Friday, Oct 07, 2011
Dubai The time has come for bargain hunters and tech heads alike to pay a visit to the week-long Gitex Shopper for the year’s best deals and promotions on all things electronic.
Gitex Shopper, held in association with the 31st Gitex Technology Week, opens its doors today and with a number of new entrants it looks set to reflect the upswing in the consumer electronics market.
“It looks very bullish. I feel a lot of people are anticipating Gitex Shopper. Yesterday I was down to see the pre-construction and I could see from the stands there are a lot of things which are new and are prominent. Consumers will have something new this year,” Anthony Peter, director of communications and customer care group at Panasonic, told Gulf News.
This year sees 25,000 products from more than 100 retailers and brands looking to sell their products to an expected 160,000 visitors. Brands include CompuMe, Dell, du, etisalat, E4U, Emax, HP, Jacky’s Electronics, Jumbo Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Sharaf DG. Retailers such as Virgin Megastore and Bose will also be making their first appearance this year.
Better look
“We’ve got good response from all our retailers. We’ve got more retailers this year compared to before which will enhance the shopping experience for consumers. This year the trends look better and the overall outlook is better than last year,” said Hemesh Chandavarkar, exhibitions director for Gitex Shoppper.
According to Niranjan Gidwani, deputy chief executive officer of Eros Group, which distributes electronic consumer brands such as Samsung, Hitachi, Sonos, Candy, BenQ, Linksys by Cisco and TCL, notebooks will be the fastest selling because of the kind of deals and bundles on offer. Panels and smart phones will also do well.
“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. We won’t tweak the price much, but the goodies we throw in for free boost the package. People can walk away with 15-30 per cent more times the value,” said Gidwani.
The promotions and giveaways which have always been a popular feature of the event won’t disappoint this year. Jumbo will be giving away accessories valued at Dh750 with a purchase of a new laptop, including a 500 GB hard drive, a multifunction colour printer and many more accessories.
For customers looking to save on a new laptop, Jumbo is giving them a chance to exchange their old laptops for a new one. Visitors to Al Hosani Computer Stand can try their hand at opening one of the locked ‘Kaspersky’ briefcases to win prizes such as gold bars, laptops, iPads and iPhones. For every Dh500 spent at the Emax pavilion, customers get a raffle coupon to win a ‘Crystal Cube’ which is filled with Emax vouchers of different values and denominations.
Raffle draws will also attract crowds with retail giants such as Jumbo Electronics raffling 77 new Apple iPad 2s with an hourly raffle along with free surprise gifts with every purchase of a smartphone. Samsung will be offering ‘Shop ‘n Win’ and ‘Visit ‘n Win’ daily draws and Pan-asonic will have a daily raffle for their high-end Lumix camera range.
Potential sales
For those looking for a bit of fun and a challenge they can head down to the Fujitsu stand and have an arm wrestle or tug of war with Nara, the 165kg Nara sumo warrior from Japan. Those who win a round will walk away with a free laptop.
Retailers are optimistic about the potential sales to be made. “We have high hopes for Gitex Shopper this year. We have invested in a much bigger and better presence then ever before so we expect our sales to be double what it was last year,” said Chandan Mehta, director of product and portfolio management, Fujitsu Technology Solutions.
Sprawled across 16 stalls in all three halls, Jumbo has also increased its presence this year.
“Last year we recorded a double digit per cent increase in sales at Gitex Shopper and looks to out-perform that at this year’s event, especially with a high demand for laptops and tablets,” said Khanzadah.
“Retailers focus on Gitex Shopper because it is a consumer-driven event and is important to us because it gives us the opportunity to connect with customers and is also a great indicator of which products are in highest demand,” he added.
something new
technology fair
25,000
products to be showcased at event
160,000
visitors expected to attend Gitex Shopper
77
Apple iPads being offered at Jumbo raffle
When and where to shop
The Gitex Shopper will begin today and will be open until Saturday, October 15, at the Airport Expo. The show is open from 11am to 10pm until Wednesday, from 11am to 11pm on Thursday and Saturday and from 3 to 11pm on the final Friday.
Tickets are priced at Dh30 and are available at the venue, through Time Out tickets and select Enoc/Eppco outlets. This year students can take advantage of the 67 per cent entry discount if they book in groups of 50 or more to stock up on all things technological for their studies.
For more information visit www.gitexshopperdubai.com.
— A.L.
tickets
By Aya Lowe?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
