Kalahari.net goes Gobi to launch exclusive range

South Africa’s online retailer, kalahari.com has launched gobii, a proprietary range of affordable products priced to take the local consumer electronics market by storm.

Available exclusively through kalahari.com, the initial sleek launch range comprises a HD water resistant Action Camera at R1,499, a full HD Superzoom Digital Video Camera at R2,999, a 12MP Digital Camera at R1,299, a 8‚ Digital Photo Frame at R699. It also includes an entry level 7‚ Colour LCD eReader at R899 that flew of kalahari.com’s virtual shelves and into the hands of satisfied consumers around the country. Promising to sell-out in its first month, kalahari.com offered a limited launch offer R160 eBook voucher with every gobii eReader purchased. This voucher is automatically linked to the purchaser’s profile once the product has been purchased and shipped.

The gobii range provides a market stopgap with its unbeatable price to performance ratio and elegant design lines and the range has been strategically introduced in anticipation of a bumper 2011 festive season.

Gary Novitzkas, CEO of kalahari.com says that smaller ticket buys such as books, CDs and DVDs continue to be the biggest sellers for the one million odd registered kalahari.com shoppers but that consumerelectronics such as the products included in the gobii range, are starting to feature strongly on the top seller lists.

‚Comparing product features, researching best prices and reading user reviews make consumer electronics perfect for online retailing. Moreover, the kalahari.com shopper has shown a propensity for hardworking and affordable electronics and has always been incredibly supportive of new kalahari.com initiatives. All of this coupled with the value for money price point positions the gobii range perfectly for success.‚

Globally, the most popular and purchased items over the Internet are books (41%), videos/ DVDs/ games (24%) and electronic equipment (23%). Also according to Nielsen, the most popular products and services for planned online purchase across the Africa and Middle East region are books (29%) and electronic equipment such as TV’s and cameras (23%). Forrester on the other hand, estimates that U.K. consumers will spend 28.6 billion pounds online this year, with consumer electronics accounting for 19% of that spend.

‚This mirrors trends at kalahari.com where consumer electronics accounts for roughly 20% of our spend. We anticipate spend to increase to around 30% this year and also anticipate that our range of gobii products will not only appeal to our existing customer base but also attract new shoppers to our online and mobile portals,‚ enthuses Novitzkas.

gobii products are available exclusively for purchase on kalahari.com while further information on the products is available on gobii.com. All products come standard with a full one year warranty.