Pankaj Kumar, Head of Omnichannel Retail at Jumbo Electronics, speaks to Anita Joseph about GITEX Shopper 2019, the major trends in consumer electronics, special offers and deals, and how 5G is slowly but surely catching up.
GITEX 2019 has begun on an enthusiastic note. What are your expectations from this year’s event?
This year is bigger and better than before, and we have huge expectations. Jumbo has always been associated with GITEX and we’ve always met our expectations. People always love spending at GITEX and sales usually picks up at around this time. Jumbo has a lot of exciting offers and promotions going on, and customers are positive.
What are some of the promotions you have at GITEX this year?
This year, Jumbo Electronics as exclusive deals and bundle offers across smartphones, TVs, laptops, mirrorless cameras, gaming devices, and personal and home audio. Customers also have the option to trade-in and avail of after-sales services backed by Jumbo’s award-winning Authorised Service Centre for any care and repairs across all leading brands. Shoppers can also convert their purchases into monthly installments for up to 24 months with credit cards of major leading banks in the UAE. Using this ‘Easypay’ plan, one can own the newly launched Apple iPhone 11 AED 138 per month, the Samsung Note 10 for AED 163 per month and the latest Sony KDL55X8500E 55″ Ultra HD 4K HDR Smart Television for AED 131 per month. These are just some of the offers we have, there’s lots more!
What are some of the leading tech trends to watch out for this year?
The one thing we’ve noticed is that people are always willing to spend on technology and in fact, now everyone is graduating from mid to high-end gadgets and devices. For instance, they are keen to buy TVs that are over 55 inches and we have 55 inch, 65 inch and 75 inch TVs available. In fact, we recently launched the 98 inch 8K TV costing around AED 24,000 and the enquiries are already encouraging. The TV is displayed at Mall of the Emirates and Al Maryah. We also have gaming laptops priced at over AED 7,000 and the response has been good. Recently, we sold the ASUS Republic of Gaming (ROG) laptop for over AED 17,000.
Another trend is the preference for ‘smart’ technology-smart homes, smart phones, smart laptops, smart entertainment. People want technology that is effective, easy to use and inclusive. This is a growing niche trend and the UAE is a promising market for ‘smart’ technology. To cater to this preference, we have a dedicated Smart Home at Gitex Shopper section to showcase Smart Home Connectivity, Smart Home Security, Smart Home Entertainment and Smart Home Automation to meet the growing demand for smart home products and solutions.
How about 5G? How do you think consumers are responding to the advent of 5G?
5G is big, but it is still in its nascent stage, and we need the proper infrastructure to support it. People are enthusiastic about this new arrival, but its actual effect is yet to be felt. UAE is leading the way in adopting global technological trends, and the day is not far off when 5G will take the country by storm. So the future is very exciting and we are all gearing up to welcome it.
