About 175,000 visitors are expected to flock to the eight-day Gitex Shopper event. Duncan Chard for the National
About 175,000 visitors are expected to flock to the eight-day Gitex Shopper event. Duncan Chard for the National
About 175,000 visitors are expected to flock to the eight-day Gitex Shopper event. Duncan Chard for the National
About 175,000 visitors are expected to flock to the eight-day Gitex Shopper event. Duncan Chard for the National

Strong sales as Gitex Shopper pushes the right buttons


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Local retailers had something to shout about amid the bustle of yesterday's Gitex Shopper show in Dubai, with key electronics chains reporting bumper growth in sales.

A cacophony greeted visitors to the UAE's largest electronics event, which started on Saturday at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Promotional staff announced offers, giveaways and competitions designed to lure consumers. The retailer Jacky's Electronics was giving away a Nikon camera every 10 minutes, while du held a competition to win free talk time.

The promotions appear to be paying off, with two national electronics chains reporting a boost in revenues compared with last year's event.

Emax Electronics reported a 90 per cent increase in sales on last year, while Jumbo Electronics said revenues were up by 35 per cent in the first two days of the show.

"Sales are looking much better than our expectation," said Neelesh Bhatnagar, the chief executive at Emax. "Before the event, we expected a 40 per cent sales increase compared to last year, but now we are expecting 50 to 55 per cent growth by the end of it."

Laptops, smartphones and tablets were primarily driving the growth, according to the retailers. One standout product for most has been the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which is making its Middle East debut at Gitex Shopper.

"The electronics market slowed down a little in August and September," said Mr Bhatnagar. "People were waiting for the event to do their electronics shopping and it is now the back-to-school period. That is why sales have been so good."

Last year, retailers at Gitex Shopper reported total sales of Dh193 million (US$52.5m), up 38 per cent over 2010.

Helal Saeed Almarri, the chief executive of Dubai World Trade Centre, said last week he expected sales growth to be in the "double digits" and easily exceed Dh200m this year.

About 175,000 visitors are expected to flock to the eight-day event, which runs until Saturday.

Retailers have reported a busier show this year, citing the new, more central location, the convenience of the nearby Dubai Metro and better marketing by the organisers.

"The location and venue this year is a lot more accessible with more transport options," said Ashish Panjabi, the chief operating officer at Jacky's, one of the largest exhibitors at the event.

A noisy stand outside the exhibition, run by the electronics brand Hewlett-Packard, drew a crowd offering free Baskin-Robbins ice-cream and goodie bags.

"In the end, it's all about the free stuff," screeched the MC.

That wasn't entirely true, as flocks of consumers laden with bags left the exhibition in the early evening.

Praseeda Gopalakrishnan, from India, said she had spent more than Dh5,000 on a laptop, printer, Samsung smartphone and headphones. "I came because of the offers and all the shops being here," she said.

Shoppers were also buying with business needs in mind.

Jignesh Kapadia, a finance manager at the building access and systems firm Al Falak, said he spent Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 on laptops and tablets. "You get the freebies, which we use as company gifts," he said.

Gitex Shopper was previously held at the Airport Expo Dubai. Its sister event, the Gitex Technology Week, begins on October 14.

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1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details

2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet

3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details

4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure

5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs  (one-time passwords) with third parties

6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies

7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately

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Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.

 

An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.

 

This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.

 
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Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away

It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.

The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.

But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.

At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.

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After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.

Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.

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And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.

* Agence France Presse

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