By Tessa Wong & Jessica Lim

'TIS the season to be jolly for shoppers.

Stores, from the ritzy boutiques of Orchard to the mom-and-pop shops of the heartland, are offering their biggest pre-Christmas sales in years in an effort to attract recession-weary customers.

Dr Jannie Tay of the Singapore Retailers Association said earlier this week that the number of pre-Christmas promotions has increased by 50 per cent this year. Many stores also started their sales up to a month earlier than usual in an attempt to spur spending.

'We want to offset losses'

AFRAID that the alternative to pre-Christmas discounts is silence at the tills, the owner of a neighbourhood shoe shop is offering festive discounts for the first time.

Shoes at his two stores in Pasir Ris and Yishun are now selling at 50 per cent less.

A pair of Dr Marcoss brand of men's leather work shoes from Hong Kong, for example, costs $39.90, down from $79.90 three months ago, and a pair of Rochelle brand women's closed-toe heels is now going for $23.90, down from $49.90.

'All I want is some money'

EVEN traditional medicine outlets are hoping to pull in customers with store-wide discounts.

At Yit Chien Medical Company, a small store in Yishun, owner Ong Kwai Fatt has been holding a sale for about a month, the first time in 10 years that the 62-year-old has offered discounts during the festive season.

At his shop, about 70g of premium ginseng from China now costs $1,080, down from $1,350 last month, and 37.5g of bird's nest from Indonesia costs $153, down from $180.

'We need to cover costs'

FESTIVE discounts are the order of the day for The Point Optical, which has 11 outlets across the island. The chain has slashed prices by up to 50 per cent.

A pair of high-index Mona Lisa brand of spectacles has been reduced to $180 from $250. A one-year supply of soft disposable contact lenses now costs $150, down from $180 two months ago.

The chain decided to cut prices in an effort to breathe some life into flagging sales, which have plunged by half in the last two months.

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