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Electronics retailers are looking back at a hugely successful 20th anniversary Dubai Shopping Festival that has seen an increasing numbers of shoppers and a rise in sales figures during the 32-day Journey of Celebrations.
Leading retailers attribute anywhere between 15 and 20 per cent of their total annual sales to the hugely successful DSF period that welcomes shoppers from around the world to electronics retailers across Dubai. They have witnessed a significant increase in tourist numbers from European and Asian countries in particular with some individual brands reporting that up to 40 per cent of their customers during DSF have come from Africa - especially Uganda and Kenya.
At Jumbo smartphones, tablets and laptops have been showing strong demand. Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of Omni-Channel Retail, Jumbo Group says: "Smartphones have continued to be a top choice especially with the additional value shoppers have stood to gain on the most popular models. Tablets and laptops were also in high demand during this DSF."
It is a similar story for Jacky's where Mahesh Chotrani says that it has been a DSF that has seen smartphones dominate sales and customer inquiries followed by tablets. He says: "The hottest items that people are buying this DSF are Smartphones, particularly the Iphone 6, the Note 4 and the Lenovo Vibe X2.
The Lenovo A3300 tablet followed by Apple Ipad Air 2 and Samsung Tab3, are selling like hot cakes off our shelves. We are also seeing an increase in the consumers shopping for 4k UHD TVs, wherein the preferred brands are Samsung, LG, Sony and Philips."
Both Jumbo and Jacky's attribute about 15 per cent of their annual sales to the DSF period and Jumbo saw a near 18 per cent rise in year on year sales during the Festival.
Grand Stores Digital say their customer base during DSF has been dominated by Indian and Filipino shoppers with a strong demand for cameras during the Festival period according to Mansour Amir who has seen 10 Festivals during his time at the store. Plug-Ins have seen high demand for smart phones and their accessories during the DSF period while Samsung reports that approximately 60 per cent of their sales have been dominated by the sale of phones with 40 per cent during DSF and an estimated 40 per cent of their customers coming from Africa.
New smartphone company Obi Mobiles, who only entered the Dubai market in September 2014, believes that they will do between 15 and 20 per cent of their annual sales during DSF and have found that their Obi Hornbill has been one of their top sellers during DSF.
Nadeem Khanzadah of Jumbo adds that the tourism impact of DSF and the promotional efforts by organisers the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment play an important role in bringing in visitors from all over the world to their stores. He said: "Typically we see a consistent rise in tourist footfalls to our stores during DSF, a majority of who are families. Last year for example we witnessed a 15 per cent increase in the number of tourists in our stores during the Festival."
Commenting on buying trends during DSF Mahesh Chotrani from Jacky's added: "There has been a change in the buying trend; there is a heavy demand for smartphones and big screens UHD TVs vis-à-vis notebooks. More customers are also looking for DSLRs this DSF."
Dubai and the Dubai Shopping Festival have built a global reputation for the range, quality and value for money of its world class electronics sector and the results of the 20th anniversary edition show that once again it is amazing offers and promotions around the electronics sector that continue to be a hugely powerful driver for visitors at a local, regional and global level during DSF.
© Press Release 2015
