Sales Bazaars Get Mixed Responses
By Sobrina Rosh and Khairunnisa Ibrahim

Bandar Seri Begawan - Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) taking part in year-end sales bazaars in various parts of the country have received mixed responses from the public and, therefore, made different sales performances, as Bruneians are preparing the start of their children's new academic year.

The "SME and Back to School End of Year Carnival Sale" at the Indoor Stadium in Berakas, Bandar Seri Begawan, for example, has received a warm and enthusiastic response, while the "End of the Year Sale" at Belait's Municipal Hall has got a lukewarm response from customers.

Yesterday, a warm and enthusiastic crowd trooped to the sales carnival at the Indoor Stadium in Berakas, where most of the products on sale were snapped up by mostly young customers.

The sales carnival was launched last Tuesday by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (R) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Mohammad Daud and will run until December 29.

Khairul Zainal, marketing manager of JM Technology, which sells computer hardware, said that although there had been not many buyers thus far, the reception had been encouraging. The company made more sales during the bazaar than other times, and he expected more sales to be made in the next few days after the pay day. Civil servants usually receive their salaries on the 27th of every month.

Another company, Samima Enterprise, which specialises in school stationary and supplies, enjoyed brisk business. Sales executive Mohd Raft said that his company participated in such events every year as they attracted many customers and improved its sales.

"A lot of people come here because they can get everything in one place like bags, books and school uniforms. Just now, there was even a customer from Belait," said Rafi.

He added that his company received an overwhelming response from the public in previous bazaars because it introduced a bank loan scheme as requested by customers. For businesses in the Belait district, the participants were disappointed because their expectation of increased sales did not materialise and customers' response had been lukewarm since the bazaar began two days before.

Twenty five SMEs have been renting booths at the bazaar, where eight other booths remain empty. The rental price of a booth is $100 for seven days. Among the products being sold there include school uniforms, stationaries, clothing, beauty products and home furniture.

One of the vendors, Rayesh Babu, an employee for AlHikmah Enterprise, said that the reception was quite poor. "Business has been very slow and the hall has been very quiet. We are hoping that when civil servants have received salaries, we can have more customers coming in," said Rayesh.

The enterprise sells various products ranging from kitchen utensils to school uniforms. Another vendor,' Lisa Abdullah, owner of the Hafizal Enterprise which sells wooden furniture from Indonesia, said that several reasons contributed to the poor performance of the bazaar.

"It could be that it has not been pay day yet for most people. The sign outside the hall (to advertise the bazaar) could also be moved to somewhere (that is more strategic) to attract more attention," she said. She said prices at the bazaar were discounted.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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