HOME E-tailer JadoPado enters new countries
E-tailer JadoPado has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan. The UAE-based company, which offers a range of ICT and consumer electronics (CE) products, is expanding its operations and delivery services to cover the entire GCC region plus Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The new geographies represent JadoPado’s first foray outside the UAE since the company was established in September 2010.
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Asbis adds LG rights in MENA region
Emerging markets distributor Asbis has added LG’s IT products to its portfolio in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region). The deal between the two companies covers Egypt, Libya, Iraq and the Gulf countries of the Middle East. The agreement will see Asbis push LG projectors, external hard drives and optical storage drives to its channel customer base in the region.
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Egyptian market value exceeds US$4 billion
Research house GfK’s latest analysis of the ICT, telecoms and consumer electronics market in Egypt indicates that the total market value grew 7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 to hit US$1.03 billion. This took the annual market value for calendar 2012 to US$4.2 billion dollars in Egypt – a 7.1% increase over 2011.
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DISTREE Middle East extends reach
DISTREE Middle East has announced that it will invite senior executives from leading ICT and CE retailers in Africa, Turkey and CIS states to participate in its 2013 event. The inclusion of these new geographies opens up channel growth opportunities in fast-growing markets for exhibitors attending DISTREE Middle East, which takes place from May 21st to 23rd in Abu Dhabi.
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Eros opens new store in Dubai Mall
UAE-based retailer and distributor Eros Group has opened a new store in Dubai Mall. The new outlet takes Eros to a total of 32 stores in the UAE. The new store is based in the electronics section of Dubai Mall and offers consumers access to a wide range of ICT and consumer electronics (CE) products across a number of product categories. Eros acts as a distributor for a number of brands including Samsung, Hitachi, Candy, TCL and BenQ.
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Lexmark trains resellers in Oman
Printing vendor Lexmark held a recent channel training session in Oman to bring in-country resellers up to speed on its plans. The seminar and workshop session covered the latest Lexmark product lines, upcoming launches, plus service and maintenance topics. The channel training attracted delegates from 30 Lexmark resellers operating in Oman.
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Samsung boosts merchandising team
Samsung Electronics Levant has boosted the strength of its mobile merchandising team in Jordan, claiming that it now has one of the largest teams in the region helping retailers showcase the vendor’s product portfolio. The Samsung mobile merchandising team provides training sessions to shop staff on the latest developments in the mobile technology, delivers point of sales (POS) marketing materials and carries out performance surveys.
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Saudi Arabian retailers take social media lead
The latest data from the Middle East Retail Academy (MERA) Twitter Tracker shows Saudi Arabia’s top two retailers leading the way in terms of social media reach. Big box retailer Extra now boasts 83,189 followers on Twitter and more than 450,000 likes on Facebook. Rival retailer Jarir Bookstore has boosted its number of Twitter followers by 86% in the last eight months to 68.271. Jarir has also now achieved approximately 320,000 likes on Facebook.
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Sales boost for Middle East retail channel
Retailers, distributors and vendors were upbeat about Middle East ICT and consumer electronics (CE) sales volumes during working month January 2013, according to the latest Monthly Monitor Report (MMR), published by the Middle East Retail Academy (MERA). The overall MMR Sales Index rose for the second month in a row, hitting 6.88 (scored out of 10.00) compared to 6.30 a month earlier. The MMR Sales Index is now at its highest level since January 2012 – exactly a year ago – when it reached 6.97.
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Asbis announces full year 2012 figures
Emerging markets distribution specialist Asbis has announced record annual sales for 2012, with revenues hitting US$1.75 billion – up 18% year-on-year. After-tax profits for full year 2012 were up 60% year-on-year at US$9m. During the fourth quarter of 2012, Asbis’ sales came in at US$566.4m – more than 20% higher than a year earlier.
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