Dell making strides in Pakistani market

Dell in collaboration with Intel recently launched their flagship experience centre in Lahore, Pakistan. This is the first of its kind store that provides the customers with technical feedback in order to facilitate their decision making process and enables them to check out the latest technologies on offer by Dell. At the launch of the Dell experience store, we had an exclusive discussion with Shahzad Khan, Country Manager Dell Pakistan in order to get a greater understanding of Dell’s operation in Pakistan.
Naturally the first question we asked him was why did Dell feel the need to launch an exclusive experience centre when its products had already penetrated the local market through multiple vendors and distributors.
Shahzad was of the view that Pakistan despite the recession is an expanding market. He said that the country still holds a lot of potential in terms of investment and opportunity and therefore Dell strongly felt the need to penetrate the local market. The experienced sales staff of the Dell experience store could provide technical assistance to the Dell consumer which was not available through the local distributors. Furthermore he said that Pakistan is a market with a large number of people between the ages of 16 to 40. This potential market needs to be penetrated and Dell hopes to serve its customers in a better way through their flagship experience store.
My second question was, if laptops are the only technologies Dell is currently offering to the average Joe. Shehzad was amused but said that a lot of people are of the view that Dell only focuses on producing laptops, whereas a number of other technologies are also available to the average consumer. “For us, the average consumer could be a business or an individual. Each have their separate preferences and needs, we try to cater to them accordingly.”
As far as small and medium businesses are concerned Shahzad Khan said that a range of products have been developed by Dell to cater to their needs. Dell is not only producing laptops and tablets but also produces a range of desktops and workstations, servers, storage and networking solutions, printers, electronic software and accessories along with technical support, drivers and parts. Dell has also collaborated with a number of government programmes to provide support to initiatives that facilitate the learning process among students of schools and colleges. “We even produce mobile devices and these will also be available in the Dell experience store that we have launched here in Lahore. What we hope is that with the advent of this experience store consumers will be able to learn about the Dell products and that the company would be able to facilitate the customers through an interactive approach.
Dell has come a long way in Pakistan, with the company recently partnering with the Punjab Government for the provision of laptops to students. More than a Hundred thousand laptops have been distributed to students across the province. Naturally it is evident that Dell has invested much on the production of hardware but what about software technologies, that was my next question from Shahzad Khan. “There is not a single software solution that we at Dell are not able to provide to the customer and while this may come as a surprise, Dell has made great strides in software development to now be able to compete with major players in the market,” Shahzad exclaimed.
Dell has also recently launched their hihest performing, most innovative servers ever. Dell™ PowerEdge™ 12th generation servers offer the most advanced Dell server innovations to give the consumer more power―and the tools to harness it. Featuring advanced technology from valued partners such as Intel®, the next-generation Dell PowerEdge servers allow the consumer to process more data, support more applications, reduce infrastructure complexity and increase efficiency without increasing the bottom line. The introduction of these new servers, Shahzad believes would enable businesses to work more efficiently and deliver the right results.
Dell Experience Store: Since this Experience Center is a result of joint collaboration between Dell and Intel Pakistan, therefore, a walk-in customer will also find on display the Intel related products such as latest processors and much needed information from a highly trained staff that will guide a customer about his/her specific needs.
The Dell Experience Store was inaugurated on the Jail Road Lahore followed by a brief event that was attended by Dell Pakistan’s Country Manager- Shahzad Aslam Khan, Intel Pakistan Country Manager-Naveed Siraj, General Manager Dell South Asia Developing Markets – Harjeet Rekhi as well as local business partners and loyal customers.
“Today, we are changing the way customers buy their technology products. The new store offers a range of products and solutions that can meet each customer’s unique requirements, said Shahzad Aslam Khan.
Naveed Siraj said, “We are glad to see a store in Pakistan that offers customer the right advice and choice when buying a new PC. The new store provides easy access to advanced technologies, while strengthening overall customer confidence when purchasing a new computer”.
Apart from Apple’s store that was opened few years back in Lahore in association with iRaffles, this is first of its kind store for the customers from a major PC manufacturer. It is merit mentioning here that Dell International must have revised its plan to focus the Pakistani market again which was earlier a less preferred market for the management owing to weak economic conditions as well as uncertain political and law & order situation. The experience store is the first major channel in building direct contact with our customers, while strengthening our brand among a wider consumer base in Pakistan”, said Harjeet Rekhi. Although, company’s own display centers are quite common to find in other countries but this trend has just been started to excel in Pakistan after we have experienced couple of concept shops getting opened by Samsung and other manufacturers in various cities in order to facilitate customers who otherwise are not dealt properly by retail shop owners where only concern is to sell the product.