Retailers decry low patronage amid incentives

It is not the best of times for retailers in Nigeria as there appears to be no end in sight to the lingering harsh business conditions they are faced with as a result of the scarce foreign exchange, which has greatly inflated the prices of all imported items leading to a record low in sales.

The current economic slowdown being experienced in Nigeria has also forced a good number of mall operators to retrench some of their staff while those who could not stand the heat have closed shops permanently.

BusinessDay survey of some Lagos malls reveals continual decline in consumer spending. The huge traffic of customers, which were common sights around malls some years back during seasons like this, has since disappeared leaving most malls almost deserted.

Few mall operators, who spoke with BusinessDay, express fears over the prolonged low patronage, which they say is seriously hurting their businesses.

“Our sales have drastically reduced, the harsh economy is really telling on us. This year has been so horrible for us, some days we don’t even sell an item, it’s that bad. The past month (February) is usually when we hit our highest sales in the year, but this time, we did not even reach a quarter of our target.

“To encourage customers to buy from us, we are offering 7-12 percent discounts, depending on the worth of items purchased. With this sacrifice on our part, customers are not still buying,” a supervisor at an accessories shop in Ikeja City Mall complains.

BusinessDay findings at Park Place, a fashion and beauty mall around Lekki Admiralty Way, show that consumers are not interested in beauty items at the moment.

“I can count how many items I have sold since I moved into this mall this January; business is not good at all. Most people are not thinking much about fashion, although we get few customers once in a while, but it’s been tough. You can see how empty the entire mall is, but we hope business will improve with time,” Gloria Uwaka, manager at Steps Exclusive, tells BusinessDay.

Amarachi Maduka, assistant manager, Essenza Shop in Apapa Mall, who could barely hide her worries, says: “We have never seen such poor sales since we started this business, it’s been terrible. I hope this challenge in the economy fades away soon if not, we won’t have businesses to go to. I’ve seen some shops that could no longer cope, closed up. Some have even sacked most of their staff. If we are not making sales, how do we pay staff salary and also the rent for the shop,” Maduka queries.

“Business has been poor generally, we are barely managing. There is no money in circulation; maybe government should consider pumping in more money because customers keep complaining that they don’t have money to shop. We are not impressed at all,” Hannah Samuel, sales supervisor at Goodies Supermarket, says.

As retailers continue to wait for business to return to usual, this will be an appropriate time for them to begin to source their materials locally, as this will reduce the of price of their products and may lead to improved sales.