Shopper's delight: Price gap narrows with US and Europe
Nadeem Hanif
Apr 29, 2012
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DUBAI // Consumers are still paying more for electronics and household goods than in Europe and America - but the price gap is getting smaller.
TopicShopping
More in-store special offers and a wider choice of online bargains mean shoppers who do a little research can find better deals.
A Sony DVD player cost Dh279 in the UAE this year and Dh237 in the UK. Last year it cost Dh740 in the UAE and Dh420 in the UK.
"The discrepancy in prices of electronics sold in the UAE compared with Europe or North America is largely the result of distribution and supply and demand," said Karima Berkani, senior research analyst for Euromonitor International, a global market research company.
"For products like laptops, pricing can also fluctuate as the result of specialised hardware, such as Arabic keyboards."
Despite these higher prices, the UAE is much cheaper than other countries in the Middle East, said Ms Berkani. As a result, many tourists from the region purchase personal electronics while visiting the UAE.
Traditionally, consumers have looked for deals during shopping festivals but are now increasingly switching to online promotions and group-buying discount websites.
"More and more, 'deal of the day' websites are featuring discounts on electronic products or on gift cards at electronic outlets, and consumers are purchasing them," said Ms Berkani. "Prices of some electronic products have increased, while others have seen unit prices decrease."
The price for LCD televisions has gone down since last year because as technology gets older it becomes cheaper, she said. The slightly more favourable exchange rates also play a part, with the iPad2 sold through Apple's UAE website costing Dh2,099, which is actually cheaper than its UK site (Dh2,553).
Although it is difficult to make a like-for-like comparison with electronics, some items, such as DVD players, have become much cheaper because Blu-ray devices have become more popular.
A 320GB PlayStation 3 console retails for Dh1,449 in the UAE compared with Dh1,098 in the US.
With Sony's new hand-held console, the PlayStation Vita, the Wi-Fi 3G model costs Dh1,499 in the UAE but Dh1,098 in the US.
The perception that the UAE is much more expensive than elsewhere puts many consumers off shopping here.
Mohammed Jamal, from the UK, shops only when he is on business in Europe or America. "It is much more expensive to shop for electronics and household goods in Dubai than in Europe or the US," he said. "I'm lucky as I get to travel a lot, particularly back to the UK, so I shop there.
"Seasonal discounts are much bigger than they are here and they have newer stock than the UAE."
Mr Jamal has spent up to Dh15,000 on everything from clothes and electronics to homewares in the past six months. "If I'd done the shopping in Dubai it would have probably cost me about Dh30,000," he said.
Sana Pervez, a Pakistani who moved to Dubai a year ago, was shocked by the price differences between the UAE and elsewhere."It's true that there are a lot of options if you want to shop for electronics," she said.
"But the problem is that you have to do a lot of shopping around to make sure you get the best price as there can be a big discrepancy. I have also noticed that beauty products are more expensive here than in the UK."
She often buys items in Britain and her sister sends them to her in Dubai.
"I also tend to go for a lot of the group-discount offers because you can get some good deals," she said. "But sometimes you have to go to stores for things like clothes."
Retail is expected to boom in the next year, according to Business Monitor International, a global analysis company.
The UAE's consumer electronics market is expected to hit US$3.8 billion (Dh14bn) this year, increasing further to US$4.7bn in 2016, "driven by the popularity of new electronic devices such as LED and 3G TV sets, 3G mobile handsets, smartphones, feature-rich notebooks, MP3/MP4 players and Blu-ray players", the company said.
David Macadam, head of retail for consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, also expects retail sales to grow in the next 12 months.
"Some of the price increases can be put down to not all the electronics being compatible with systems here," he said. "At the same time, although prices are high here you will have people who can afford to buy these items as cost isn't a factor for them."
Mr LaSalle said the UAE had a large, affluent population that could generally afford the items even though they were more expensive than elsewhere.
Tourists from other GCC statesand further afield were also playing an important role in sales.
"What it boils down to is that prices are high because in general most people are prepared to pay," he said.
nhanif@thenational.ae
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/RET_216638.html
Dubai to host China Sourcing Fair in May
Dubai: Sat, 28 Apr 2012
China Sourcing Fair, scheduled to be held in Dubai next month, sets the stage for another cost-effective and direct China sourcing in the UAE.
The fair returns to the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from May 29 to 31. The largest China-products exhibition in the Mena region responds to the ever growing demand for China-made products in the Middle East, said a statement.
China is the UAE's biggest trading partner accounting for 15.03 per cent of its imports in 2010, it said.
The event follows the fifth annual China Sourcing Fair which closed with resounding success on June 2, 2011. A record number of 10,038 buyers and importers from the neighbouring regions attended the three-day event. This included big name buyers such as AI Jaber Gallery, Al Harbi Group, Chouette Kids Club, Cisco Systems, Douran Electronic, Farrokh Fashion, Landmark, Jumbo Electronics, Nakheel, Rivoli Group, Somou Jewellery, TV Shop Ani, Welcome Group, Kraft Foods and many others, the statement said.
The show boasted a wide variety of product categories, including electronics, home products, gifts and premiums, baby and children’s products, garments and textiles and hardware and building materials.
Bill Janeri, Global Sources exhibitions general manager for developing markets, stressed the profitable sourcing opportunities brought by the China Sourcing Fairs to Dubai buyers.
"The China Sourcing Fair brings competitive advantage and real business solutions in the UAE: solutions for new and bright financial future," he said.
The UAE has become the second-largest trade partner to China in the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the largest market for China-made product exports in the Middle East. The China Sourcing Fair provides buyers with the opportunities to meet with suppliers from Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) face-to-face, he said.
For the past few years, numerous buyers from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) have come to rely on Dubai’s China Sourcing Fair as their primary means to meet China-based suppliers without having to physically travel to Asia. Now in its 6th year, the exhibition is the Middle East’s largest show specializing in China-made products.
People can pre-register online for free admission to the upcoming show at www.chinasourcingfair.com/dubai/ygkb - TradeArabia News Service
http://www.tradearabia.com
Retailers take on that European touch
Colin Simpson
Apr 27, 2012
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DUBAI // Europeans are starting to appear behind the counters of shops in the UAE's malls as the economic conditions of their countries remain in the doldrums.
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¦ Good salary, depending on where you're coming from
¦ From Moldova with love for opportunity
TopicJobs
Labour law
Traditionally, these stores have been staffed by Asian shop assistants, from India and the Philippines in particular.
But some in the industry say jobseekers from Western Europe are beginning to turn their gaze towards the Emirates as a better alternative to the job situations at home.
Most of those who have made the move so far have come from Eastern European countries and former Soviet republics.
"People from Poland and Bulgaria are coming, which we never saw before in Dubai," said Tony Haddad, the manager of the Virgin Megastore at Dubai's Mercato Mall. "And we are receiving a lot of CVs from Western Europe. Some are from Spain.
"I expect we'll start hiring them soon. We are organising interviews for them. Some have good backgrounds so we are trying to find something for them, but mostly they are seeking jobs in sales. It would be great. We'd be happy if we hired them."
Mr Haddad said salaries for sales staff in Dubai were between Dh4,000 and Dh8,000, with most in the range of Dh5,000 to Dh7,000. Some companies offered less but had difficulty attracting candidates.
"Most of the sales force are Asians, mostly from the Philippines and India," said Mirla El Masri Heisser, the public relations manager for Mercato Mall.
"This has been the trend in Dubai for some time now, not only in Mercato but in most of the retailers in other shopping malls as well. Now we have seen a larger number of Nepalis coming to the country.
"But I think this trend is going to change because of the economic troubles that are happening in the Western European countries like Greece. We will also see a lot of Eastern Europeans coming to Dubai.
"It will definitely change, and I think it's for the better in Dubai because we get a lot of tourists and we will need this variety in the retailers. You cannot limit it to two nationalities only.
"We get a lot of nationalities from the tourism side and it would be good if we could cater to all these nationalities. Of course we cannot cater to everybody, but having a variety in the stores would help."
The very few who have taken such jobs until now have not been fleeing recessions at home but are, for example, a British national who has grown up in Dubai, or a German wife here on her husband's visa.
Not all shops are looking to change the make-up of the sales force, however. Hobbs is a classic example of an upmarket British women's fashion chain, yet there are no plans to introduce accents from the UK or anywhere else in Europe among staff at its Dubai stores.
"We don't have applications from the likes of Spain, Portugal and Greece," said Promod Rodrigues, the operations manager at Hobbs in Dubai.
"Our sales staff are from India and the Philippines and we are happy with the staffing arrangements. The customers are mostly from the UK."
Idu Jion, the senior marketing manager at the Book World by Kinokuniya shop in Dubai Mall, said the company was planning to recruit in the UK, but for middle managers rather than sales staff.
"We don't want to recruit sales force from the UK because we can get sales force locally or from our own market," Mr Jion said.
He said sales staff in Dubai normally worked an eight-hour day and five-day week, although sometimes they had to work extra because of the requirements of the business.
"They have very flexible hours of working," Mr Jion said.
Ms Heisser added: "In some of the big department stores we have a lot of Russian sales people because they have a lot of Russian customers. It's the bulk of their sales nowadays so they're catering to these guys."
Some retail groups based in the UAE have been running recruitment drives in former Soviet republics such as Moldova.
"In some cases where some retailers are looking to specifically cater to customers who are from other parts of the world, they may look to recruit specific nationalities, especially if their customers don't speak English as their first language," said Ashish Panjabi, the chief operating officer of Jacky's Electronics.
"This is probably why in many fashion boutiques you've seen more Eastern European staff who speak Russian, for instance, or Chinese staff working who can converse in Mandarin."
Mr Panjabi said most of the sales staff at Jacky's came from India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and the Middle East and North Africa region because it was easier to recruit in these countries.
"More than us looking at nationalities, it is more a question of which nationalities can afford to work in Dubai, earn a salary and still find they can sustain themselves here as well as their families back home," he said.
csimpson@thenational.ae
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