Dubai: Tech-savvy shoppers are gearing up for a four-day extravaganza of buzz, bargains and high energy when the third Gitex Shopper Spring 2015 opens doors from April 1 and runs until April 4 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The event provides an additional platform for retailers to put their best foot forward in bid to showcase the very latest in consumer electronics.
The event brings in more than 100 leading consumer IT and electronics brands, with more than 30,000 products spread across 25,000 square metres floor space.
The event generated sales of more than Dh101 million last year, compared to Dh93 million in 2013.
Also new to the show this year, the co-located Shopper Smart Living seeks to bring the latest in home appliances, energy efficient white goods and smart home technology, taking place in Trade Centre Arena.
“It will showcase the latest in innovation and eco-friendly advances in everything from washing machines, refrigerators and dishwashers to air conditioning units, ionisers and lighting. World-class brands and retailers are excited to be part of this launch show, which targets a significant market in the UAE that is forecast to be worth Dh4 billion by 2017, and we’re excited to see how this offering develops,” Hassan Mosafer, exhibition director of DWTC and organiser of the show, told Gulf News.
The Shopper Spring edition generated sales of more than Dh101 million last year, compared to Dh93 million in 2013.
“Smartphones will again be the driver for the event, but we’ll see TV panels and IT deliver strong results on the back of great savings and new line-ups,” Sean Connor, General Manager of Plug Ins, told Gulf News.
“We shall be showcasing the latest and the best products with lots of unique value-added bundles and benefits for the shoppers, as well as some incredible price drops on high demand products,” he said.
Connor said the team has worked on bringing in a pre-edited assortment which will help the shopper make easier and faster decisions. There are surprise elements and excitement built around giving a great memorable experience to the customers. Plug Ins is expecting a 15-20 per cent growth compared to last year.
Global players like Hisense, Lenovo, Obi, Quantum, Toshiba, Samsung, Vsun and Wiko while a host of regional power retailers such as Axiom, E-City, Emax, Jacky’s, Jumbo, Plug-Ins and Sharaf DG will also be offering exclusive promotions and price discounts and marketing to lure customers to the four-day shopping paradise.
Jumbo Electronics sees smartphones, laptops, tablets, HD & UHD/4K TVs as the hottest selling categories, and continue to lead the market with a spate of recent high-profile launches from all the big brands.
“Considering the buzz around wearable technology at this year’s Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress, we expect to receive more customer enquiries on smart device add-ons, the popularity of which we believe will increase in 2015,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, head of OmniChannel retail at Jumbo Group.
Jumbo is spending around Dh4 million on promotions and expects a 10-15 per cent growth in sales.
“We are planning a number of different promotions this Gitex, including bundled offers and discounts. Bundled offers often are more in demand, so we will focus on giving customers a selection of products at prices they cannot resist,” Khanzadah said.
The recently released Dubai’s foreign trade figures for 2014 show that phones and computers were the largest significant traded commodities last year, with year-on-year growth of nine per cent each. These categories are going to continue to drive electronics sales in the UAE market this year.
“We would be taking advance booking for this new range of notebook PC and tablets. Toshiba will have a mix of discounts and value bundles as part of the offer. Buy back of old notebooks [any brand] is one of our important offer,” said Santosh Varghese, general manager of Toshiba Gulf FZE.
Jacky’s Electronics sees a 15 per cent to 20 per cent growth over last year.
“We believe in ‘value for money’ and as always have planned out exciting raffles, promotions and bundle offers across all categories. We have also worked on a great surprise for our customers,” said Mahesh Chotrani, assistant vice-president of Jacky’s Electronics.
With John Sculley’s Obi smartphone capturing 4.2 per cent market share in the UAE and aiming to attain 10 per cent of the market by end of this year, the brand is offering between 40 and 50 per cent discounts on phones along with bundle deals and cash back options.
Apart from Samsung and HTC new smartphones, other private labels and LG are also displaying their new devices.
“We look forward to offering great deals to our consumers, focusing on fashion electronics and functionality. We will feature our most recent line up of phones released this year, including some of our best-sellers such as the Obi Hornbill and Obi Crane. In total, we will have eight Obi smartphones on offer,” said Amit Rupchandani, managing director of Obi Mobiles EMEA.
Quoting a Euromonitor report, Hassan Mosafer, exhibition director of DWTC and organiser of the show, said that the UAE smartphone market is expected to reach $1.7 billion by 2017, so smartphones will continue to be in “great demand” and the primary revenue driver for the industry.
“We live in a connected, digital world, with mobile devices playing an increasingly indispensable role in our lives while tablets will also be a primary attraction, followed by laptops and notebook computers,” he said.
