Shopping Galore in Indonesia

by AsiaIndia


Indonesia introduces numerous shopping opportunities. Choices are simply endless from street vendors selling authentic homemade wares to huge department stores. Most of the goods available here are cheaper than anywhere else; Asian shopaholics are known to travel here every year for a spot of retail therapy. Bali is the best place to go for local arts and crafts, while bigger cities such as Jakarta and Yogyakarta are better known amongst seekers of mainstream and luxury brands.
Prices maybe established fix in department stores, yet normally it is possible to bargain on the price of goods and services throughout the country, from unmetered taxis to souvenir stands. The rule of thumb when it comes to bargaining business is to start low, then slowly let the shopkeeper bring up the price to a third or half of his/her original quoted price, depending on what you're buying and where you're making the purchase. The shopping hours here are from 08:30 to 20:00, with some shops closed on Sundays. In Muslim areas, some shops are closed for a few hours around Friday lunchtime for prayers.
In comparison with the West, Indonesia as a Muslim country , most commercial places are kept open on Sunday. Most commercial places and shopping malls have increasing visitors on Sundays and even national holidays which results very often to be crowded. So if you plan to go to Indonesian malls and shopping centres, weekdays (Monday to Friday) is the best time to visit. Shopping malls and commercials open at around 10 am, and street shops and traditional markets open as early as 6 am, and close at around 8 to 9 pm. Twenty-four hours stores (not malls) is mostly found in major cities.
Lombok's Shopping
Lombok's potential dares the mass-produced flow of products many of us have come to associate with modern consumer culture. Pottery, basket weaving and textiles are the three main crafts produced in Lombok, a place where visitors should take advantage of local handmade, high-quality and unique products. Highly skilled craftsmen create amazingly innovative and inventive furniture, clothes and jewelry, the sort of stuff you won't find too often on anyone else's mantelpiece or in wardrobes back home. Keeping with the romantic theme of the island, pearls can be found in abundance. Eye-watering price tags are few and far between so essentially you will pay less for more.
Bali Shopping
Practically everybody comes to Bali to shop, and even if shopping wasn't the ultimate aim, you'll still end up with fascinating and irresistible buys. Bali is a treasure trove of fine art and handicrafts, antique and semi-antique furniture, paintings, delicately carved jewelry, wood and stone carvings, masks, woven and dyed fabrics.
Bargaining in markets, shops and art shops, is normal practice and getting a good price depends largely on one's bargaining prowess. As bargaining forms a large part of the fun of shopping in Bali, remember to carry cash, as not all places accept credit cards - and be good humored. Shops are usually open from 10am to 11pm.
International labels, local designer clothes plus skillful tailors and dressmakers offer reliable 24-hours services. Shops selling similar items are normally grouped together to make comparing prices easy, and if the shop you're in doesn't have a particular color or size, wouldn't it be easy to just pop over next door!
Jakarta Shopping
From unique handicrafts to fashion design labels and latest gadgets in technology, Jakarta has something for everyone. As diverse as the products are, so are the shopping environments. Like any capital city, world-class mega-malls, stacked with international brands, are high-end and much swarmed by both locals and tourists. Beyond the air conditioned walls of the contained shopping centers, downtown Jakarta (the old neighborhoods around the South of the city) displays abundance of stores selling various products, including batiks, silks and unique handicrafts.
'Pasars' (markets) are jam packed with interesting finds, hence entails a lot of patience along with good bargaining skills. The usual procedure is to start off with a counter offer of 40% of the asking price and settle at 50%-60% of the original asking price.