hours from July 20.
Farhana Nazira, an owner of Farhana Fashion, said sales would increase if the federal government allows them to keep carefully the door open until 9:00 pm prior to the festival.
The entrepreneur, who has a showroom in Mirpur-1, knows medical risk but added the chance of spreading the virus persisted as shops are open until 7:00 pm.
"We will be in a position to recover some losses if we are permitted to keep stores open for just two more time," she said.
"We will pass lean seasons for a few months after Eid. Due to this fact, many would have to surrender spaces after Eid unless they are able to make some sales through the festival."
