Shoppers appeared buoyant as Gitex Shopper’s spring edition kicked off yesterday, amidst bargain deals, bundle offers and raffles to win cars and all expenses paid holidays.
However, several retailers expect sales to pick up over the weekend, with the first two days of the four-day event drawing in a smaller crowd due to work week.
Ashwin Mirani, who was attending the IT consumer shopping event with his teenage son, said: “We are looking for a laptop for my son, and possibly a television upgrade for the living room.
“We have no brand loyalty in mind, so we will continue to window shop today and possibly return on Saturday to see if any last minute deals are available on the products. There is no hurry.”
Rosemary Lim, who works in the beauty industry, said she was at Gitex in search of a tablet, preferably an iPad mini, “depending on what the price discount is.”
She continued: “I want to Skype with my children back home in the Philippines and have quite liked a few of the deals that Jumbo and Jacky’s have offered. Hopefully, before I leave, I will have something in hand.”
Gaurav S, who is working with Acer, said that while enquiries came steadily on day one, sales had yet to match up.
“Traditionally, the first few days of shopper are always cold. People like to see the market, discuss with friends, bargain a few and return on the last day for a better deal,” said Gaurav. “However, considering this is only a four-day event, stocks will move faster for sure.”
Nadeem Khanzadah, General Manager and Head of Retail at Jumbo Electronics said: “Window shopping is usually the norm at the October event, but the spring edition is only four days, so buyers are being told, what they will see on day one is what they will get on the last day.”
Emax CEO, Neelesh Bhatnagar agreed, adding: “In fact, we are telling buyers that if they dearly want something, snap it up early before we run out of stocks.”
With year round discounts now shaking up the electronics retail industry, when combining the traditional October Gitex Consumer Shopper, followed by the Dubai Shopping Festival, the Dubai Summer Surprises and Ramadan deals, was there a need for a spring edition?
“The product life cycle has shortened, with new launches almost every month as the consumer also gets more demanding,” explained Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Electronics. “With this in mind, a spring edition is a good experiment to connect with those early adapters and those looking for a bargain on products they want to upgrade to.”
Khanzadah appeared a bit cautious, saying: “There is danger of buyer fatigue, but with the timing of the spring edition attracting GCC tourists too will see a fluctuation in the market mechanics.”
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