Online shopping hit sales in shops in Mizoram

AIZAWL: With shopping at the click of a mouse gaining popularity, sales were hit in shops here during Christmas last year when buying is usually at its peak in this Christian dominated state in the Northeast.

Shopkeepers at the Millennium Centre here which houses around 332 shops said that sales had gone down by at least 25 per cent compared to 2012 pre-Christmas shopping.

Lalrinmawii, a shopkeeper, said her sale decreased to a large extent because of the increasing popularity of online shopping. She said that while she sold over Rs one lakh worth garments on December 24 in 2012, her sales on the same day in 2013 was less than Rs 50,000.

"Increasing inflow of garments and other goods from Myanmar, opening of more new shops and declining purchasing power of the people are also hitting our business," she added.

Time Cell Enterprise, which sells watches, complained that sales took a considerable hit during peak Christmas shopping days.

"Our sales of watches were good and managed to reach Rs one lakh margin in a day during Christmas earlier for which we received an award from one of the watch manufacturing companies," a sales girl said, adding that the average sale in December 2013 was merely around Rs 10,000 daily.