Large shopping centres and markets are counting falling sales as many customers shelve their shopping plans amid fears of terrorist attacks.

Operators said their daily sales have plummeted as much as 80 percent from a year earlier.

“Panic appears to be running high and the impact is being felt high in large malls. People are unwilling to visit markets unless it is absolutely necessary,” said Azharul Haque Azad, president of Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh, a platform of 100 local fashion houses.

Azad, also the managing director of Sadakalo, said there is a rumour going around that shopping centres might be targeted by militants following the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery.

Militants stormed the upscale restaurant in the capital's Gulshan area on July 1 killing 20 diners, mostly foreigners. The massacre sent shockwaves across the country and beyond as well as created fears.

Sadakalo has a showroom at the country's largest shopping centre, Jamuna Future Park, which located near the capital's diplomatic zone. Its daily sales from the store in Jamuna have slumped up to 80 percent following the militant attack in Gulshan, according to Azad.

“Local fashion brands are not the only sufferers -- this is the overall scenario of retail sales in malls and markets,” he added.

Restaurants and food courts too are seeing a plunge in customer turnouts.

“The customers who used to come to our restaurant regularly now want home-delivery instead. And we are giving them that,” said Mir Nizam Uddin Ahmed, who runs the Khana Khazana restaurant in Gulshan.  Ahmed, who also owns Zaara Neha Fashions Mall in the same area, said customer turnout at the store nosedived about 80 percent.

“Hardly any customer comes in the evening -- this is a very bad situation. There is still panic among people.”

Md Obydul Anwar Khan, manager of Infinity Mega Mall at Bashundhara City, another large shopping centre, said sales usually remain low after Eid.

But sales and turnouts have been much lower after this year's Eid than the previous ones, he said, adding that the store has registered a 50 percent drop in daily sales since it opened after the Eid holidays.

“We usually see many window shoppers, but their presence is almost zero now,” he said, adding that the situation is much worse than during the political turmoil of 2013 and 2014.

“We have some customers who told us that the shopping malls may come under attack,” said Md Jahangir Alam Hira, store manager of a local fashion house Rang Bangladesh's outpost in Bashundhara City.

He said the Rang outlet at the Deshi Dosh corner of Bashundhara City has recorded Tk 30,000 in daily sales after the Eid holidays, down by half from a year earlier.

“Those who now visit the malls are coming for buying not for window shopping,” said Iqbal Hossain, manager of the Bata outpost in Bashundhara City.