Grocery stores and supermarkets in the capital witnessed a rise in sales in the last couple of days with a sudden influx of customers because of Ramadan.Sales of chickpea, dates, pulses, sugar and other ingredients of iftar items along with beef, chicken, egg, onion, edible oil and potato had gone up, said retailers.Prices of almost all commodities remained stable despite the rise in consumer demand.However, the prices of flour and edible oil -- soya bean and palm oil -- witnessed a rise.The price of chickpea fell marginally followed by an increase in supply.The price of unpacked soya bean oil soared to Tk 80-82 from Tk 78-80 a kilogram a week ago, while palm oil price edged up to Tk 73-75 from Tk 72-74 a kg, according to the daily retail price data of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.A sudden increase in demand sent the prices of branded and canned soybean oil up by Tk 4-5 a litre.Retailers sold a five-litre can of soya bean between Tk 424 and 445 depending on the brand, said Abu Taher, owner of Mukta Enterprise, a grocery shop, at New Market."Except for some commodities such as edible oil, prices of other essentials remain almost stable," said Shahdat Hossain, a shopkeeper at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.Vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, tomato, aubergine and green chilli became dearer because of their high demand as ingredients of iftar items."Sales will be good even today and tomorrow," said Suman Khan, a grocery retailer at Wari. He grossed Tk 8,000 in sales on Wednesday, the day before the start of Ramadan.He counted Tk 6,500 in sales on Tuesday.Abdul Latif, outlet operation manager of ACI Logistics' chain retail store Shwapno, hoped that the consumer sentiment would remain upbeat in the first 10 days of Ramadan.Shaheen Khan, chief operating officer of Meena Bazar, said prices of commodities remained stable in superstores despite a rise in consumer demand."Customer response is much higher this year than the last two years because the consumers are gaining confidence in superstores," Shaheen said.