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Tightening purse strings in trying times

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-31 07:35

Impulsive buying has also given way to cool-headed bargain hunting.

"It is obvious that many customers are now buying only what they need and not what they want, and they tend to buy mainly items that are on sale," Han said.

Although retail sales show little sign of slowing down, retailers say customers are generally becoming more choosy about their purchases and trying to avoid items after a price hike.

Latest statistics compiled by National Bureau of Statistics showed that in the first six months of the year, the total retail sales in urban areas stood at 3.48 trillion yuan, up 22.1 percent from a year earlier.

Unsurprisingly, sales at department stores like Guiyou have not been as brisk as they used to be. Some have actually reported a slight decline in turnover in the past several months. The uncertain outlook has prompted many department stores and hypermarkets to trim their inventories of high-end goods in sync with customers' changing buying habits.

According to Han, sales in his department store showed a mild decline starting from early this year.

"The declining sales and a growing number of prudent shoppers make suppliers hesitant to place heavy inventories in our department store, but arrange supply according to the market situation," he added.

"I did not use to think much when I wanted to buy something I like," said Ge Baojia, a 28-year-old IT engineer in Beijing.

"I just went ahead and did it. But now I am spending more time on deciding which item to buy, hoping to strike a balance between quality and price."

In Dalian, Zhu Wei, a 27-year-old designer working in a Japanese advertising company, put it more specifically. In the past, she said she bought yogurt, her favorite food, whenever she felt the urge. But since the price of the dairy product has surged by more than 50 percent in the past months, she buys them only in bulk whenever there is a promotion at her neighborhood store.

"I feel I owe it to myself to purchase yogurt in a planned way to combat rising inflation," Zhu said.

Since then, she has extended her yogurt-buying strategy to the procurement of other basic necessities.

"I found that buying shampoo in large bottles is more economical than buying them in small packages, although it's going to take me forever to finish one big bottle of the stuff," she said.

Others are economizing by ditching costly branded products in favor of cheaper alternatives.

"I switched to using soaps instead of bathing foam to save money, and, guess what, soaps are just as good as a cleanser," said Tang in Shanghai. She has also switched to a cheaper, local brand of shampoo and has not been able to really tell the difference so far.

Miao Yang, a 26-year-old working at a publishing house in Shanghai, also realized the urgency to cut waste in daily life.

"I've changed all the light bulbs at home into compact fluorescent light bulbs which are said to be four times more efficient. I also remember to unplug the computer and TV every time I finish using them," she said.

"By doing so, I've not only cut down my bills but also saved energy and contributed to environmental protection."

Miao also started to cut down wastage of food and water.

"Ever since I found a 100-yuan bill could not buy as much food and goods as before in supermarkets, I've realized the importance of not wasting food."

"So every time I cook, I try to control the portions of food I use, to be just enough for feeding my family," Miao said.

"Even if there are leftovers, I will put them in the fridge for the next day - not throw them away as before," she added.

Stung by rising gasoline prices, middle-class consumers are also learning to save fuel and choose energy-efficient vehicles.

Deng Jun, a salesman at the Beijing Asian Games Village Automobile Exchange, told China Daily that a growing number of consumers prefer to buy a more economical and small-sized car to an SUV.

"Customers nowadays welcome Japanese brands most, " Deng said,

"Honda, which consumes much less gasoline than most other brands, topped the sales rankings in recent months."

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