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Eid lifts fridge sales

JAGARAN CHAKMA
Refrigerator retailers and manufacturers have enjoyed a happy period as sales swelled ahead of Eid-ul-Azha thanks to a rise in per capita income and improvements in the livelihoods of people in rural and urban areas.
The demand of fridge increases ahead of Eid-ul-Azha when people tend to preserve the meat of sacrificial animals and sellers come up with different offers, including discounts, cash backs and prizes.
Some 20 lakh fridges were sold in 2017 and it will reach 22 lakh this year, industry insiders said, adding that there was a demand for 14 lakh fridges in 2014 and the sales grew by 25 percent on an average in the last four years.
Brands available in the market include Hitachi, Sharp, Whirlpool, Panasonic, Haier, Kelvinator, Mitsubishi, Samsung, LG, Toshiba, Transtec, Vision, Jamuna, Marcel, Walton and Electra.
The home appliance sector is growing at 15-20 percent every year, experts said.
Nahid Hassan, marketing manager of Transcom Digital, which retails home appliances of Whirlpool, Hitachi, Transtec and Samsung brands, said sales rise 30-35 percent on the eve of Eid every year, with chest freezers the most sought after.
"We have a maximum Tk 25,000 cash back offer for fridges. Besides, 10 percent additional cash back for NRB bank and LankaBangla clients," he said.
GM Akhter, sales executive of a Best Electric showroom in Eskaton, said their pre-Eid sales had tripled whereas on a normal month they sold a maximum 30 fridges.
Laila Islam Swapna, branch manager of Butterfly Marketing of LG, said their sales of chest freezers increased every year ahead of Eid.
She said LG was offering cash backs on every sale, the minimum Tk 500 and the maximum 50 percent of the selling price.
LG is selling 100-litre chest freezers for Tk 29,000 and 300-litre ones for Tk 43,000.
Walton, a leading local manufacturer of refrigerators, already achieved its target of selling 4 lakh units ahead of Eid, offering the highest prize of a car through scratch cards.
The company said to have sold 2.73 lakh units in July and 1.27 lakh units till August 12 and expects to sell at least 5 lakh units in total by Eid day.
Vision Electronics, a sister concern of Pran-RFL Group which manufactures 32 models of refrigerators and
four models of chest freezers, said their sales grew 50 percent ahead of Eid.
Kamruzzman Kamal, director for marketing at Pran-RFL Group, said they produce 1,000 units every day at their Ghorashal factory in Narsingdi.
Vision Electronics retails products through showrooms of Best Buy and Vision emporiums, he said, adding that they also have 2,000 listed dealers.
The capacities of their fridges range from 121 litres to 556 litres and the prices range from Tk 14,000 to Tk 100,000.
Singer, another brand for electronics in Bangladesh, offers a maximum of 100 percent cash back.
It also offers customers six to 12 equal monthly instalment facility upon a deposit of2,000 at any Singer outlet.