Eid shopping activities are at its peak in every nook and corner of the city and cantonment areas and great rush has been witnessed on shopping centres and commercial markets.
As few days are left in Eid, different markets and bazaars remained open till late at night because customers start pouring in after Iftar. It was observed in a survey conducted by Business Recorder in different shopping centres of the city and cantonment area.
The readymade-garments shops had attracted the buyers by displaying new verities and designs. Some female buyers while expressing her views said the prices of readymade garments were very high but people preferred to purchase keeping in view the quality and designs.
The overall sale of Eid cards is at its lowest ebb in Sialkot and its adjoining areas this year. Rapidly growing use of mobile phones, computer technology and the facility of Internet had played an instrumental role in this sharp decline, the Eid cards' sellers said.
People were benefiting of this facility and transmitting their messages and greeting via Internet and mobile phones on inexpensive rates, they pointed out. Apart from this, the main factor of this sharp decline is the floating of poor, substandard, repeated designs and high priced Eid and greeting cards, which had failed to attract the people, they added.
They suggested that publishers and printers should focus attention on improvement of the standards and quality of greeting cards keeping in view the sharp change.
Some people, while expressing their view said they were reluctant to send their Eid and greeting cards by post because of high postal charges. They suggested that government should consider minimising the postal charges on Eid to benefit the common man. The local Lunda Bazaar has also attracted the people where the readymade garments are being sold at much cheaper rates. The sale and purchase in Lunda Bazaar is in top gear.
It was also observed that Sialkot was flooded with variety of beggars. A large number male and female beggars were seen in different commercial and bazaars as well as in posh localities of the city and cantonment areas. It was interesting to point out that some wealthy male and female beggars were unearth posh shopping centres discussing the tempo of markets on mobile phones.