KARIAKOO'S furniture and cloth traders face a gloomy Christmas and New Year season as shoppers' pattern reveals a worrisome trend.
The end-of-the-year holidays are a time of hope and the advent of almost every Christmas season prompts merchants to predict good business.
"But not this year," said Ms Restituta Kiria, a garment businesswoman at Kariakoo market for almost two decades.
The business trend, according to the Daily News spot survey, especially at the Kariakoo market and its surroundings, revealed that the volume was decreasing significantly compared to a similar period last year.
The shopping trend, according to businesspersons, normally starts to pick up three weeks before Christmas, especially for children's clothes but this year is unpredictable.
Ms Kiria said that this year's business was not picking up dashing their hopes to capitalise on low Covid-19 infections plus various government initiatives to spur trade and investment to maximise profits.
"I don't understand why the situation has become so difficult," Ms Kiria said adding "businesses were good some six to seven years ago in December.
"Normally, this time around we are starting to count some returns... but this year we have failed to analyse the business pattern."
She said the "situation is scary" as they may fail to meet their New Year obligations such as paying rent, school fees, salaries and the like.
"For us, the situation is not pleasing, maybe for other businesses but not for clothes... it is still unpredictable," said Ms Kiria.
The business also is facing another challenge, especially after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 ordering consignments online increases the chances of not receiving the required goods as per the lists.
Levina Christian, dealing with home decor products for over 10 years, said that the business pattern was confusing and unpredictable compared to previous years.
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"We counted on Christmas and New Year to realise profit but business was down even in comparison to the four months ago... .It seems shoppers haven't speared money for home decor," she said.
She said the previous months up to September business was good compared to those of the two months leading to the end of the year holidays.
"Previous years, in November and December most décor shops were closing between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm," Ms Christian said adding that they even failed to make pace with orders of their customers in upcountry.
To restock for end-of-the-year holidays some traders took loans which now fear repayment as the season looks gloomy.
The latest central bank monthly economic review issues over the weekend showed that loans to traders increased from 13.6 per cent in September to 19.4 per cent in October.
The 'Daily News' spot survey revealed that the situation was unpleasant for clothes, furniture and decorations traders since they are registering low turnover a day as Christmas nears.
"It's going to be a difficult Christmas for us," said Kassim Kondo another trader at Kariakoo, "People buy when they feel good. But Tanzanians are wary and concerned right now about meeting end goals.
Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Monthly Economic Review report issued yesterday showed that the extended broad money supply grew down by 13.3 per cent in October, from 13.6 per cent recorded in the similar month last year.
However, the report said the growth of the extended broad money supply is generally consistent with the target of 10.3 per cent for 2022/23.
