Japanese IT firm NEC Corporation has introduced its retail solutions technology to the Middle East market, starting with the UAE, through a partnership with Dubai-based point-of-sale (POS) solutions provider Hassan Mohd Habib (HMH) Establishment.
Kazunobu Waki, general manager of NEC Corp's Global Retail Services, said their company is keen on expanding into other countries following their UAE launch as they are optimistic about future growth in the region’s retail industry.
“Through this [UAE] debut, we hope to be able to bring our retail solutions technology to other countries in the Middle East,” Waki said, without giving further details about their expansion plans.
The Tokyo-based
NEC Corp, which established itself as one of the leading POS solutions providers worldwide, has active operations in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, North America and Latin America.
Sasikumar Parakkuth, managing director of HMH Establishment, said the current economic slowdown, which has affected several industries in the region, has actually been beneficial for their business.
“Typically it is the retail property sector that has taken most of the beatings during the crisis with investments taking a backseat. On the contrary, investments into retail technology have picked up,” he began.
Parakkuth attributed this trend to the fact that company decision-makers have been banking on technology as a tool to help retailers increase revenue generation and maintain corporate efficiency.
“More than anything else, the crisis has actually been beneficial for solutions providers such as ourselves,” he added.
Meanwhile, Hassan Mohammed Habib Al Redha, Chairman of HMH Establishment, said their newly established partnership with NEC Corp will not affect their current operations as sole distributor of Epson POS Systems in the Gulf.
“There will be no conflict because NEC offers something that Epson has, and vice-versa,” he said.
NEC Corp’s technology is being offered to the Middle East also through the support of its India operations, which will provide the necessary professional trainings and 24/7 technical support, says Rajiv Bhalla, country head (Sales and Marketing) of NEC India Pvt Ltd.
“The retail business is not only about providing hardware. It’s also about offering the complete software and solution package. Here in the Middle East, in Dubai specifically, we have trained our partner HMH to provide customer support and service at par with Japanese standards. This will ensure 24/7 applicability for our products, meaning, there will be no downtime,” he said.
Bhalla also mentioned that all new NEC applications that will be developed from the India centre will be made available to Middle East retailers.
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NEC expands in UAE
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