Jack Lee, Senior Vice President, XTouch, shares learnings from DISTREE and highlights latest products. Jack Lee’s entrepreneurial venture, XTouch began its journey three years ago at Dragon Mart in Dubai. Today, the company sells 100 thousand units per month, having grown from 40,000 units per month in 2013, which includes products such as smartphones, smart watches and tablets

Ashish Panjabi, CEO, Jacky’s Electronics shares insights on how to approach the Retail-to-Business customers. DISTREE Middle East 2014 held the first ever Retail-to-Business (R2B) Summit, which was an invitation-only event, meant for the retail sector, hosted by channel tracking

research organisation, CONTEXT. R2B is a potential segment that the regional retailers may find immense opportunities from, going forward. The aim was to understand how best retailers can identify micro and small business customers through

DISTREE Middle East organises R2B Summit

Show dates: 20-22 May 2014, Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi | Day 3

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Innovation is about what customers need: XTouch

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Ashish Panjabi, CEO, Jacky’sJack Lee, Senior Vice President, XTouch

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DISTREE...traditional retail channels in the Middle East.

Typically, a business with 25 or less users would purchase their office equipment such as laptops and mobile devices off the shelf from a retail store. If a retailer could identify this customer and understand his needs clearly, there is potential to innovate in terms of business operations.

Ashish Panjabi, CEO, Jacky’s Electronics says, “Today, when we talk about B2B, we generally refer to customers such as government, distributors or other bigger companies, however there are players, who cater to that. But what about the company who has around five or ten employees who come to our retail stores and buy for business use? We have never been able to identify that customer. As a retailer, we don’t know that the purchase

delivery? How do we as retailer cater to all of this is something we need to really think about,” he adds.

“So when a retailer comes to our store, we are selling him a consumer model because we don’t know that he could be using it for a business need. For example, we would sell the Microsoft Office Home version and not the business one. We are not asking that question today. A set-up in a retail store currently is not equipped to meet those demands.”

Although, there are things that can be done, Panjabi says, it is a question of, if you do it, then you must do it right. He explains, “If the home user buys a printer, and it doesn’t work, they could probably get it printed from another place. But if a business user’s printer doesn’t work, this means he can’t print his invoices and quotations. If a business customer’s WiFi stops working, then he can’t connect to his CRM or ERP system. These are situations they cannot afford to have as it is a business loss then. We need to

discuss, how we can cater to that because in these cases the onus will be on retailers.”

Panjabi also points out that for this segment to take off, a retailer cannot do it on his own. “He needs the vendor’s support and you need to have distributors working with you, when it comes to keeping stock and being able to cater to the customer’s demands completely. If we identify a customer as a business user then we can offer other options to him.”

Largely remaining an untapped space even globally, only few retailers have recognised the opportunities in this market segment. For example, Best Buy have separate stores in the US called, Best Buy For Business and Alghanim has started it in Kuwait a few years ago with two stores catering to B2B customers.

“You come to events like DISTREE to think outside the box and brainstorm with fellow industry professionals. DISTREE Middle East offers these kind of opportunities,” Panjabi adds.

has been made for a business environment or use because they come and simply buy off the shelf.”

The questions that arises then are, can retailers start identifying that particular customer and adapting for his demands? What sort of systems will retailers need to have to handle this market? And, most importantly, what does it take to do that? The Summit discussed how retailers could address these areas in this segment.

According to Panjabi, it is a substantial market for sure and he says, a huge potential exists. As of today, shop floors are designed for a retail engagement and not for a R2B environment. This means, the way the products are displayed and how sales personnel approach customers are not done targeting R2B customers. “If we start thinking of a R2B customer, we must start thinking of what kind of products are there, how do we display it? Do they need retail quotations, do they need credit facilities? Do they need

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Featured Tablets

Naresh Verma, Distribution Sales Manger, Trust, shares the company’s objective of being at DISTREE Middle East 2014.

An active participant at all DISTREE events, Trust is highlighting its new products at DISTREE Middle East.

“Last year our company had launched Urban Revolt, a brand in the trendy and lifestyle accessories category. This new brand really differentiates us from our competitors.

For the ultimate gaming experience Trust has also

developed a professional gaming range called; The Trust Gaming Series,” says Verma.

Gaming and mobile accessories will be the company’s differentiator this year. “Also the mobile market is constantly developing rapidly therefor also the demand for dedicated mobile accessories. This offers great opportunities for our new brand Urban Revolt,” he adds.

He explains further, “We will also be launching the Urban Revolt Fiesta Wireless Speaker. The Fiesta Wireless speaker is a sturdy portable speaker

Trust focuses on gaming and mobile accessories at DISTREE

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XTouch...“Android continues to dominate the world. And smartphones have taken over feature phones according to industry reports. What we see is that value smartphones will soon become mainstream.”

among others. With only a R&D department set up in China, XTouch is a Chinese company selling in the Middle East and has recently begun operations in Africa as well.

“DISTREE is a great opportunity for a young brand like ourselves to get focused retail and channel exposure. Retailers are the people who truly know their customers, therefore, it is very important we have a continuous conversation with them. DISTREE is a results-driven event, with focused presentations and discussions,” says Jack Lee, Senior Vice President, XTouch.

In his presentation at Live@DISTREE session, Lee elaborated on some of the market trends in the space. “Android continues to dominate the world. And

Naresh Verma, Sales manager Middle East & Africa, Trust

smartphones have taken over feature phones according to industry reports. What we see is that value smartphones will soon become mainstream.”

This means the company sees a huge opportunity in the smart devices space, says Lee. He further adds that because the event attracts decision-makers from across the channel, it is one of the major events for the company.

With Redington as their distributing partner for MEA, the Chinese brand is available on the

shelves of Sharaf DG, Plug-Ins, Lulu, Geant and so on. Lee further confirms that the company is on the lookout for more potential retail partners.

When it comes to innovation, Lee says, it is really a tough space. “What we consider innovative may not be so, once we step out and see other innovations. This has been one of the greatest learnings for us from DISTREE Middle East. Events such as these, expose the industry to what is out there. It is important to not to live in

our own world,” Lee says. “After DISTREE’s Fresh and ‘60 minutes to convince’ sessions, we realise more work needs to be done to our products.”

The company highlighted some of its product line at the event, from smart watches to innovative smartphones and tablets. However, innovation, Lee says, is about what the customers need. “As manufacturers, we need to listen more to our customers. We innovative, design and manufacture in China, therefore, events such as DISTREE helps us to know more.”

Following a traditional distribution channel, Lee aims at building the brand in the region in the next year or so. “Retailer’s participation is what makes DISTREE so key for us,” he concludes.

which produces a powerful sound. Whether you have a BBQ in your backyard, a speech at your company’s party or music at the sidelines of a sporting event: the UR Fiësta Wireless speaker is the perfect solution.”

According to Verma, DISTREE is an ideal international platform for the company to meet its customers, present new products and concepts and also to present its brand to potential channel partners.

In the past, the company has been able to successfully open new markets for Trust namely UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. “We were also able to sign up direct retailers in key regions. Trust has a professional and strategic relationship with the top retail partners.”

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www.cpimediagroup.com

Ctroniq looks at growing retailers’ business

Official distributor for Ctroniq, Headlinks’ GM, Atheeq Ahmed discusses why retailers should consider the brand as part of their product mix.

What are your company’s main products and solutions?Ctroniq as a brand and manufacturer evolves around

of distribution network through e-commerce by partnering with Souq.com across four countries as our exclusive e-retailer and they have surpassed our expectations and created a bench mark for Ctroniq across the GCC. E-commerce has a major role to play in the region, we were quick to identify the power of e-commerce and it was a conscious decision to go online. Now we are in the expansion mode and there is no better platform like DISTREE, which will open our retail tie-ups among the participating retailers.

Of, course we do have healthy margin proposition for our retail partners, we hope retailers will be excited to be part of it. We have worked in a way that retailer shall always have the scope to improvise in marketing activities.

different segments of consumers who need technology constantly. We have capitalised on the ‘smart’ era in making smarter products for consumers. Ctroniq E380 smart watch phone readily becomes a smart companion by choice on your wrist, this will soon replace two devices with one. Other products include smart watch phones and tablets – Intel Windows and Android-based, smart power solutions for mobiles and any rechargeable electronic devices. We have our own App store live now called, ‘Ctroniq Market’. We have our in-house development team constantly working on product development and exciting apps, which will be launched soon. A retailer will find a lot of value addition from us in terms of making the product life cycle, apart from being

competitive in market, we offer complete spectrum of smart life related products.

What are your three main reasons for attending DISTREE Middle East?Our major reasons for being here are to listen-to retailers on the evolution happening around in consumer demands and mindset, speak - what we have in store for retailers as we strategically built a theme to make a Smart Family watches and to act – draw plans with retailers who can target the consumers who shop with their families.

Do you have a structured retail channel programme? Do you offer a strong margin proposition to your retail partners?We took an unorthodox style

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Tareq Husseini, Regional Sales Director, SanDisk Middle East and Africa, discusses how the company plans to work together with retailers to grow the business

DISTREE Middle East is a must-attend event for SanDisk, considering the event’s potential to expose the solutions provider to new partners. But even more so this year, as the company is looking at growing its market share through a focused retail strategy.

It is looking at expanding its market presence by expanding its distributor footprint both vertically and horizontally in terms of specialised product related distributors and retailers, as well as consumer market segments.

“The Middle East continues to provide ample new opportunities

for flash storage in the consumer electronic, mobile, and imaging as well as IT channels. We’ve been witnessing the growth opportunities for the category in non-traditional channels such as food and drug, fashion and lifestyle channels as well,” says Tareq Husseini, Regional Sales Director, SanDisk Middle East and Africa, having seen a good year in 2013.

At DISTREE MEA in Abu Dhabi, the company shared its regional flash storage strategy for 2014 and 2015 and connect with key retail channel partners. Husseini further adds that over the past few years the company has revolutionised its distribution and channel strategy in an effort to better service its customers, gain market share over its competitors and help retailers sell more products.

The flash storage solutions provider offers retailers with category leadership, retail know-how, consistent supply, second to none product portfolio, demand generation as well as profitability, explains Husseini.

“SanDisk has also seen its expansion go geographically across the GCC. Since, entering the region officially in 2005 by opening its regional headquarters in the Middle East, SanDisk has been continuously growing its storefront presence. A large part of this growth can be directly attributed to pioneering indirect sales channel marketing, working closely with our retailers and constantly adapting market development strategy,” concludes Husseini.

11th June 2014Godolphin Ballroom, Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai

REGISTER NOW!www.resellerme.com/awards

SanDisk to enhance market presence through key retailers

Tareq Husseini, Regional Sales Director, SanDisk Middle East and Africa

Hall of FameRahul Anand, Carrefour & Rahul Saharia, Dell

PC Vendor of the YearDell

Tablet Vendor of the Year Lenovo

PC Accessories Vendor of the YearGenius

Tablet & Phone Accessories Vendor of the Year Promate

Imaging Vendor of the YearCanon

Storage Vendor of the YearSeagate

Smartphone Vendor of the YearHuawei

Home Networking Vendor of the YearLinksys

Software Vendor of the YearKaspersky

Audio Accessories Vendor of the YearBeats

Wearable Tech & Connected Devices Vendor of the YearFitbit

DISTREE 2014 Best in showParrot

New Vendor of the yearEnergy Sistem

Outstanding Vendor of the yearLenovo

Overall UAE Retailer of the YearCarrefour

Specialist UAE Retailer of the YearEmax & Sharaf DG

Saudi Arabia Retailer of the Year Extra

Bahrain Retailer of the YearLulu

Kuwait Retailer of the YearAlghanim (X-cite)

Oman Retailer of the YearLulu

Qatar Retailer of the YearCarrefour

Egypt & Levant Retailer of the YearCarrefour

Middle East E-tailer of the YearSouq.com

Middle East Volume Distributor of the YearRedington

Middle East Retail distributor of the YearGCT

Middle East Accessories Distributor of the Year Max Electronics

DISTREE MERA: 2014 Award Winners

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Milad Jabbour, CEO, GCT Media, shares why the company keeps returning for each DISTREE Middle East, since its inception, a decade ago.

GCT Media has been coming to DISTREE Middle East right from its first year, ten years ago. Identifying

the opportunities present, the company finds DISTREE an ideal place to reach out to new retailers with its new products.

“The retail landscape is constantly evolving, we have the opportunity to meet researchers such as GfK that share insights on trends in the market,” says Milad Jabbour, CEO, GCT Media. “We get a clear understanding of the needs of the individual markets, understand what works and what doesn’t. We also get the opportunity to meet the management of the power retailers. All of these impact our product strategies for the region and our support strategies for our partners.”

The company’s main focus at each DISTREE is to establish

strong working agreements with its retail partners. “This enables both of us to grow our businesses with a focus on the long-term market development. This focused strategy combined with representing some interesting and innovative lifestyle brands helps us stay ahead of our competition,” explains Jabbour.

Talking about new technologies, he further adds that Internet of Things is definitely a buzzword today. And many of the products that the company has on display from Edimax will reflect this trend. “As new retailers come on board, we will spend time understanding their markets before suggesting the product mix that will help them tap into their market,” he adds.

What brings the company

GCT Media participates at DISTREE ME for the 10th year

Day 2 at DISTREE Middle East 2014

Milad Jabbour, CEO, GCT Media

Promate won the Best Innovation category at ‘60 seconds to convince’

Amanulla Khan, Regional Director - Emerging Markets, Belkin / Linksys

DISTREE Middle East 2014, celebrating its 10th anniversary honours those who have been participating in the event for the last decade at MERA Awards, last evening.

Jurassic Technology won the Best Presenter at ‘60 seconds to convince’

BEM won the Best Design category at ‘60 seconds to convince’

back to DISTREE each year, is the fact that it gets the sure-shot opportunity to meet and network with its retail partners. “It gives us the opportunity to meet them face-to-face and to get an insight into their markets over the course of the three-day event.”

“It is a focused event and everyone we meet at DISTREE is there with just one focus – do business. They are not there to browse or just check out new products like other events and exhibitions, although they do that too. They are present at DISTREE with a focused agenda. That for us is well worth a return on our investment,” explains Jabbour.

This year, the company met and signed up the distribution partnership with Thecus to set up their Middle East office to cover the MENA region. In addition to DISTREE Middle East, GCT always attends DISTREE EMEA.

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