The 15th edition of GITEX Shopper drew to a grand close at the Airport Expo yesterday, with retailers reporting sales in excess of AED 76 million, marking a 36% increase in transactions and bright prospects for post-event deals in the coming few days.
The seven-day IT retail extravaganza proved to be a big draw for consumers who totalled 117,994, an increase in footfall of over 9.25% over last year. They were overwhelmed by promotions, value-adds, and cash prizes, one kilogram gold a day offers and much more from vendors and resellers.
“The retail platform has proved once again that it is not only IT-related, but products related to home entertainment, digital convergence and multimedia entertainment could also be purchased at rock-bottom prices. Apart from the price, bundling of products proved to be more enticing to consumers. Consumers were more selective and sought products that came with bundled items, going for the best bargains. This is the hallmark of the event,” said DWTC Director General, Helal Saeed Khalfan Al Marri.
Emirates Computers reported more than 25% increase over the AED10-million in sales last year. “We have met our expectations and improved our volume of sales by a substantial 25% this year,” said Sales Manager, Nidal Ghazreddine.
Miran Ellahee, Marketing Manager of Plug-Ins stated that the crowds were definitely bigger and better than in the past and we have had a 50% jump in sales from last year.
Tally Solutions’ Vice President Software Services Group, Global Channel Sales, Anil Pant said, “We sold 1,000 annual packages of our software that cost AED 20,000 each totalling AED 20 million.”
Atiq Kazi, Advertising & Sales Promotion In-charge of JVC reported an increase in sales volume to AED 1.7 million.
Jumbo announced sales of AED 13 million while Trigon reported sales of AED 1.3 million. Cosmos did not give precise figures but reported an 80% jump in sales from last year.
CompuMe reported a steep 60% rise in sales to AED 3 million as consumers took in all that was on offer. The company had tripled their stand space at the Airport Expo in order to maximize their campaign this year.
Aptech, though participating for the first time at Shopper, reported sales of around AED 300,000 in the last two days alone.
With such encouraging figures, there is no doubt that GITEX Shopper retains its numero uno position as the most promising retail event in the regional IT industry.
In order to encourage more visitors to come to Airport Expo, special arrangements had been made for a shuttle service at 40-minute interval between the two events – GITEX 2005 and GITEX Shopper 2005.
“Dubai - The Future City 2030” - the unique and innovative talent contest designed to spur creativity during GITEX Shopper witnessed many entries. The first and second prizes were bagged by UAE nationals, Hisham Terky and Ahmed Al Zaabi respectively. The jury comprised: Dr. Mohammed Ayash, Professor and Dean of Communication from the University of Sharjah; Ms Gigi Ramieiz, Faculty member in Higher Colleges of Technology; Ms Leila Rashid, Artist from the UAE Association for Illustrated Arts. HP sponsored the prizes.
GITEX Shopper 2005 featured 140 exhibitors from 15 countries in the renovated and expanded Airport Expo, which featured double the exhibition area available in 2004.
