Himadri Kalita
Durga Puja is round the corner and yet the people are not tired of shopping. One may wonder from where are these people buying clothes as the heart of clothes shopping business, Fancy Bazar, is relatively low.
The answer is heavy discounts announced by malls, e-commerce.
Fancy Bazar has been hit hard during pandemic and post-pandemic. The place which used to be filled with people is relatively low. The shop owners waits for the customers and yet only a handful of them visits.
What the Shopkeepers have to say?
One of the shop owners Pankaj Jain said, “The overall customers in market is low as showroom, malls are opened up in towns, cities, villagers. Now the trend has changed as people likes to shop in malls, showrooms where everything is available in one place. Our have been hampered with this.”
“Another reason we can say is due to construction going on everywhere. People get stuck in huge line of traffic which becomes tiresome which is why they buy clothes from their nearby places,” Jain said.
“Due to online apps where people find varieties of clothes, customers have raised their expectations. And now the shops have become outdated and if this shops are unsuccessful to update and evolve with the current trend then our businesses are in grave danger,” he added.
Another shop owner Jitendra said, “After Vishwakarma Puja, our sale has somewhat increased however, the e-commerce has impacted on our business as they get good quality clothes from online itself in affordable price.”
Mekhela Chadar Shops Also Impacted
Meanwhile, the mekhela chadar business is also facing rough time although they do not have to compete with e-commerce.
One of the shop owners of mekhela chadar Hemanta Kalita said, “After pandemic, the business is drastically affected. Puja is round the corner yet there are less people in the market. We have opened the shops and sitting idle as there is no customer. We are not impacted by the malls or e-commerce. But people do not have enough money after pandemic. The prices are escalating with GST and all. Many people are striving for the daily food that they are bothering less about clothes.”
Another shop owner Manish Kumar said, “Many people choose Sualkuchi for paat mekhela chadar instead of Guwahati. This is one of the reasons why our business is going down.”
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the year 2020, businesses have been largely affected. People have become more inclined and dependent towards online shopping as they get to shop at the comfort of their homes.
Online shopping give varieties of options, discounts, quality at just a click which makes it convenient for the people as they do not have spend entire day on traffic to go for shopping.
With just a few days left for auspicious Durga Puja festival, starting from October 1-5, preparations have already begun in Guwahati with lots of enthusiasm among people to welcome Goddess Durga.
The Rest camp, Shantipur, Latasil, Nayantara, Bishnupur, Ganeshguri, Chatribari, Nambari, are some of the puja mandaps where the mandaps are decorated in different themes.
For the last two years, the Durga Puja festival was celebrated under strict restrictions from the government across India owing to covid-19 outbreak.
Few guidelines have been imposed this time which are less stricter than earlier.
