Refrigerator and chest freezer sales are seeing steady growth in the lead up to this year's Eid-ul-Azha as demand has soared thanks to the stable prices and various discounts on offer, according to market players.

Sales usually spike by up to 60 per cent ahead of the religious festival as people often look to upgrade their storage solutions in order to better preserve the meat of their sacrificial animals.

Rangs eMart, which retails international home appliance brands, saw its refrigerator and freezer sales balloon by more than 100 per cent over the past week with the growth expected to continue until Eid.

Muhammad Nafees Imtiaz, brand manager of Rangs eMart, said their sales remain unaffected by the ongoing inflationary pressure as their target customer segment is of the affluent class.

Besides, refrigerator and freezer prices have not changed this year despite the current economic situation while the numerous offers available are boosting sales as well, he added.

Ritesh Ranjan, head of business at Transcom Digital, echoed the same.

"Business has improved ahead of Eid," he said, adding that they have kept sufficient stock in anticipation of the growing demand.

Ranjan also said they retail products of the Samsung, Whirlpool, Hitachi, Haier, Panasonic, and Transtec brands, and are capable of delivering 1,000 refrigerators and freezers every day.

Md Manzurul Karim, senior general manager of Esquire Electronics, the sole distributor of Japanese electronic brands General and Sharp, said the demand for refrigerators and freezers is higher this year.

"We are retailing around 300 refrigerators each day, which is really good news considering the country's economic crisis," said Karim, citing how they sold an average of 180 units per day last year.

Esquire Electronics has 80 outlets and more than 400 distributors across the country.

The company had adopted a very conservative approach at the beginning of 2023 as their market assessment showed that demand would remain dull throughout the year.

As a result, Esquire Electronics imported fewer products this time around.

"But now we assume our stock will finish before Eid in face of higher demand," he said.

However, the increased sales do not indicate that the overall economy has returned to normalcy, Karim added.

According to him, the demand for products designed by Sharp is comparatively higher among customers as they consider it a reliable brand with reasonable prices.

Tofail Ahmed, chief business officer of Walton's refrigerator division, said the company is delivering the highest number of models that are highly energy efficient and feature advanced technologies.

More than 250 models of Walton's frost and non-frost fridges with capacities ranging from 50 to 646 litres are currently available, he said, adding that more than 50 of these are fresh designs released ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

Ahmed also said Walton keeps the price range of its fridges between Tk 17,000 and Tk 155,000 in a bid to cater to all categories of customers.

Md Nurul Afser, deputy managing director of Electro Mart Ltd, which manufactures and retails products of China's Konka brand, said they register around 30 to 40 per cent of their annual sales during the festival market centring Eid-ul-Azha.

According to him, their target segment is made up of the middle class and so, demand has been slightly lower amid the ongoing inflationary pressure.

Still, sales of refrigerators and freezers have risen by about 20 per cent compared to normal times, he said, adding that Electro Mart can manufacture 4 lakh units per year.