Jumbo Electronics has recently launched the ‘Jumbo Mobile Festival’ to encourage the growth and business development of its independent retail (IR) channel partners.
The smartphone festival aimed to develop opportunities and boost sales for small and medium retailers, who are also often collectively known as the independent retail channel. Vishesh Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer, Jumbo Group explained why the company had launched the new initiative. “Small and medium-sized retailers are one of the keys to national economic growth, and require the industry’s wholehearted support. The Jumbo Mobile Festival is a key example of how distributors like Jumbo and global brands can collaborate to encourage this sector.”
According to Bhatia, Jumbo has historically been a front-runner in supporting the UAE’s economy through measures such as micro-credit schemes for small and medium retailers. “Many small shopkeepers do not have ready credit that enables them to buy products. They often also lack training and resources. We support them with facilities such as sales vans, road shows, and training. This not only helps them but also helps our partner brands as it increases their market penetration with an end-to-end network covering everyone from super retailers to small shops,” he said.
The 45-day festival was organised by Jumbo’s Mobility and Solutions division and was launched in January 2016 with the support of key dealers from across the UAE, as well as Jumbo’s brand partners such as Du, Lava, Wiko, Hisense, LG and Obi.
Participating retailers were incentivised through rewards based on sales performance. Jumbo and its partner brands also provided considerable investments in advertising support, leaflet distribution and awareness generation in select locations, trained promoters for activations, provided branded merchandise and in-store promotional materials.
Winners of the Jumbo Mobile Festival were announced at the Awards Night, which hosted over 200 independent retailers at the Raffles Hotel earlier this week. Regional representatives of prominent international brands supporting this initiative were also present at the awards.
