Ramadhan, shopping centers gives big discount

JAKARTA. For most shopping malls, the month of Ramadhan is an ideal time of the year to offer special discounts as there is an increase in the number of shoppers.

Many wish to show off new things, be it clothing items, accessories, electronic gadgets or other products at a time when celebrating Idul Fitri.

This explains why many employers give employees’ holiday allowances several days or weeks ahead of Idul Fitri, leading to them having increased purchasing power.

Plaza Indonesia and Mall of Indonesia are among shopping centers in the city offering special promotions.

Plaza Indonesia runs the blessing of Ramadhan, in which its tenant stores, including the Metro Department Store, offer special deals.

Meanwhile, the Mall of Indonesia holds its Ramadhan Salebration event from July 4-20, where it is offering special prices for various products, from fashion and accessories to culinary products and household appliances.

To lure shoppers, most of the department stores inside the malls are also offering their own special prices. They include clothing retail, consistent with a popular trend among Muslims to buy new clothes for the Idul Fitri celebration.

Price cuts on clothes of up to 70 percent are offered.

The head of customer service of the Matahari department store in Blok M Plaza in South Jakarta, Yuli, was quoted by tempo.co as saying that the store was holding a special discount offer during the month of Ramadhan.

The program, called the Fitri Gaya Ramadhan (Idul Fitri, Ramadhan-Style), offers 10 to 70 percent discounted prices on all products except cosmetics. The discount program was conducted from June 27 to June 29 to mark the beginning of Ramadhan.

“However, we will soon announce other Ramadhan promotional programs,” Yuli told tempo.co recently.

Just like in the Fitri Gaya Ramadhan program, in the next promotional program, customers can combine the discounted prices
with other promotional offers, like a Rp 50,000 (US$4.33) cash back option for purchases over Rp 150,000.

Based on tempo.co’s observations in a recent visit, the Matahari department store decorated its store with green-dominated Ramadhan ornaments and posters informing visitors on the store’s promotional programs. The store has also added more Muslim clothing to its fashion section.

“Our outlet sells various kinds of fashion products. We usually start to sell more Muslim clothing in the month of Ramadhan,” Yuli said.  

The department store also gives buy-two-get-one discounts for shoe products like Cole, Connexion, Nevada, St Yves and Competition, as well as various jeans, t-shirts and shirts.

The Ramayana department store also chose Ramadhan as the right moment to lure customers with promotional programs. At the beginning of Ramadhan, the store’s Facebook page announced a special promotional program offering up to 70 percent discounts on its products until June 29.

With a tagline of Lebaran Dahsyat (Awesome Lebaran), the promotional program sold various Muslim clothing items for children and adults, shoes and jeans with a price range between Rp 15,900 and Rp 119,900. The department store has also informed its customers to brace themselves for other promotions.

Meanwhile, upscale department store Sogo has welcomed Ramadhan with an up to 50 percent price cut for various products from men’s, women’s and children’s clothing items to household appliances. According to the Sogo website, the discount offer applies until Aug. 10, a few days after Idul Fitri.

Those using the Citibank credit card can also partake in a sweepstake where they can win a Samsung S5 cell phone by completing a minimum transaction of Rp 500,000. The offer is valid until July 13.

Non-clothing retail also offers special promotions to attract customers during the month of Ramadhan.

Various department stores selling fast moving consumer goods, like food and drink and other home appliance products, also offer special promotions.

Apparently, hectic shopping activities during the month of Ramadhan have had a positive impact on Indonesia’s overall business activities.

Bank Indonesia (BI), the country’s central bank, revealed in its recent Survei Kegiatan Dunia Usaha (Business Activity Survey) that businesses had increased their activities in the second quarter of this year, which included Ramadhan, as compared to the first quarter of this year.

The business world’s strengthening activities can be seen from an increase in businesses’ net balance to 21.05 percent in this second quarter from 2.11 percent in the first quarter.

“The increase is caused by a hike in domestic demand for products, especially in connections to activities related to Ramadhan and the presidential election,” noted the central bank in its official statement released yesterday.

The report also revealed that Indonesia’s domestic production capacity had increased to 76.97 percent in the second quarter of this year from 75.54 percent in the first quarter.