An offer hoarding on a Ranchi road. Telegraph picture

Ranchi, Oct. 26: As capital residents woke up on the first day of Dhanteras today, a wave of SMSes flooded their phones.

While some messages were Dhanteras wishes from family and friends, most were from shops and retailers across the city trying to woo the “suddenly cautious customer” with promises of a great bargain or free gifts galore.

This is the first time that city shopowners resorted to the SMS style to get their customers. Reason: the recession fear plaguing residents.

“This festive season with the world and Indian markets taking a beating, families have curtailed their shopping spree fearing abnormally high prices. In order to expunge this false notion, we took the help of the short messaging system.

“The idea is not only to persuade customers to come to shop, but also to give them details of price and offers,” said R.P. Singh, the marketing in-charge of Main Road Big Bazaar.

Today, an automobile dealer working on Kanke Road was offering an LCD television, an air-conditioner, microwave or a vacuum cleaner for government and corporate employees on the purchase of a car.

Lesser mortals, not related to the government or the private sector, were promised an Alto or gold coin if their names came up in the “lucky draw”.

A jewellery store in the Church Complex on the Main Road, offered a “Lakshmi coupon” containing gifts such as a laptop and 5 kg gold on every purchase worth Rs 5,000.

A shopping retail chain was offering utensils with a purchase of Rs 5,000 to every customers.

A mind-boggling message that hit phone screens came from a furniture shop that promised furniture worth Rs 1 lakh on purchases worth Rs 1 lakh.

Ranjit Kumar, the sales executive of Prem Sons that is a part of the SMS spree, defended the gift and bargain offers.

He said: “Widespread credit crunch and stock losses has decreased liquidity, a major source that is spend on luxury items. Unlike newspaper and television advertisements that only a few can browse through, an SMS has a direct impact on buyers.”

The result of the SMS spree was evident, as shoppers queued up in the later part of the day for the offers.

Uma Singh, a homemaker from Morabadi, said: “I had deferred my plan to buy a new refrigerator for the next Diwali. However, an SMS that offered a special festive discount brought me to this showroom. I am now planning to change the fridge.”

“The bulk messages show clearly that sales have been hit this year. The gifts offered are lures to trap the gullible customer. The people are not in the business to do charity with the customers and I shall curtail my expenditure this year to save money for the impending insecure times” said Anil Agarwal, a CCL employee, who seemed unaffected by the SMS spree.