Supermarket sales plummet amid curfew, internet blackout

The persisting supply and demand shock dragged down supermarket sales since Thursday, making life harder.

Sales were down by around 30% by Friday and after curfew with some recovery it is still around 17-18% down from the usual business days, said Sabbir Hasan Nasir, managing director of the country's largest supermarket chain Shwapno.

Supermarkets have been desperately trying to uphold their commitment to consumers for a stable supply chain and pricing, he said.

Local administrations are forcing stores in many areas across the country to shut, he said, adding that some 30-65 of Shwapno stores remained closed amid curfew.

Sales spike abnormally during the curfew-relaxed hours, and it nosedives again, Sabbir said adding, supermarket employees have been struggling to commute to workplace.

Also supply shortage has been a problem as transportation became a tough job. Alternative, localised sourcing of perishable products are helping to some extent.

However, supply chain disruption started to subside gradually starting on Sunday, said Shameem Ahmed Jaigirder, chief operating officer of Meenabazar.

Supply chain was extremely disrupted before curfew and it was gradually improving from Sunday. After a 50% sales drop on Thursday and Friday amid violence, sales recovered to a decent extent gradually, he said.

Still, stores were selling 10-20% less, if compared to the usual business days, he said, adding almost 80% of the daily sales at Meenabazar were taking place in the short hours of curfew relaxation.

Still the shelves are short of many products, especially fishes and vegetables. Both the supermarket executives expect further improvement by the end of this week. Also, the internet outage made operations, transactions tough, he said.

Each of our stores are operating individually and we are coordinating over phone, said Sabbir Hasan Nasir, adding that the authorities should be fully supportive to smoother operations in supermarkets.

Commodity prices high amid supply disruption

Visits to various kitchen markets yesterday revealed that onions are selling for Tk125-130 a kg, which was Tk110 some four days ago. Green chilli sees volatility in prices, ranging from Tk240 a kg to over Tk500. Potato price remain stagnant at Tk70-75.

Eggs and broiler chicken are selling at increased prices. A dozen of eggs now selling for Tk160-165 while broiler chicken is selling for Tk200-210 a kg.

Poultry Association President Sumon Hawladar told TBS that egg prices rose in Dhaka due to lack of supply but fell at production stage due to accumulation.

Fish prices in the capital also saw a sharp increase with Rui, Pabda, Koi, Pangasha and Telapia selling for Tk50-100 higher than usual. The supply of these fish is also low in the market.

Vegetable prices remain high as well with eggplant selling above Tk120 a kg and other vegetables selling for Tk80-100 a kg. However, bitter gourd price is even higher than eggplant, selling for Tk140-150.

Due to the ongoing nationwide curfew, transportation of essential items from the country's northern region to Dhaka and Chattogram has been severely disrupted, which increased truck fares, according to traders.