Gitex Shopper looks to utilise new marketing window

Dubai: With a new marketing window opening up through Gitex Shopper’s Spring edition next week, local tech and electronics distributors are working on their pricing and stocking strategies on the fly.

In particular they will want to see whether a Gitex Shopper platform can help drive volumes in what has usually been a relatively weak period for tech retail after the January and February highs.

Given that a Gitex Shopper edition is being held for the first time in April as well, price-based offerings could be used as a magnet to draw in the traffic. In the regular editions of the series, the emphasis in recent years has been on product bundling.

“The Spring edition is interesting in that it happens during a time when many product life cycles are in transition; so there is a chance to get a lot of products at prices not normally seen,” said Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer at Jacky’s Electronics.

“In terms of planning, of course, an event like this requires a re-think in terms of how inventory and sales forecasts are made as this will have a major impact in terms of the distribution of sales and expenses related to these. The new platform is good as an event as the end of March and [early] April are generally a lull period; so it helps give a boost to sales.

It is the first time that the hugely popular Gitex Shopper series has been split with a Spring edition set for this time of the year. So, what can shoppers expect at the event which will run from April 3 to 6?

Response

It would be a platform where the newly unveiled — to a more or less rapturous response from the trade press — Samsung Galaxy S4 gets a lot of air-play ahead of the formal launch in the UAE. No formal announcements have been made. (Some of the leading US carriers are talking of introducing it around the early May time frame.)

But market sources suggest there is still a significant residue of interest in the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note II. Expect Gitex Shopper to see a pricing based push on the two products.

The local tech trade could also use the event to mount another tactical campaign for Blackberry’s Z10, which since its February launch has had “steady” volumes. A push can also be expected from the local telcos through Blackberry-specific data packages. Etisalat’s current promotion is offering a 50 per cent cut on the “unlimited domestic package” for the initial four months.

Another brand that could leverage the upcoming Gitex Shopper run is HTC with the brand new Android-running HTC One. Its global campaign has been getting the word of its full-metal jacket as opposed to the “plastic” offering from one of its significant competitors. It will be hoping this theme resonates with UAE’s smartphone users as well. “The care taken to design and build it is evidenced in early reviews,” said a statement by the company. Apple’s channel partners will have an eye on the “retina display” theme for the latest versions of the iPad and MacBook Pro. As for the iPhone, the 5S is still some way off.

Cautious approach

As for product-lines beyond smartphones and tablets — both categories growing at 50 per cent plus in the UAE during the first quarter — the focus will be on touchscreen notebooks, DSLR cameras and LED TVs.

For the local tech channels, “In some cases a new marketing window has been created and, in some, we’ve actually seen some other promotions merge into our Gitex Shopper Spring activities,” said Panjabi. “For example, many of our retailers typically run IT or anniversary promotions during this period; I don’t know if all of them will do so this year or not. If they do, I’m sure in many cases it won’t be to the extent they did in the past.”

Some leading channel names are sitting out the Spring edition, and intent on putting all their focus on the flagship event later in the year. “A Gitex Shopper in April is untested, we are just being cautious in our approach,” said the head of a leading retail chain. “But any lift offered by next week’s event will still flow to the entire trade.”