Jumbo invests $ 1m in online portal
ELECTRONICS RETAILER TO OFFER UNIFIED EXPERIENCE TO SHOPPERS
Jumbo Electronics has invested $ 1 million ( Dh3.67 million) in its new online shopping portal, which will unify online and physical retail stores. Jumbo is the last electronics retailer to go online in the UAE but Vishesh Bhatia, CEO at Jumbo Group, said: “We have the advantage of technology and many value- added features”.
Jumbo tied up with online mall Tejuri as an experiment. The portal will go live today.
“We have the technology from Build- a- Bazaar, RBBi [ user experience design and user interface agency], MENA360 [ logistics company] and Google to offer a comprehensive experience. Our online store also addresses the challenges faced by shoppers — such as difficulty in processing returns or lack of access to customer support and human interaction,” he said.
“We look at online as another store. We expect online competitors today and take that product to the physical store, it [ product] does not get recognised. They [ competitors] will give you a number to contact online. Our approach is ‘ buy anywhere go anywhere’ and as per the users convenience,” he said.
“Our aim is to make our brick- and- mortar and online services equally accessible to the customer.”
Jumbo is partnering with Google to implement search- engine optimisation, re- targeting search campaigns, and to enhance display marketing and inventory management, and with PayPal and Payfort to offer easy and convenient payment options.
Does going online restrict Jumbo from opening new stores, Bhatia said “no”. “We are opening two stores at Yas Mall and one at Mall of the World.”
The online portal is a website now and the Jumbo app will be available in 30 days.
Bhatia said the advantage of online is they have consumers’ data, which they will use but never give to third parties.