National Store, the authorized partner of Canon Middle East (CME) in the UAE, recently reopened a newly renovated experience center at Dubai Mall, while Canon inaugurated another expansive customer experience center in Riyadh to emphasize its ‘customer first approach.’ Retail ME caught up with Binoj Nair, B2C Business Unit Director, Canon Middle East, to understand this approach and know more about Canon’s plans for 2024.
Canon continues to expand its regional retail network and connect with its customers by opening doors to its recent experience centers in Dubai and Riyadh. Could you elaborate on these developments?
In the current landscape, entertainers, vloggers, YouTubers, and everyday enthusiasts are generating an abundance of content from the comfort of their homes or outdoors. With the demand for quality equipment to produce and share this content on digital platforms steadily rising, Canon stands poised to deliver value through our imaging products. This presents an opportune moment for individuals to spotlight their creative passions, be it in the realms of performance arts, traveling by offering captivating experiences from their adventures, or even culinary delights through cooking demonstrations, and share their talents with a vast audience. The current landscape offers an unprecedented level of receptivity towards digital content, making this an optimal time for creative expression and audience engagement.
Canon’s commitment to our partners and our shared vision to be lifetime imaging partners has continued to drive our success story forward in this region. As part of our commitment to delivering exceptional customer service and enhancing customer satisfaction, we have opened two new Customer Experience Centers in Dubai and Riyadh. These centers are designed to provide our customers with a unique and immersive experience, allowing them to explore, learn, and create with our latest products and solutions.
The launch of the Customer Experience Center by our partner National Store at Dubai Mall is an interactive & creative space for photography enthusiasts to professionals, studio owners, families, and content creators. These imaging solutions are set to transform the world for the ‘Customers of Tomorrow’. The center offers four distinct zones that showcase our high-end cameras, lenses, accessories, and state-of-the-art printers. Visitors can explore various shooting scenarios in these creatively themed zones and benefit from free expert advice from our staff. The center also features a cutting-edge, interactive setup that caters to the evolving needs of today’s visual storytellers.
In Saudi Arabia, our Customer Experience Center is tailored to the business sector’s growing demand for advanced imaging and printing solutions. It is a transformative space where Saudi corporates can immerse themselves in Canon’s innovative printing technologies and solutions and get customized support from our team of experts.
These Centers are part of our strategy to bridge the gap between online browsing and offline purchases and to offer a seamless customer experience that melds digital and physical realms.
How does Canon Middle East view its role in the region’s evolving technological landscape?
Canon’s principle of Kyosei mirrors the essence of ‘Ikigai’ in Japanese culture, advocating for collective impact and shared prosperity. Like Ikigai guides individuals towards a purposeful life, Kyosei inspires us to collaborate for the common good, blending Canon’s expertise with the world’s needs. From capturing iconic moments to empowering communities in the region with innovative technology, Kyosei drives us to create lasting impact and enrich lives globally.
Canon Middle East has been a pivotal player in the region’s tech landscape since 1998. We are committed to spearheading innovation and aligning with the digital transformation visions of Middle Eastern countries. Our product range, encompassing Business Solutions and Consumer Imaging, is strategically designed to support these visions. We are not just selling products but embedding Canon into the fabric of the region’s technological progress.
Our Business Solutions segment offers IT products, solutions, and services for office and professional print environments, such as multifunctional devices, scanners, software, cloud services, and managed print services. We help our customers optimize workflows, enhance productivity, and reduce costs.
Our Consumer Imaging segment offers photography, video, digital cameras, laser, and inkjet printers, as well as accessories, consumables, and services. We help our customers capture, create, and share their stories with our high-quality and user-friendly products.
Canon Middle East is more than a technology company. We are a partner in the region’s development, a supporter of its communities, and a contributor to its sustainability.
What insights can you share regarding Canon’s growth plans in the Middle East, especially considering the increasing focus on content creation?
Canon is committed to empowering content creators in the Middle East with a diverse portfolio of innovative and high-quality products. Our growth strategy is holistic; we offer exceptional products and ensure an outstanding post-sale experience to build lasting relationships with our customers.
We have introduced innovative products like the Canon EOS R50 and our new vlogging camera to cater to visual storytellers and vloggers, respectively. The Powershot V10 is another exciting addition, designed for on-the-go shooting and live streaming, ensuring content creators have the tools they need to engage their audience effectively.
In 2024, we plan to expand our product line further and enhance our post-sale services to meet the growing demand for quality content creation tools in the region.
How does Canon maintain its market share in the region in a competitive market, and what are the brand’s expectations for the first quarter of 2024?
Despite intense competition, we have continued to maintain our leadership position in the overall consumer camera category for the Middle East in 2023. In the consumer print category (Inkjet technology), we are steadily growing our market share each year within the region with a clear mandate to be the leading brand in the mid-term period thanks to our continuous innovation and customer-centric approach.
We are optimistic about achieving positive growth in 2024’s first quarter. Our newly established customer experience centers will strengthen our market position. Driven by our commitment to serving the ‘Customer of Tomorrow,’ we anticipate double-digit growth across consumer and business product segments as part of our commitment to serving tomorrow’s customers. With over 8% of global sales reinvested into R&D annually, innovation remains at our core. The robust economic growth rate of 4.8% in thriving markets like the Middle East exemplifies our potential for expansion.
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