Dubai: The 27th edition of Gitex Shopper Autumn 2017 concluded on a positive note as retailers had sweetened deals and cut prices on some models to boost revenues on the last two days.
The official figures, relating to footfall and sales revenues, are not expected to be released until later next week, but retailers were in a buoyant mood as shoppers thronged the alleyways of the Za’abeel Halls.
Pankaj Kumar, vice-president at Sharaf DG, said that the sales have picked up over the weekend.
Smartphones were the fast-selling products for Sharaf DG, followed by TVs (more than 75-inch), gaming laptops, accessories and smartwatches.
“Among the smartphones, Samsung Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus did well and the first allotment of iPhones are very likely to be over before end of the day [Saturday] and we may face out of stock issues,” he said.
Revenue wise, he said that it should be same as last year.
Sandeep of Simar Electronics is selling the new iPhone 8 devices with FaceTime at a discount to the official price.
The 64GB iPhone 8 is officially priced at Dh2,849 and 256GB at Dh3,479 while the iPhone 8 Plus 64GB is priced at Dh3,249 and 256GB at Dh3,879.
But Simar is selling the iPhone 8 (64GB) for Dh2,810 and 256GB for Dh3,390 while iPhone 8 Plus (64GB) for Dh3,120 and 256GB for Dh3,790.
“The new iPhones are not selling much as compared to previous models and we are cutting down our margins. We never faced this issue before and this is the first time we are having enough stocks after few days of the launch,” he said.
Flash sale
Some retailers have cut prices of older smartphones and laptops while some have sweetened the bundle offers.
Jumbo was selling a Lenovo Yoga 510 in flash sale for Dh1,000 flat discount from its original price of Dh3,599 and Moto X Force smartphone for 899 compared to its original price of Dh2,699.
Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Business Solutions, said that Samsung S8 has done better than Note 8 as Note 8 did not have any offer. This time, a lot of Omanis were here to buy.
“It is always better to be on the last day and which I usually do. I bought a 65-inch TCL TV for the price of 55-inch after a lot of bargain. Today [Saturday] is the day for bargains and you should be good at bargaining,” said Justin Abraham Puttensherry, 48, from India.
Sofia Angelina, from London, said that she bought a new fridge and a TV for their new villa and an Xbox One for her son’s birthday.
On whether she got a good deal, she said that the prices are much better when compared to the stores outside and the bundles are really worth it.
An Emax sales person said that they have done very well on smartphones, TVs and laptops.
“We were offering better prices and bundle offers than other retailers but sales of home appliances did not meet our expectations,” he said.
Organisers of the event, Dubai World Trade Centre, announced that next year’s Gitex Shopper Spring edition will be from April 4-7 at the usual location — Shaikh Sayeed Halls.
