TSO was like Christmas, says merchant
The Jamaica Observer Takes Style Out (TSO) is being hailed as the “second coming of Christmas” for business.
“We were swamped,” said Rebecca Harper, projects and business development officer at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) e-Store on Half-Way-Tree Road.
“The shelf was actually full,” she said, while pointing to a glass cupboard that had only six of the dozens of refrigerator timers that were put out for display.
The seven-day refrigerator timer, which was the e-Store’s biggest seller, is a locally designed product that enables customers to automatically cut the power to their fridge, thus significantly reducing the number of kilowatt hours used.
“Because we were selling so many timers at once, we had to resort to making group presentations to show the customers how to programme them,” she said.
Harper said that the store’s sales increased by “more than 300 per cent”, because “people seemed to be waiting on the sale” to buy the things they wanted.
A 25 per cent discount was being offered on the refrigerator timer, which is usually sold for $3,800.
Participating stores in downtown Kingston also saw huge crowds taking advantage of the discounts being offered.
With more than 20 minutes to go before Payless began offering a 30 per cent discount on every item in its King Street store, there were more than 40 people holding their space in line to pay for their goods.
Strategically, Payless decided to offer a 40 per cent discount on selected items throughout the day, with a further 30 per cent markdown on all items in the store between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm.
The day-long discount on selected items tripled the number of customers who usually go into the store, said Kadine Dawkins, manager of the branch.
Only minutes after 5:00 pm, the number of customers in the store increased tenfold she said, with the majority of them “killing time” in the line and among the aisles, so that they could get the further 30 per cent discount at 6:00 pm.
One customer, Nakeshia Smith, having already selected the two pairs of shoes and the handbag that she wanted, admitted to the Business Observer that she was waiting another 30 minutes for the store to further mark down its prices.
Smith, who is a legal assistant, said that she also waited specifically on “TSO day” so that she could make big purchases and cash in on the discounts.
“The only time the store is this busy is Christmas,” said Chevanese Tucker, sales assistant at the downtown Kingston Payless store.
Sabritru Boutique was open long beyond its usual closing time. The store, which is located on Orange Street, downtown, Kingston, had well over 50 customers inside two hours beyond its normal 6:00 pm closing time.
“It is good to see this type of crowd downtown at this time of the night,” said the store owner, Trusha Beecham, who discounted prices by up to 70 per cent on some items.
Beecham, who treated customers to wine and food, said that, “TSO has brought an atmosphere of excitement that is good for business”, and has generated a conservative estimate of 30 per cent increase in sales.
The number of customers who visited American Jewellery in Tropical Plaza “was at least three times the normal amount”, said the store’s owner, Roshan Khemlani.
The jewellery and appliance store saw its sales “at least double” over the course of the day, with jewellery doing slightly better than appliances, he said.
Khemlani reckoned that the volume of sales and interest generated by TSO are only comparable to Christmas, as the type of business typically associated with Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day has not rebounded since the 2008 recession.
The upturn in sales of jewellery, in particular, is indicative of a slight improvement of the economy, he said, as people tend to sell their jewellery in times of economic downturn, and purchase more as the economy improves.
The National Commercial Bank (NCB) also participated in the TSO five-hour shopping experience by giving their customers the opportunity to win rewards and prizes when they used their NCB Keycard.
Cardholders received up to one per cent cash back, while NCB Classic Keycard holders earned up to five per cent cash back (up to a maximum of $500) at TSO retailers islandwide or at any merchant that acccepts NCB cards.
Customers who made purchases at TSO participating stores using their NCB Keycards were also given the opportunity to use their receipts to redeem prizes.
“Hundreds of people came” to collect their prizes, said NCB Group Marketing Manager Nichole Brackett-Walter.
The promotion, she said, gave them the opportunity to interact with customers, disseminate product information and recruit new customers throughout the day.