Top furniture brands offer up to 18% off in trade fair

The country's top furniture brands have banded together at the trade fair, exhibiting their best gadgets of diverse aesthetic designs with offers of discounts up to 18%.

According to the furniture companies, the crowd in their stalls has kept growing since day one with offers and discounts working as a charm. 

Furnishing brands like Hatil, Partex, Navana, Akhtar, and Brothers have showcased a wide range of home appliances at competitive prices with exclusive discounts varying from 5% to 18%.

The 27th edition of Dhaka International Trade Fair, which kicked off in the capital's Purbachal on 1 January, has been drawing an increasingly higher number of visitors from the very beginning, making traders more optimistic about their sales and promotions.

On Tuesday, hundreds of visitors and potential buyers were seen thronging the furniture stalls while many companies received a good number of orders. 

Mohammed Jewel, who came to the fair from Narsingdi, said, "I want to buy a comfortable bed for my son. I came here, for where else am I going to find so many collections in one place?"

Bringing all major brands under one roof is one of the strengths of the trade fair and consumers truly count on it, he added.

HATIL Furniture has showcased a variety of modern space-saving furniture in its stall, including Space Saving Bed, Sofa Cum Bed, Space Saving Dining Set, and Wall Cabinet. 

Their Bed Cum Sofa (5 by 6.5 feet) was priced at Tk47,430, Rocking Chair at Tk24,900, and Foot Stool at Tk10,000.

Moshiur Rahman, marketing director of HATIL Complex Ltd, told The Business Standard, "We design products keeping the needs of customers in mind. After meeting domestic needs, we export products to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Australia, Canada, America and Middle Eastern countries."

HATIL Furniture is offering 5%-10% discounts on its products, Akhtar furniture 15-17%, Nadia Furniture 8-15%, Brothers Furniture 5-15%, Navana Furniture 10%-17%, Hatim Furniture 10%-15%, HI-TECH Furniture 8%-15%, and Partex Furniture 10%-18%.

According to representatives of the participating companies, customers can only order products at the fair stalls, which will be delivered to their homes later. The delivery charge is free within Dhaka.

Farzana Haque, a senior sales executive of Navana Furniture, said, "More and more visitors coming to the fair ground is good news for companies like ours. We get to highlight the quality of our products in front of them."

The size of furniture market is Tk30,000 crore in the country and about 95% of the demand is met by local companies. Moshiur Rahman, marketing director of HATIL Complex Ltd, said, "Big brands produce about 50% of the furniture to meet the country's demand while small enterprises and local artisans make up the rest."

Currently, Bangladesh exports furniture to India, Nepal, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and European Union countries.

Furniture worth $110.36 million was exported in the financial year 2021-22, which is 38.87% more than in the previous year.

The Export Promotion Bureau has been organising the Dhaka International Trade Fair since 1995 to support the promotion, expansion, marketing and production of local products.

The annual event could not be organised in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, the venue was shifted to Purbachal from the previous venue of Agargaon.

This year the trade fair is showcasing a variety of items including textiles, carpets, cosmetics and beauty aids, electrical and electronics, jute and jute products, leather/artificial leather and leather products etc.

Entrepreneurs from ten countries – India, Hong Kong, Türkiye, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and Nepal – have participated in this year's fair.