The Malaysian Insight

TRADERS are confident sales of traditional clothing and accessories synonymous with the Eid festival would be brisk this year although people are tightening their belts amid a gloomy economic outlook.

Last year, Muslims had a little more money to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri with, when the government allowed Employees Provident Fund contributors to withdraw part of their pension savings for the celebration.

This year, only civil servants will benefit from a RM700 handout from the government, which they will receive on April 17.

Traders told The Malaysian Insight despite the people not receiving financial aid from the government, they are still confident consumers will not curb their spending.

In fact, they expect sales to increase compared to last year.

Nik Zamri Abu Bakar, entrepreneur and owner of the ByNiks clothing brand, said demand for his designer Raya clothing is high although Raya is still weeks away.

“Looking at my chart, sales to date are higher compared to last year’s. We’re still only in the first quarter (of the fasting month) and people have already started buying their clothes for Raya,” he said.

Muslims began their month-long fast last Thursday.

Zamri said the last year’s lukewarm sales was because people only made purchases at the last minute.

“They feared Covid-19 cases would surge and were worried that the movement control order could be enforced again.

“However, this year they have already made early preparations.”

Nik Zamri said many traders had actually started selling Raya clothing a month before the start of Ramadan to test the waters.

“We usually start selling our Raya collection a month in advance through online and in-store sales.

That early release was how he could see what the consumer spending this year would be like.

On the cost of production, Nik Zamri said like everything else, the cost of sewing a Raya outfit had increased by 5% due to costlier raw materials.

He, however, gave the assurance that baju raya prices will not increase as traders will absorb the costs.

“We cannot increase the selling price because we are worried people will not want to buy it if it is too expensive.

“So we just stick to the old prices. We can absorb the extra costs,” he said.

Nik Zamri said the trend of shopping early showed consumers had saved for this year’s Raya celebrations.

“Last year, people shopped because they didn’t celebrate Raya for the past two years,” he said, referring to the movement restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Also last year, people were also getting a lot of financial assistance, including withdrawing from their EPF.

Nik Zamri said despite the cutback in financial assistance this year, he is confident it would not affect consumer spending.

“They are still buying despite the challenging economy,” he added.

Another trader, Johari Salleh, also said Raya sales, which began a week before the start of the fasting month, are also brisk.

Like Nik Zamri, Johari said Raya clothing production costs had shot up but traders have agreed not to hike prices.

“Definitely, costs have increased. It is like that every year,” said Johari, who imports his fabrics from India.

“But it’s not just the cost of materials that has gone up. The prices of yarn and thread have also gone up.

“But we traders have agreed to absorb the extra costs,” said Johari, who has been selling traditional Malay clothing in Shah Alam for 18 years.

For the moment, Johari is relieved because sales have been encouraging and he believes his business will fare better than last year.

“Even though people complain they are burdened with the rising cost of living, one thing is for sure – they will shop for their children.

“That’s one of the reasons why people will continue to buy Raya clothes,” he said.

Traditional baju kurung seller, Sarimah Abdullah, 49, said her focus will be on affordable baju raya this year.

“No matter how poor the economy might be, the demand for baju kurung will still be there.

“The least that could happen is the consumer will save enough money to buy only one outfit,” said Sarimah, who also sells online and at a bazaar in Shah Alam. – March 26, 2023.