With the Eid-ul-Fitr only one or two days away, shoppers on Monday crowded all the shopping malls, markets and makeshift shops in the city for last minute shopping.
Visiting different shopping malls and markets in New Market, Elephant Road, Gulistan, Paltan, Shantinager, Mouchak and Panthapath areas on Monday were crammed with shoppers, reports UNB.
While traders expressed their satisfaction with the volume of sales, buyers complained about the high prices of products.
The outlets of different local fashion brands, including Easy, Aarong, Ecstasy, Dorjibari, Infinity, Rex and Plus Point, were filled with people, thanks to the new collections of the brands.
Footwear brands like Apex, Bay, Bata, Lotto and Crescent also attracted huge crowd with lucrative offers and arrays of new collections.
Nur Mohammad, a lecturer of Bangladesh Open University, said he bought a Panjabi at Tk 2,700 and a T-shirt at Tk 1,300 from Dorjibari at Bashundara City Shopping Mall.
Claiming that different companies are selling products at higher prices, he demanded that a market monitoring system should be there to control it.
Sales executive of Easy Fashion Ltd at Shantinagar Sohel Mahmud said the demand of their new items is very high.
"We've already achieved our target. Panjabis are selling at Tk 1,690-Tk 2,480 while shirts at Tk 1,355-Tk 1,580, T-shirts at Tk 580-Tk 990, Jeans at Tk 2,280-Tk 2,480 and gabardine pants at Tk 1,480-Tk 1,990 at our branches," he said.
Razinur Rahman, a government primary school teacher in Old Dhaka, said after enjoying the holiday for the entire month, she went to different markets to buy cosmetics and other items to match her three-piece sets and sarees.
She, however, expressed her worry about adulterated and substandard cosmetic items.
Razinur demanded that the government take action against those involved in such malpractice.
Imran Hossain, a salesman of Plus Point at its Mouchak branch, said they are selling shirts at Tk 1,380-Tk 1,480 while T-shirts at Tk 580-Tk 980 apiece.
"We're offering a 10 per cent discount for payment via bKash app and 5.0 per cent for bKash manual payment. We're happy with the turnout of customers," he added.
Another sales executive Aminul Islam of Apex Footwear Limited said they brought around 500 new items on the occasion of Eid.
"We've offered a 30 per cent discount for payment through Nexus Pay, 20 per cent for Rocket, and 15 per cent for NRB Bank cardholders, 10 per cent for Jamuna Bank, Dhaka Bank and UCB Bank card holders this year," he said.
Sonali Bank officer Ariful Islam Arefin said he bought clothes for his family in the second week of Ramadan. "It's tough to go shopping right now with huge pressure of office work."
Shafiqul Islam said he bought a panjabi, a pair of pants and some clothes for his children from Elephant Road. "There're many local brands and branches with new collections here. But the prices of apparel products are high. However, I'm happy I've been able to complete my Eid shopping today."
Khadija Rahman, chief designer of Taaga Man, said that they received a good response from customers this year cashing in on their new collections, especially for children and men.
"We make products targeting middle-income group. Our panjabis are selling at Tk 2,000-Tk 5,000, which are most popular among customers," she added.
Bangladesh Shop Owners' Association President Md Helal Uddin said they have set a target to rake in Tk 250 billion to Tk 300 billion from clothes and footwear items during this Eid.
