The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian retailer yesterday said its e-commerce platform is generating 20 percent of total revenue this Christmas season.

Brent Burrows Jr, CBS Bahamas vice-president of retail and sales, told Tribune Business that consumer spending in the run-up to the holiday season is “good” with the company’s main South-west Plaza location “filled with customers” for the past week.

“We’re actually seeing more and more traffic online and in the store. I think people are trying to avoid the traffic and the chaos, so they’re shopping from home, and then the average spend is up as well per actual customer. Both things seem to be up at least right now at this point,” Mr Burrows said. “Online sales are right around 20 percent of our entire revenue, which is good. We’re happy for that.”

Adriano Baldacci, Micronet’s marketing manager, told Tribune Business via e-mail: “Things are going well here both in store and on our e-commerce site. Laptops, phones, tablets, TVs, watches, AirPods and EarPods are all moving really well.”

He added that online sales look “much better” now there is “more awareness” of it. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been “significant” growth in Micronet’s e-commerce platform year-over-year for each subsequent holiday season.

Latoya Miller, Custom Computers’ retail store manager, said “sales are great” this Christmas season and look much better than 2022’s comparatives. “The fast moving items this year are the Apple watches, the iPhone 15 and we also have some electric scooters and our tablets. People are buying multiples, so we are extremely busy this year,” she said.

Margo Farrington, chief marketing officer for Lorene’s Department Store, said she is waiting for government payday for business to “really start picking up”. She added: “People are buying more than one item because they are buying not only for themselves but they are also buying gifts for people.”