Salem special offer: Buy helmet and get pricey onions for free

Mohammed Kasim, who runs a helmet shop in Kottai area, came up with this novel plan to boost sales in his shop.

From morning, people thronged his shop to buy the helmets and take home a kilogram of onions, whose prices hovers around Rs 130. The onion prices, which soared to Rs 200 per kilogram in the market, had eased a bit following the import of Egypt onions.

Yet onions continue to be out of reach in below middle class families. Onion prices sky-rocketed due to heavy rains in Maharashtra, a major producer in the country.

The government has also been taking various measures to bring down the price of onions with Food Cell department sleuths conducting raids to prevent hoarding. With many families shunning the use of onions due to its high cost, the free onions for helmet buyers turned out to be a hit.

“My daughter had noticed a cell phone shop in Pudukottai giving onions free for those buying cell phones. Similarly it struck upon us to give onions free to helmet buyers to boost sales. Our idea worked out well as helmet sales have now been doubled. From 20 helmets, the sales have increased to 40 per day in our shop,” said Mohammed Kasim.

With enough stock of onions, Mohammed did not leave any customers disappointed as everyone, who bought the helmets had left with bags full of onions.

“It is rather unusual to see a small shop owner giving a precious commodity for free to customers. I was lured by the offer and bought a new helmet as the one I already had become worn out. My wife will rather be surprised,” said S Manickam, a sales agent, who bought the helmet.

Enthused by the good response, Mohammed said that he is planning to give the onions for free until its prices come down. He claims that he doesn’t face any loss as he buys the onions in bulk. Helmet sales have also increased with police enforcing a ban on helmet-less riding on two arterial roads in Salem district.