[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: Every year for the past six years, Ms. Lena Edaya has been looking forward to the annual Geylang Serai Bazaar, on which her family home decorating business relies to make the most of the year’s profits.
With the event canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Lena is trying to make her sales online. While some of its repeat customers are researching new designs and the company is seeing some sales, it is little compared to what they do at the bazaar, he said.
“We don’t have a retail store, so the bazaar increases our sales for the year,” he said. Profits from the bazaar typically represent 80 percent of the company’s annual revenue, Artist Touch.
READ: Hari Raya Bazaar at Wisma Geylang Serai Deferred Due to COVID-19: PA Concerns
The bazaar was an opportunity for her to meet new customers and to stop, even if they were not proactively looking for home décor, she said. Last year, the bazaar, typically held before Hari Raya Puasa, which takes place on May 25 of this year, attracted a record 2 million people.
“When people don’t see the item, they can’t feel the texture, they see the hardiness of the wood grain. They can’t tell the difference between our products and other products,” he said.
Another seller who discovers that the online platform is not the best for their products is the owner of the Reza Fotohi carpet store. A staunch vendor, Mr. Fotohi has been selling his carpets from the Fotohi Gallery in the bazaar for 22 years.
READ: Singapore reports registering 386 new COVID-19 cases and ninth death
The rugs can have the same designs and colors but different qualities, and without being able to feel them, customers may not understand the difference between an S $ 100 carpet and an S $ 1,000 carpet, Fotohi said.
“Carpets are one of the most difficult items to sell online,” he said.
Fotohi said the bazaar helps him recoup the losses he suffered during the rest of the year.
“From last year’s Hari Raya until now, nine months have passed. We have not been able to cover all our costs every month. Some months, we could lose S $ 2,000, some months we could lose S $ 6,000,” he said.
Fotohi is paying more attention to sale dates, which he also does as part of his business. But as a wholesaler, you generally have 25 distributors who only operate in the bazaar. It also provides dates for mosques, which are closed during this period.
With both aspects of his business suffering, Fotohi said he is getting on the same train as other vendors, and is looking to auction his rugs online via live broadcast.
SELL THROUGH LIVE STREAMING
It could be the way to go, judging by the success of Facebook’s live broadcast carpet sales made by event organizer Mohamad Ishmam Jalil.
Ishmam, which generally buys and resells stalls at the Geylang Serai Bazaar, is helping vendors sell their products online this year.
“Some of these companies don’t know how to sell online, they are traditional,” he said.
Ishmam, with a team of six, conducts marketing for these companies and establishes a live broadcast on Facebook through a page called Live Ramadhan Sales 2020. It is important that the setup is professional, with good lighting and sound. make sales, he said. He also arranges delivery for them.
Among the items he’s helping to sell are rugs. In two hours during a live broadcast, he can make sales of S $ 1,000 to S $ 2,000, he said.
He also successfully requested the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that one of his clients, a baju kurung retail store, remain open for the live broadcast. Stores that provide non-essential services and products are closed until May 4, under the breaker measures implemented by the Government.
However, he said that clothes move more slowly.
“Some people are concerned that they won’t be able to celebrate with families and friends this year, and that there will be no purpose in buying clothes,” he said.
A Facebook page created to sell items for Hari Raya through live streaming.
Fortunately, some are still shopping, to partake in the spirit of the holiday season, he added.
Ishmam is helping sellers of goodwill, bearing most of the costs, and taking a small cut only when sales are made.
TRYING TO HELP SELLERS
Others have also contributed to help bazaar vendors in any way they can. Mr. Md Noor Hadi, co-owner of an event organization business, is in the process of establishing an “electronic bazaar” site that will go live next week.
He said sellers are carefully selected to ensure that they are selling Hari Raya related items. It also hosts CelebFest, an annual star-studded event, on the same site, ebazaar.sg. The event would take place in May in Suntec City.
Ms. Huda Rahmat also wanted to help when she saw some retailers share their concerns online once the cancellation of the bazaar was announced.
“I saw many of our vendors who generally open a stall in the bazaar concerned about their stock,” he said.
He started a Facebook group called Bazaar Ramadhan Singapore 2020 in mid-March. At the end of the day, the group had 4,000 members. About a month later, on April 14, it had more than 33,000 members.
One of the retailers who worried about ordering too much stock was Namelia Hamzah, owner of Alana Exclusive, an online clothing store.
Ms. Namelia, who makes matching mother and daughter outfits just for the Hari Raya season and has been a bazaar vendor for the past three years, said she started making preparations for this year’s stock in December of the year. past.
While worrying about whether her actions would move, Namelia appreciates the additional platforms to showcase her articles, such as the Facebook group started by Ms. Huda.
“I get orders from there. Not much, but at least there are new customers, “he said.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
