Retail Academy Award nominees revealed

Spearheaded and hosted by DISTREE Events, the organisers of leading Information Communications Technology events in the EMEA region, the inaugural Middle East Retail Academy Awards 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 Digital Consumer Channel (DCC) for Middle East and Africa (MEA), where over 300 attending executives from the sectors vendors, distributors and retailers will vote live for the winners.

"The nominees for the retailer categories were selected by representatives of a cross-section of over 20 vendors and leading regional distributors to ensure that the awards truly acknowledge the best in each field based on very clear criteria," commented Farouk Hemraj, CEO and co-founder of DISTREE Events. "Similarly, a wide cross section of retailers from across the Middle East selected and shortlisted the vendors they felt deserved to be on the nomination list in the eight vendor categories. We are very grateful for the time the members of our select committee have given us to create a final shortlist of nominees for each category."

Vendors have been assessed on a number of criteria including channel strategy, inventory management, margin potential, marketing, merchandising, training and support. Retailers have been evaluated based on their contribution to the industry including customer satisfaction, sales growth, corporate social responsibility, profitability, store experience, vendor relations, innovation and service levels.

"We believe that it is important to recognize the achievements of the retailers and vendors that were able to differentiate themselves in the retail segment, which has been growing phenomenally in the Middle East during the last five years driven by changing lifestyles and income growth in the region," said Sherifa Hady, Consumer Business Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Middle East. "Not only do these awards acknowledge the innovation and the brilliant work done to meet consumer needs, but they also pave the way for continued excellence in this industry for the region."

More than 300 senior executives from the region's top CE and IT-focused vendors, retailers and distributors will meet later this year at DCC MEA. DCC is the ultimate professional networking event for senior executives from the consumer electronics, digital device and ICT products retail channel in MEA region.

Nominee List

Vendor categories (voted by retailers)

Retail vendor of the Year-Desktop/Notebooks:
Acer, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Toshiba

Retail vendor of the Year-Peripherals:
Belkin, Imation, Sandisk, WD, Apple

Retail vendor of the Year-Accessories:
Belkin, Genius, Logitech, Microsoft, Targus

Retail Vendors of the Year-Mobile Phones:
HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson

Retail Vendors of the Year-LCD/Plasma TVs:
LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony

Middle East Retail: Overall Vendor of the Year
Acer, HP, HTC, Nokia, Sony

Retail Vendors of the Year-Special Achievement for Outstanding Retail Channel Development
HTC, Lacie, Microsoft Xbox, Sandisk, WD

Retail Vendors of the Year-Retail Channel Manager of the Year
Anil Warang Country Manager UAE, Toshiba
Brad Whatmough, ME Retail Manager, Dell
Kiran Nair, Retail Marketing Specialist, Imation
Satya Rangadam, Retail Sales Manager, Acer
Wael El Chami, Retail Account Manager, HP

Retailer categories (voted by vendors)

Hypermarket / Big Box Retailer of the Year
Carrefour; Jarir; Lulu; Sharaf DG; Emax

Mall-based / Specialist Retailer of the Year
i2; Jacky's; Jumbo; Plug-Ins; Virgin

Store Concept of the Year
Compume; Emax; Eon; Jacky's Express; Sharaf DG

Best Retailer for Marketing / Promotion
Jacky's; Jarir; Plug-Ins; Sharaf DG; Virgin

Retail Executive of the Year
Ashish Punjabi, COO, Jacky's
NR Ganesh, Heavy Household Department Manager, Carrefour
Hussni Chamout, Regional Retail Director, CompuME /i2
V. Manoharan, VP Purchasing, Jarir Bookstore
Nilesh Khalkoo, Director, Sharaf DG

Distributor category (voted by retailers)

Retail Distributor of the Year
Delta; Emitac; ITE; Redington; Source IT