Weekend opening helps sales soar through the roof

Dubai: Electronics retailers say their sales turnover on the first day of the Gitex Shopper was up as much as fourfold on last year's event.

Leading names including Jumbo Electronics and Plug-Ins Electonix say improved car parking at the Dubai Airport Expo site and the fact that the first day of sales fell on a weekend boosted visitor numbers by 20-25 per cent.

They say UAE nationals and Arabs travelling from neighbouring GCC countries are forming a big part of overall customer numbers this year.

Laptop computers are the event's best-selling product with prices dipping below Dh2,000 as principal brands wage a price war and retailers go head to head on bundle offers and hourly prize give-aways.

"Even though they renamed the event Gitex Shopper from Computer Shopper, it's still an IT show and IT dominates business," said Bradley Bennett, divisional manager for Plug-Ins Electronix.

"We're actually promoting laptops the least because people come here specifically for them. We're trying to add other products to their purchasing.

"The second best seller is digital cameras even though I was expecting mobile phones. I scratch my head every night when I read the sales report."

Bennett said Plug-Ins' total first-day sales turnover was up fourfold on the year before (when the first day fell on a weekday) while day two was up 15-20 per cent.

Rival electronics retailer Jumbo Electronics said cumulative first and second day sales were double the same period at last year's event.

Jumbo has spent almost Dh4 million on advertising and cost of space in a seven day timeframe.

Hot models

The fierce price war between brands has resulted in prices dipping below Dh2,000 and major add-ons thrown in with purchases.

Abdullah Naji, a promoter for Fujitsu Siemens, said the company's Dh1,500 Amilo Pro V2055 sold out within 15 minutes of the start of sales on the first and second says with sales hitting approximately 50 units.

"People were asking for 500 units at one time, but we had to turn them down," he said.

Saurabh Debhar, sales executive at Dubai-based Computer Depot, said the Dh1,999 Dell Inspiron 1300 has been its best-selling model.