How are Huawei’s new experience outlets enhancing shopping journeys?

Huawei Consumer Business Group, the global technology brand recently announced the opening of two more experience stores in the UAE. The new stores have opened in The Galleria Mall Al Maryah Island and City Center Al Zahia, while there are six other Huawei experience outlets in the UAE. The stores feature a sophisticated minimalist design where visitors will be able to enjoy a rich full-scenario experience with immersive demonstrations of Huawei’s latest smart devices and technologies.

The opening of the new stores in the UAE, represents Huawei’s commitment and the next step in the company’s mission to deliver breakthrough technologies and provide exceptional customer service across all Emirates. Its strategic vision is in line with the country’s vision to attract increased business, enable continued knowledge transfer and contribute towards the development of the retail sector. Zubina Ahmed caught up with Peak Yin, Country Manager Huawei Consumer Business Group UAE for a detailed Q&A post the launch.

Tell us about the Brand presence of Huawei experience stores in the UAE and its various retail offerings?

With the UAE pursuing a leading role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, we are proud to be part of the journey. For the past years, we carried on our commitment to create value for consumers through innovation, striving to deliver an intelligent experience across all scenarios driven by “1 + 8 + N” Seamless AI Life strategy. This is more clearly seen in “Super Device” experience we launched last year in the UAE as one of the first countries that  enables different types of products to seamlessly share their capabilities and information, providing consumers with an intelligent experience across five key factor scenarios: smart office, fitness & health, smart home, easy travel, and entertainment.

How have you integrated technology to enhance customer experience within the stores?

On a global picture, Huawei’s consumer business fully focuses on consumer wants and needs, further building out the global ecosystem for a smart, all-connected era, as part of the company’s Seamless AI Life strategy. This business generated USD 38.17 billion in revenue in 2021 and continued to see steady sales growth in smart wearables, smart screens, true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, and Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). In particular, the smart wearable and smart screen segments both saw 30%+ year-on-year growth.

We continue to explore and develop premium online and offline retail and service models to enhance Huawei’s brand image in the region and optimise customer experience at retail and service stores.

To offer a premium customer experience, Huawei Experience Stores are designed the best customer journey with clear zones and display logic, so that customers can find the products they want in the most pleasant environment.  Huawei’s product lines are displayed in an intuitive way. The display embraces scenarios: photography, music, sports, business and gaming offering complete daily life solutions for customers.

Do you have plans of expanding further in the region in the future?

We opened our first Huawei Experience Store in the UAE in the heart of Dubai – The Dubai Mall in 2017 and by the end of 2021, we had opened three mores experience stores in Dubai. In 2022 we will continue our expansion and are planning to open 9 more experience store locations in the UAE. The new experience stores are situated in the heart of Abu-Dhabi and Sharjah retail space and are adjacent to luxurious shops with pristine white interior that places a range of Huawei’s latest products and services at the core of the experience.  In addition, there will be a team of experience consultants available to advise consumers about products. These members of staff have been drawn from a wide range of backgrounds and bring their own strengths and experiences from the world of sport, music or vlogging. They will share with customers their interests and hobbies in addition to providing customers with suggestions and technical support.

How have you evolved into a brand that has transcended beyond traditional retailing?

At Huawei we have always valued consumer engagement as a top priority. The relationship we have built with our customers goes beyond buying and selling. We have a deeper bond with our customers. We hope that our new stores in Abu-Dhabi and Sharjah will become a place for consumers and developers to come together and experience the latest advancements in consumer technology.

What consumer trends and behavior have you seen so far and how have you adapted to those changes, trends and expectations?

Globally, we are witnessing a shift in consumer behavior. Consumers today demand a more connected life. More people are reaching out for their devices to complete any transaction – from shopping to accessing public transportation. In the UAE, over the past few years consumers have become more tech-savvy. They have taken more measures to conduct research online, compare product specs and identify which devices truly meet their needs. Huawei has spent a considerable amount of time in studying solutions and therefore have been able to introduce an all-encompassing concept, for all walks of life.

The end result is developing innovative devices that make a positive impact on the daily lives of consumers – which we can showcase in our experience stores today. The “Smart Office” experience is an example where we use a common language for different kinds of devices to connect and collaborate in a more convenient, smooth, and secure way. Office work is now the most important value-creating activity since the industrial revolution, with creativity and communication being paramount. That is why our vision for Smart Office is to provide businesses with tools they need to stimulate creativity, improve communication efficiency, and enable people to create freely and communicate without boundaries.

How is electronics a rapidly evolving retail sector in the region and how have you embraced those changes and trends to stay ahead in the game?

UAE is a globally important market for Huawei and we will continue to bring the most compelling and innovative technology experiences to consumers through a wide range of products in 2022. We have a wide range of exciting and innovative new products and services we plan to add into the market this year. These include smartphones, PC, tablets, wearables and much more. These devices will also be seamlessly linked into our 1+8+n concept to enable consumers to enjoy more immersive entertainment and work more productively.

Our philosophy is to enable as many consumers as possible to experience this technology in a way that fits in with their lifestyles through a range of attractive price points. We will continue to do that while pushing the boundaries of innovation further.   We want the experience stores to be a communication hub. Here, customers can meet friends, share knowledge, and show their creativity. Our store offer free training courses taught by a dedicated team of instructors. Covering a wide range of areas from basic tech knowledge to creative applications such as photography, video making and programming.