Middle East's First Retail Academy Awards voted live in Digital Consumer Channel in Fujairah

During the inaugural Middle East Retail Academy Awards, hundreds of senior executives from the regional vendor and retail community will vote live using electronic devices to determine the winners of 14 awards.

The Middle East Retail Academy Awards ceremony will take place during a gala dinner on the evening of the 20th May at Le Meridien Al Aqah, Fujairah - the exclusive venue for this year's DCC.

An executive committee is currently locked in discussion to decide on the shortlist of five nominees for each award, prior to the live electronic voting process during the awards ceremony itself.

With eight awards for vendors, five for retailers and one for retail distributors, the Middle East Retail Academy Awards will reveal the companies that have won the admiration and the respect of their industry colleagues.

"We have been working with the key retailers in this region each year and are in a unique position to tap into this resource to recognise important contributions made by both vendors and retailers across MENA," commented Farouk Hemraj, CEO and co-founder of DISTREE Events.

"The live electronic voting for the awards promises to inject excitement and suspense into the awards. The concept is simple: retailers voting for the vendor awards, and vendors vote for the retailer and distributor awards. We have an incredible turnout of vendors and retailers from across the Middle East at this year's DCC and we wanted them all to have their say in deciding which companies and individuals deserved awards".

The Vendor of the Year 2007/8 awards cover a variety of product segments including PCs, TVs, mobile phones, peripherals and accessories.

Vendors have been assessed on a number of criteria including channel strategy, inventory management, margin potential, marketing, merchandising, training and support.

Awards for Retail Channel Manager of the Year, Middle East Retail Vendor of the Year and a Special Achievement Award for Outstanding Retail Channel Development complete the vendor line-up.

The awards available for retailers include Store Concept of the Year, Hypermarket/Big Box Retailer of the Year, Mall-based/Specialist Retailer of the Year and Best Retailer for Marketing/Promotion.

In addition a special award is reserved for the Retail Executive of the Year. The executive committee are assessing retailers on a number of criteria including customer satisfaction, sales growth, corporate social responsibility, profitability, store experience, vendor relations, innovation and service levels.

Hemraj added: "Each delegate at DCC has been carefully profiled and verified by our research team to ensure that they are senior executives within the Middle East IT and consumer electronics retail channel. With such an illustrious and knowledgeable gathering, it was only right that they had the final say on the winners of these awards and that is why we have chosen to deploy a live electronic voting system. It promises to be an exciting evening and the winners will fully deserve their awards because they have been voted for by the people that matter most".

More than 300 senior executives from the region's top CE and IT-focused vendors, retailers and distributors will meet later this year at Digital Consumer Channel (DCC) Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Digital Consumer Channel (DCC) is the ultimate professional networking event for senior executives from the consumer electronics, digital device and ICT products retail channel in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region.

DCC MEA is a focused event for retail executives based on the successful concept of bringing high-level buyers from emerging markets into productive contact with vendors. DCC MEA was launched in 2005 in Fujairah, UAE.

The inaugural event attracted support from a host of international A-brand vendors.

Since its launch, DCC MEA has grown rapidly, establishing itself as the 'must-attend' annual event for retail buyers covering consumer electronics, digital devices or ICT products.