[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Holiday+shopping&iid=230947″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/230947/holidays-occasions/holidays-occasions.jpg?size=500&imageId=230947″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]
One or two days to the Eid; hope you all have a happy holiday. And now be honest, how many times have you been out shopping for Eid?
There is something I am not quite getting about the retail markets in Saudi. Most of the countries around the world have organized sales seasons. You most probably heard about the US’s Black Friday and such. The concept behind such seasons is strictly simple; as holidays are getting nearer and people wants new stuff to own and to gift, prices are slashed to attract customers and drive sales. Simple, right!
Now when it comes to Saudi, it is a bit strange. Sales are coming on and off all the year long without prior notice. That’s till shopping season really starts which is mainly before Eid Al Fiter. Once started, prices hike almost exponentially!!! (if you want another point of view on the sales and shopping experience in Saudi, Jeddah in particular, you may want to check out this audio blog from That Jeddah Podcast.)
Not only that, there is another tactics usually used by most retailers in the market. Just before Ramadan and during its first days, the flashy signs of ‘sales up to 50%, 60%, 70%, etc’ start to pop up everywhere. Now, if you ever shopped during this period, you will know that it is a mess. You cannot find all the things you want. It’s old merchandise, few pieces, and out of stock sizes! And just few days before Eid, all the new lines of merchandise are offered and prices more than doubled.
The strange thing is that customers are adapting and getting along with these tactics or how can you explain the crowded malls just two days before Eid!!??
So when most countries choose sales seasons based on holidays, retailers around here choose to charge more … and more!
I guess the people want the latest fashions and are willing to pay for them! 🙂 Interesting post!
Hey Susanne430,
That’s a reasonable justification I am afraid. But it seems there is more to it, it’s the internal believes that customers developed over time that they will not look as good at Eid or their gifts to family and friends won’t have the same value if not bought during these last two days of Ramadan.
The Eid Shopping « An Eye on Saudi Blog…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Saad Al Dosari, Abdul M@lik. Abdul M@lik said: nice topic from @smaldosari The Eid Shopping: http://t.co/IZJhYLC […]
Eid Mubark to you and all the visitors
I think Saad because of following reasons:
1- Culture
– A lot of buyers do not do comparison when they buying and they do not care when the seller raise the prices.
– People think about Eid just a few days ahead.
2- Time
– Time limit in Ramadan days since most of people do shopping after 3sha prayer and this encourage retailers to capture them in the price they want.
– May be holiday starts on some of people in these days.
3- In Eid days some families give their children money “Eideh”so retailers exploit this and raise the prices. For example, mobile phone prices.
Regards
Hello Feras,
Cannot argue with any of these reasons; they’re all true!
The Eid Shopping…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)…
Funny how I was just discussing this topic with a friend not so long ago. Here in the US, I believe people are prone to boycott if a store hikes up their prices versus Saudi where people spend with closed eyes.
I think stores are generally controlled by its customers. If customers react negatively to high prices, the stores are more willing to drop in a few sale days. If customers are willing to pay regardless of the price, it’s inevitable that the stores use that to their advantage.
Saudi realize it’s ridiculous to hike up prices, but if they’re not doing anything about it, it’ll stay that way.
Great post!
The problem is that customers are already part of this developed tradition and they do not mind the strange prices hikes!!! They are willing to pay! and they are flooding the malls despite the increases!
Strange!!
Hello there, I adore your blog. Is there some thing I can do to obtain updates like a subscription or some thing? I am sorry I am not familiar with RSS?