Business | Technology
Gitex retailers brace for strong weekend rush
Sales from Gitex Shopper likely to increase 80 per cent as more deals are expected
- By Aya Lowe, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 October 13, 2011
- Image Credit: Karen Dias/Gulf News
- Visitors look for bargains at Gitex Shopper. A top IBM official visiting Gitex said the company’s Smarter Planet initiative is making serious headway in the developing world.
Dubai: Retailers at Gitex Shopper are starting to brace themselves for the influx of footfall and sales during the final days of the exhibition.
"You can see from the floor that it's started getting busy. Typically Thursday, Friday and Saturday get in the maximum numbers. What we've seen is that the retailers are happy with the footfall and the quality of people coming in and there are a lot more buyers this year," said Hemesh Chandavarkar, exhibitions director for Gitex Shoppper.
Neleesh Bhatnagar, CEO of EMax, said that while the first few days typically see mostly window shoppers, it is the last few days that most of the sales are made.
"Generally during the first four days we do about 20 per cent of our sales and it's during the last four days we do about 80 per cent of our sales," he said.
On Wednesday, there were already signs of renewed shoppers interested. In the middle of the day during the working week, the floor was packed with buyers looking for one day bargains and new bundle offers.
"So far it seems to be more crowded and I'm quite happy to see the GCC economy coming back. I see more shoppers which means Gitex is getting stronger. This year, we're focusing on our 3D technology and so far we've had very good sales. It's probably one of the top selling [items] at Gitex," said H.S Paik, President, LG Gulf FZE.
According to Jacky's Electronics their laptop promotions and tablets have also been selling like hotcakes. "Currently, our stocks are nearly sold out, which only shows that this new segment will continue to do well in the future," said Ashish Panjabi, Chief Operating Officer.
These deals are expected to increase considerably during the final days.
"The bargains depend on the floor. The retailers start changing and introducing offers depending on the footfall and which products are selling," said Chandavarkar.
According to Niranjan Gidwani, deputy chief executive officer, Eros Group these deals will be changing almost hourly. "The pricing changes practically every hour. What happens is that all the brands are watching what other brands are offering and adjusting their pricing accordingly," he said.
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