Chineye Adaku Ugo is my seat partner in my Anglican church. She is a regular and comes early every Sunday. However, for weeks I noticed she has not been attending service lately. I made enquiries from people closer to her and learnt she was not sick.
Hence, I decided to put a call through to her to enquire why she has stopped coming to church. To my greatest amazement she explained that business has kept her very busy. She said that most Saturdays she comes back as late as 11pm and finds it tiring waking up early on Sunday to attend the 7am service.
She is a trader at the popular Balogun market in Lagos. She sells clothes, particularly female Turkey wears. She has three shops in the market. She explained that this season is when they make the highest sales.
“Ordinarily, I do not go to market on Saturdays, I leave my sales girls and boys to run Saturdays but Christmas season is a different ball game.”
Surprised, I asked her if the tough economy has not affected people’s attitude to shopping. Smiling broadly, she said that people will always find a way to shop during Christmas.
“The high rate of forex actually resulted in importers bringing in their goods late. Ordinarily containers start flooding the market as early September but this year it started coming in late October so Christmas shopping did not actually start early this year.”
On what shoppers were buying the most she said food, drinks, clothing especially children and feminine clothing and fashion accessories.
Taking a trip one early morning to Balogun market proved to be something else. I did not envisage the crowd I saw as early as 8am on that Friday morning. Mrs. Essien Ekpa said she came that early to avoid the afternoon crowd and to be able to get transport back to Ikeja early. Usually traders do not open their shops that early but because of the yuletide season resulting in high demand they had to open.
From Nnamdi Azike Way road, to Tom Jones, Gutter, Idumota, Tinubu Square, Akpagbo etcetera, many traders had their wares by the road side with bells in their trying to get the attention of shoppers. Some were shouting at the top of their voice that they offer a 50 percent discount.
It is chaotic, complete mayhem. The crowd is so much that people push against each other. In that chaotic situation there are young men shouting warnings at the top of their voices that people should be mindful of thieves. Shouts of “hold your purse” intermittently rent the air. But like Chioma Chibuike, a shopper said, “That jostling and pushing in the market is all part of Christmas.”
According to her she will not miss it for anything. “I get a thrill from going to the market during this season. I cannot miss it for anything.”
Traders dealing in female and children wares are the most smiling to banks. Bobo, as he is fondly addressed by his numerous customers said that he has sold more wigs and hair extensions this season than he had done since January. Aunty Bimbo of ‘female Under Wears’ said the demand for padded pants exceeds the supply.
“Now that people know the dangers of operation and the cost implication, women who are not naturally endowed with big buttocks go for padded pants. “Women consider their outward appearance before food and this season is the season of parties so every woman wants to look her best.”
Lace sellers, costume jewelry, bags and shoe sellers are not left behind. Though the prices have quite appreciated because of foreign exchange, the majority of women are not deterred. Children’s clothes are also selling like hot cakes. Those who cannot afford UK/US /China brands opt out for the Aba brands. These Aba brands also have adult dresses and they have come to stay. Most of the trendy adult dresses sell between N3-N6,000 while the UK equivalent sells for between N15,000-N40,000.
From investigations at the Trade Fair and Balogun markets Christmas sales are coming in trickles and not a boom.
Mrs. Adesina, who has her shop filled with Christmas trees, said she has not been making much sales as the majority of shoppers said they would rather wash and re-use their old ones. “They just buy a few ornaments and lights to complement what they have at home.”
Rice sellers are another group that are smiling at the banks now. With the fear that the price may go up as Christmas draws new, many people are already stockpiling rice. Currently 50kg of imported short grain sells for N47,000 while the same size of long grain sells for N57,000. “More people are buying short grain because it’s far cheaper than long grain. When the price margin was about N2,000 difference people ignored short grain and bought long grain but considering the tough economy, people buy short one now”, explained a rice seller Taiwo Diya.
Meanwhile organisations are not left out in the race as they have devised a lot of promotions to market their products. Access Bank Plc says it has commenced its AccessMore-12 days of Christmas campaign where 100 lucky customers can win N10,000 vouchers every day.
Group Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank Plc, Njideka Esomeju, said the campaign was launched to celebrate the holiday season.
Esomeju said, “We are happy to give back to our valued customers through the AccessMore 12 days of Christmas campaign. We are going to reward 100 customers with N10,000 shopping vouchers every day from December 1 – December 12, 2023.
“It is our way of expressing gratitude for their continued trust and loyalty to the bank. To be part of the winning train, all our customers need to do is to perform a minimum of five transactions above N1,000 on our AccessMore App and stand a chance to win shopping vouchers and exciting prizes to make their holiday season even more memorable.”
He added, ‘We have partnered with renowned retail stores like Spar, Ebeano, Market Square, Justrite, Jendol, Oriki and more for our customers to redeem their shopping vouchers when they win.
“At Access Bank, we believe in giving back to those who have made our success possible. This campaign is part of our commitment to creating meaningful and memorable experiences for our customers. We invite everyone to participate and stand a chance to be one of our lucky daily winners.”
First bank also has a promotion tagged ‘#share with First bank’. KFC, Jumai, Kerrygold, Haier Thermocool, Konga, and a host of others.
