Dubai: Retailers in Dubai are putting their best foot forward at Gitex Shopper Autumn 2017, the largest and most popular technology retail event in the Middle East, which opens on Saturday, September 23.

The eight-day shopping event is celebrating 27 years.

Some of the key retailers – Jumbo, Jacky’s, Emax and Sharaf DG - as well as top brands are offering promotions and price discounts to lure customers to the shopping paradise.

Nilesh Khalkho, CEO of Sharaf DG, said that this year’s Gitex Shopper coincides perfectly with various new launches such as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple Watch Series 3, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Xbox One X, FIFA 18, Intel’s new eighth-generation processor and the new line up of TVs from various manufacturers.

“After a long holiday season when most residents were travelling, we expect consumers to be back in the market for these new exciting new products. We have discounts ranging from 50 to 70 per cent on various categories and have offers with the lowest prices in the market to entice shoppers,” he said.

Unmatched discounts

Mahesh Chotrani, assistant vice-president of Jacky’s Electronics, said that technology fans converge at one destination to get the latest tech updates and enjoy unmatched discounts and offers across a range of gadgets.

“From the money point of view, this Gitex is very difficult and the most I have come across. Brands are not investing much for this Gitex. Aside from that, we are going to be aggressive and have occupied 20 per cent more floor space among all the retailers,” he said.

“Our focus will be on mixed categories. We are going big time on home appliances, health care and personal care, apart from PCs and gadgets. 25 per cent of my space is going for home and kitchen appliances. We are diversifying on categories as the laptop market is not growing and the smartphone market is going down, he added.

The top categories for Jacky’s will be laptops and they are offering attractive prices, followed by smartphones and home appliances.

“We are very positive that the event will do well for a couple of reasons. First, it is coming after a long summer. May, June, July and August are traditionally slow and people are on holidays,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of OmniChannel Retail at Jumbo Group.

Demand

Once they come back, he said that they make purchases as the deals are good. Many save for Gitex shopping as the next shopping event is Dubai Shopping Festival which starts end of the year.

Retailers said that wearables and drones are seeing a demand for the last couple of months.

Percentage-wise, Khanzadah said that high growth is expected in wearables and new gadgets like drones.

“Drones are going very well and 60 per cent growth over the previous year. The older generation devices of Samsung and Apple smartwatches have been very attractive to the mass market. People who may not have thought about bigger TV displays are now buying it and it will be driven by size,” he said.

Moreover, he said that camera sales have not been as high it used to be in peak years but when compared to last year, definitely there will be growth as camera sales have hit the bottom for the past couple of years.

“In the age of information, today’s consumers have different demands than those of previous generations, and developments in the electronics sector are happening at a dizzying pace. We will be exhibiting the latest VR products from leading brands at this year’s Shopper, including Samsung Gear VR2, HTC Vive and DJI VR Goggles,” he said.

With augmented and virtual reality booming in the MENA region and expected to top $6 billion annually by 2020, the technology is set to transform a variety of domains, ranging from education to healthcare and most notably gaming, marketing and film.