Exhibitors create discounts, bundled offers and other incentives to boost market share
IT manufacturers, regional distributors and local retailers are busy brainstorming to come up with the best consumer bargains for GITEX Computer Shopper next month. Bundled offers, discounted prices and extended service warranties are just some of the incentives being planned during the October 2 - 8 IT retail extravaganza, industry sources said.
GITEX Computer Shopper, the largest and most popular IT consumer event in the Middle East, will once again be held at the Dubai Airport Expo and will host the leading local and regional IT vendors offering some of the best deals on computer hardware, software, peripherals, multimedia and a wide range of products and services.
"The main attraction of Computer Shopper is the release of latest technology and the price structuring," said Ali Al Amine, sales manager for Emirates Computers, distributors for Dell and Nokia. "It's the best time for the Tier One vendors to gain market share, so they offer the best prices as an incentive."
Tier One vendors including HP, Sony, Samsung, Acer, Dell, Toshiba and Fujitsu-Siemens, he explained, will offer the most aggressive deals because they have both the regional strength and business capacity to make it worthwhile. For these large blue-chip companies, Shopper is a win-win situation: consumers benefit from the special offers, and vendors lose nothing.
"At that level of business, these discounts are like subsidies, not a loss but part of a long-term vision," Al Amine added. "GITEX Computer Shopper is a great maneuver for the vendors because they are able to offer better service and marketing support."
The strategy behind the special offers is made at the vendor level, not by the regional distributors, he added. Emirates Computers' hardware offerings will be discounted by 20 to 25 percent during Computer Shopper. Software, storage solutions and other peripherals will also be on special offer, as the company is pursuing an aggressive pricing strategy this Shopper. Mobile solutions, particularly laptops, will be a high sales priority.
With manufacturers playing to their market strengths, consumers will find that prices of Tier One products will even drop close to those of the Tier Two assembled computers.
Consumers looking for the latest technology would do well to survey Shopper stalls and drawing up a checklist of their specific needs, Al Amine advised. "The UAE and Computer Shopper in particular gets the latest technology from around the world, it's only that the consumers need to be aware of what's new and what they need and then decide how much they're willing to pay for it," he said. "The bonus of Shopper is that they can do all of this under one roof."
After 14 years in the UAE, GITEX Computer Shopper has established itself as the must-visit IT retail event in the Gulf. With that success, however, have come many misconceptions, one of which is that the best prices will be on offer in the last days of Shopper.
"That may be a common perception, but the reality is different," said Danny Pinto, business manager for TechnoTrade Computers and Accessories. "From the outset, Computer Shopper is aimed at consumers looking for the best price. It doesn't matter what day you go, whether it's the first day or the last day."
Computer Shopper's 'everything under one roof' concept is its greatest strength, Pinto added. While consumers may not see much of a price discount compared to other times during the year, they will be able to see what's new in the market and compare options in the buyer-centric marketplace. TechnoTrade, distributors of Lexmark printers, are working on their own Shopper-related offers, which may include bundled offers and scratch-and-win promotions.
Multi-brand retailers like Jumbo Electronics and Jacky's could gain a lot more from Shopper than single-brand distributors like TechnoTrade, but even from a retail outlook, Shopper is far more beneficial to the public than to vendors, Pinto added.
"For vendors, Shopper works on two levels," he explained. "It's a great place to showcase your product and boost your sales, but it's also a great place to spread awareness of your product and of new technology in general," he explained. "It creates a huge buyer's market, and a huge learning environment for the end consumer by providing them with hundreds of options."
Representatives of Jumbo Electronics, Plug-In's, Jacky's Electronics and other multi-brand retailers around the city also indicated special offer packages in the pipeline for Computer Shopper that will not be offered at any other time in the year. Achiever Computers, a first-time exhibitor at Shopper, promise aggressive pricing on laptops in addition to extended warranty packs and excellent pricing on storage solutions.
GITEX Computer Shopper has an extensive visitor profile, with more than 80,000 potential buyers expected to attend from across the Gulf region. According to organisers Dubai World Trade Centre, the last GITEX Computer Shopper was record-breaking in many aspects: it attracted 126 exhibitors representing more than 400 companies from 15 countries, and generated sales in excess of Dh. 42 million, a 25 percent increase over GITEX 2002.
Computer Shopper 2004 will be held from 11 am to 9 pm daily from October 2 to 8 on weekdays, and from 3 pm to 9 pm on Fridays.
-Ends-
About GITEX 2004 and GITEX Computer Shopper 2004
GITEX 2004 already the most significant IT event in the region and beyond, this year promises to be bigger, brighter and more comprehensive than ever before. GITEX profiles include IT Equipment, Hardware Systems, Telecommunication, Wireless & Networks, Software & Applications, Banking Technology & Financial Services and Research & Development Technology.
GITEX Computer Shopper, the largest and most popular IT consumer event in the Middle East, runs from October 2 to 8 at the Dubai Airport Expo. It will showcase the best and latest IT consumer technology, hardware and software from leading local and regional IT vendors, alongside some of the best deals on hardware, software, peripherals, multimedia and a wide range of products and services.
For more information, visit www.gitex.com and http://shopper.gitex.com and contact:
Ashok Thomas
Dubai World Trade Centre
Tel: +971 4 308 6083
Fax: +971 4 331 4853
E-mail: Ashok.Thomas@dwtc.com
Elizabeth Sen
Bates PanGulf PR
Tel: +971 4 295 3456 ext:309
Fax: +971 4 295 1027
E-mail: liz@batespangulf.com
© Press Release 2004
