Buying frenzy

At 10.30am in the morning as I was approaching the Aeon shopping mall in Cheras Selatan I was surprised to see that the open car park of the shopping mall was full.

Today is Thursday, a working day and I would expect that most people should be working in their offices and factories. Where did so many customers come from? I could only conclude that many working people took their day off from work to come here for the Aeon members day sale.

As I drove past the toll gate into the compound, I saw a "car park full" sign and an attendance waved me in the direction of the 2nd floor indoor car park. With the open car park full I would expect that the indoor car park would also be full. In fact I remember mumbling to my wife that we were going to park our car on the open roof top car park.

However I was wrong. As I entered the building I noticed that the indoor car park was only 1/4 full. On a normal day motorists would only park their cars in the open yard when the indoor car park is full. This strange anomaly means that shoppers had already invaded the mall even before Aeon had opened its indoor car park to the public.

Once inside the Aeon store another surprise was in store for me and my wife. I saw big crowds of shoppers many with supermarket push carts snapping up merchandise at the various stations and also long lines of shoppers queuing at the cashier counters to make payment for their purchases.

I thought supermarket push carts are for customers to transport their purchases of groceries and not general merchandise. The fact that the supermarket and the trolleys are located at the opposite end of the mall did not deter shoppers from pushing the carts for the long walk from the supermarket to the department store.

Aeon members day sale is truly a phenomenal event even though it is usually held on a week day. So attractive are the discounts offered that many working people take one day off from their annual leave to attend the sale. Who could resist discounts of up to 70% of the regular price of the merchandise on this day. To entice shippers to spend Aeon even rewarded customers with cash vouchers worth RM10 for every RM100 of general merchandise purchase and RM5 vouchers for every RM100 worth of groceries purchase?

Eying the pile of ladies underwear my wife quickly snapped up 3 pieces priced less than RM12 each. Those were the last pieces of her size left in the pile of apparel. The normal retail price for these items are RM39.00. At RM12 the store is offering a hefty discount of 70% off its regular price. Few people would pass this chance to acquire quality apparel at such a discounted price.

Joining other shoppers we also grabbed a trolley from the supermarket and filled it to the brim with our purchases of clothing, bedsheets, groceries and other daily necessities. As I pushed the trolley along the crowded aisle towards the department store where my wife was shopping I passed by a few people pushing not one cart each but three carts piled end to end in a row like a train of carts.