Categorically, violence and bloodshed have turned Karachi into a city of fright which is being lampooned all across the globe. With ambulance sirens roaring all day long and half the City shut down every other day, shopping and retail business have taken several leaps backwards, among other misfortunes.
While it is true that markets and retail outlets resume their business, law and order situation in the city is highlighted in a recent indexing study as one of the chief reasons for this Citys poor standing amongst its neighbouring peers as well as it immediate competitors in quest for the best shopping destination.
The collaborative study by EIU and Global Blue on the world shopping index for Asia Pacific region ranks Karachi as one of the lowest in the index amongst 25 cities. The Globe Shopping Index ranks these 25 Asian destinations according to their shopping advantages and disadvantages, evaluating them in five categories of transport and accommodation, convenience, affordability, types of shops and weather.
A cosmopolitan home for various ethnicities, Karachi as an international shopping destination cannot be declined of its share of old bazaars as well as recent developments in form of shopping malls and complexes.
The index categorises the City in the affordability and deal tracker category where the shoppers are less concerned with luxury, convenience and new experiences, and more with the focus on the wallet. The shoppers in Karachi generally seek price negotiations. Another advantage that can be deciphered from the index is the Citys highest score on the catalogue in terms of climate.
So all those bargain hunters might get drawn to the City as the shopkeepers are genuinely ready to haggle as there are very few seasonal sales when compared elsewhere.
But the caveat for the shoppers is the fact that they should be ready to experience the sticker shock; most of the low-cost cities cited in the study tend to have relatively higher prices for food, hotel and other expenses. So the shoppers should be all set to pay premium for low cost goods, or move to high priced destinations that offer cheaper food, transport and accommodation.
Also, the shoppers might just change their shopping destination due to a single big disadvantage: Karachi ranks the poorest on the security scale which is the single most terrorising factor that pushes the City further down the index.
Being very optimistic, fixing the predicament of law and order situation will definitely raise the Citys ranking from being amongst peers like Dhaka and Colombo in the index close to its geographic peers like Mumbai.