Thrifty consumers cut down on bulk shopping

Many citizens and expatriates here appear to have gotten wise to the tricks of merchants claiming to reduce prices in Ramadan, and are now buying only what they need. This comes as many shopping mall managers in Riyadh expect the high pace of shopping to go on unabated during the holy month of Ramadan. In anticipation, some stores and shopping malls opened extra sales points and provided more cash registers to ensure people can spend their money without any hassles. Many observers say citizens and residents now prefer to do partial shopping in Ramadan because they don’t want to overspend their budgets. This is a departure from previous behavior when people used to buy goods in large quantities. Mahmoud Al-Usaimi, a shopper, said that some citizens fall prey to the gimmicks and tricks of merchants and commercial markets. “I find it very strange that many of them simply go shopping with no clear purpose in mind. They do not seem to identify the items they need, and many of them simply buy too much just for the fun of it,” he said. “Over the past few years I have done all my Ramadan shopping on the first evening of Ramadan when there are not many shoppers around,” he said. Yahya Al-Ka’bi, another shopper, said that he does not believe in “bulk shopping.” “Actually the trend now is to buy the things you need piecemeal. You do not have to buy everything all at once. You must leave the ‘bulk’ mindset,” he said. “You see too many signs announcing ‘sales,’ but these are in fact tricks by the stores. They make you think they did mark down the prices, but they change nothing,” he said. Muhammad Al-Asmari, a shopper, believes that it’s better to buy necessary items on separate occasions. “This way you will not burden your budget. This is prudent,” he said. Sami Al-Anizi believes that it’s all due to lack of preparation and planning. “With stores raising prices while pretending they are marking them down, one should be careful not to be duped by these tricks. You need planning. It’s that simple,” he said. from : Arab News