Traders contribute the decline in demand to lack of purchasing power and easy availability of cheaper products. [break]According to the traders, most customers these days prefer cheaper products and do not want to spend more money on expensive goods.
With the slump in real estate business, people´s spending capacity has also gone down, which reflects in the goods people choose. People do not spend much on marriage dresses as they are worn only once.
"Sales of the shirting, suiting and bridals wears have fallen by around 20 percent compared to last year as customers are preferring mostly cheaper products," said Narendra Shrestha, manager of Tip Top Wear at Aradhan complex, Bagbazar.
He added that the price of dresses meant for marriage has also gone up by around 10 to 15 percent. Shrestha said at this time last year around 15 to 20 pieces of suits were sold but this year the store has sold 10 hardly pieces.
Pawan Joshi, proprietor of Asha Trader at Tangal, echoed Shrestha and said sales of shirting and suiting materials have in fact gone down compared to last year´s wedding season. But in comparison to normal season, sales have slightly increased.
Asha Traders features multi-brand products imported from Turkey, India, Thailand and Singapore. Suit prices at the store are in the range of Rs 13,000 to Rs 25,000.
According to Ramesh Jha, sales executive of New Kamdhenu at Makhan, sales have gone down compared to last year´s wedding season as people have cut down on the expenses, mainly on saris. "People used to buy at least 10 pairs of saris for a marriage but now they are taking only 1 or 2," Jha said.
According to Jha, price of bridal wears depend on materials used in the saris and the price ranges from Rs 7,000 to Rs 60,000.
Arshya Banu, proprietor of Arshiya´s Apparel at Putalisadak, echoed Jha and said that people these days do not spend more than Rs 10,000 on average for bridal wears, leading to a sharp decline in sales.
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