Countdown to Christmas: Businesses, consumers, cautious but optimistic

IT’S BEGINNING to look a lot like Christmas for shoppers and businesses in the retail sector, with people going to the streets, as they do every year, to look for gifts, nick-knacks and items for the home.

But with less than two weeks left in the Christmas season, customers and businesses alike are cautious. Businesses are saying that while foot traffic is high, customer sales are not very different from the year before and are a far cry from pre-pandemic levels, while consumers are budgeting in various ways amid higher prices and lower purchasing power.

Businesses however hope that for the next ten days there would be a rush.

Crime deterring customers

Port of Spain businessmen said consumers are cautious about shopping in the capital because of petty crimes, such as cellphone, purse and chain snatching.

Charlotte Street vendor Shaun Mohammed said it has contributed to the slow pace of sales.

“You know how Charlotte Street is,” he said. “People sometimes feel it is safer to go to the malls. They may spend an extra dollar there, but at least they are safe.”

He said years before, vendors and businesses would get at least three good weeks of high foot traffic and sales, but recently that has been limited to one week out of the season. He said with Christmas falling on a weekend, it would also be a deterrent for consumers.

“As the holiday is falling on the weekend that would make it more difficult because people who work in town would usually shop in town for Christmas eve, but as it would fall on a Sunday, they would more than likely shop where they live.”

Dave, a produce vendor from San Juan, said he changed his products from produce to toys, hoping to catch consumers looking for gifts for children but with little success.

“Things are really slow today,” he said. “I am thinking the week before Christmas things will pick up. Plenty people are scared to come into town. That has a lot to do with it. When you have people coming to snatch your phone or your purse, people would get scared.”

Greater San Fernando Business Chamber president Kiran Singh said consumers may go to areas where there are lower crime rates for safer shopping.

“Statistically speaking the southern and south western (police) divisions have relatively lower crime rates,” he said. “So it is quite possible that we would see, especially with the women who are shopping, that they would feel safer to come to San Fernando because of the security measures we have in place.”

He said measures such as a greater police presence are contributing to the security of the area. He added that a park-and-ride service where consumers who use the parkade near the San Fernando General Hospital can access a shuttle service that drops them off at different areas in the southern city.

Greater Chaguanas Chamber of Business and Commerce president Baldath Maharaj said in his area there are officers on foot and vehicular patrols, and sometimes officers on horseback, keeping the borough safe. He added the military is also adding to the security matrix with joint patrols with the police on evenings.

“Reports of petty crime and even major crimes have gone down compared to last year and earlier this year,” he said.

Customers cautious with spending

Customers are also watching their spending closely amid higher prices.

Kelly and Reneiesha, two consumers from Port of Spain, did not mince words as they spoke about the cost of items with Business Day in the nation’s capital.

“I don’t know what is going through the Government’s head because I don’t know why the place is so hard,” Reneiesha said. “Like I have to tell Kamla (Persad-Bissessar) to say what I want to say because apparently that is the only person the Prime Minister responds to.”

Speaking as a shopper and the owner of a business, she said there are difficulties for both entrepreneurs and consumers this year.

“I have a business and business is slow. Money isn’t circulating and that’s not a good thing.”

Kelly said she had to space out her shopping to ensure that she is not overwhelmed by the costs.

“I have to buy in parts. I would buy some things this week, other things another week and so on,” she said.

Still, several people did take to Port of Spain for Christmas shopping. Karina Modeste, Isaiah Joseph, Joshua Rampersad and Jeremy Alexander, spoke to Business Day while at Mode Alive on Frederick Street, looking for gifts for the secret Santa at their jobs.

“We already have something but we are looking for a little extra,” Modeste said. “Our person likes cups so we are looking for one.”

She said deals at that the store were good and would return for her own Christmas gifts.

“I think they may be tired of seeing me here because I am always in this store,” she said.

Rochelle Stafford, another shopper on Frederick Street, said she was very mindful of her budget going into next year. She said the main agenda for her shopping list is to find things that would last beyond Christmas.

“I am here for the deals,” she said. “I am looking for things that I can perhaps use even after the Christmas.”

Vashti Guyadeen, president of the TT Coalition of Services Industries, said services related to home improvement such as painting, roofing and landscaping would usually see a surge in this season.

“This year there’s been a mixed response,” she said. “While some consumers have continued with their usual Christmas redecorating and refurbishing, others have opted for more modest upgrades, possibly due to budget constraints.”

She said the scale of projects have been smaller compared to pre-pandemic times.

She said businesses hoped to bounce back from previous years which were rife with challenges coming out of covid19 and other global shocks.

“With a little more than a week left before Christmas it seems that many businesses are meeting these expectations to varying degrees. There is an uptick in consumer activity but it may not be uniform across all service sectors. The overall sentiment is cautiously positive with an understanding that consumer behaviour has shifted in some ways due to broader economic constraints.”

Port problems adding to Xmas worries for businesses

Singh said delays at the nation’s ports are also posing a major challenge for businesses which have to bring in goods for the season. But he lamented that challenges at the Port of Spain port are not limited to Christmas but all year round.

“The Christmas season is literally a week and a half,” he said. “As usual some businesses still have some of their goods stuck at the port. Some of these goods are seasonal in nature and others are perishable.”

“If Christmas passes then these goods start to expire. They get stale-dated. The entrepreneurs miss the Christmas rush, and they feel the brunt of that because the costs are not being met by sales and that has a negative impact on profits, which everyone looks forward to at the end of the year.”

Ann, a Charlotte Street produce vendor from Arima, said the slow pace of sales is costing her money, as her produce which she buys from the Caricom port are slowly spoiling. She showed Business Day pimentos on Monday that she bought over the weekend but had not sold and were slowly going bad. She said if they aren’t sold she would either have to give it away or throw it away.

“This cost me $250,” she said. “But people are just not buying, so they have spoiled. It’s the same thing with the cabbage. We had to throw some of them away too. Yesterday I gave away carailie, cabbage, baigan (eggplant). It’s like people don’t have money right now.”

Singh said there has to be a better way to operate the port, while ensuring that illegal contraband does not slip through the cracks.

“If it means increasing staff, working on weekends or something, we need to find a more sensible logical approach to how goods are cleared to enter the stores. Every year we hear about this problem. Even when we have to pay to clear cargo, it is a real headache. If your goods remain over time you have to pay demurrage and rental. Your transportation costs go up, your labour costs go up, in fact, the port makes more money when we have to pay these additional charges.”

Maharaj added that delays at the port are also exacerbated by challenges with attaining foreign exchange. He said businesses that don’t have access would not be able to pay to clear the port. Even with assistance from banks some businesses may not get access to enough foreign exchange to pay the charges.

“And ultimately the consumer pays for it either way, because this is added to the cost,” he said.