Across the world,
consumers are having a change of heart when
shopping for electrical appliances. Where once
features, design and pricing took precedence,
more and more customers are now asking how much
electricity the machine they are contemplating
to buy consumes.
And the UAE is no exception. According to
Anamika Priyadarshi, the retail and marketing
manager for the Better Life chain of home
appliance stores, there has been increased
awareness in customers who are now asking sales
staff how much damage their home appliance could
cause their pockets.
"We are seeing this growing trend amongst our
customers across all stores," she says. "They
are enquiring about each of the products they
wish to buy and making sure they know how much
electricity it consumes."
The motive for more people going green in the
UAE, Priyadarshi reckons, is quite different
from worldwide trends where rising oil prices is
leading to surging electricity costs – and where
customers are demanding manufacturers to comply
with their energy requirements.
"In this country, it is not so much rising
costs, not at the moment, but increased
awareness," she says.
"More people are realising just how much they
can save if they used energy-efficient
products."
And for manufacturers and retailers, going
green, it seems, is making good business sense
now more than ever.
Despite the lack of standards in the UAE,
manufacturers are beginning to address the issue
and are making their products more
environmentally friendly due to more stringent
policies in other developed markets, says Ashish
Panjabi, COO of Jacky's Electronics.
"Many manufacturers have also been working hard
to constantly reduce the electricity
requirements of LCD televisions for example, and
a brand like Sharp has been successful in nearly
halving the power requirements of their
televisions in the last six years," he says.
From washing machines that use steam instead of
hot water to refrigerators that use low energy
compressors to low power computer screens,
electronics companies are furiously developing
energy-efficient products and promoting them to
get an edge over their competitors.
Better Life is all set to launch their range of
Siemens dishwashers which consumes only 10
litres of water, while most models use up to 18
litres.
"You are cutting your usage of water by half and
saving electricity," says Priyadarshi. "If you
are washing by hand, you use an average of 40
litres per wash."
Samsung Electronics this month revealed two new
phones, the W510 and F268 at the World IT Show
in Seoul.
Made from environmentally friendly products,
some of these products feature alarms that
encourage users to unplug their chargers when
devices are fully charged – a result of the
company's effort to develop more renewable and
eco-friendly materials, says Sandeep Saighal,
the general manager of hand held phones at
Samsung.
The official adds that customers are
increasingly assessing products based on their
environmental friendliness.
"We are trying not only to launch more
environmentally-conscious products with more
renewable material that are less energy
consuming, but also to expand proactively by
setting up a phone recycling system," he says.
BenQ recently launched their new line of "green"
monitors. "The new LCD monitor models have a
unique 2-lamp design feature that has several
benefits over conventional 4-lamp displays by
saving substantial energy and drastically
reducing carbon dioxide and mercury emissions by
25 to and 50 per cent," says a spokesman.
Better Life's Priyadarshi says customers can
stake their green claims by insisting on
products with energy efficiency ratings (see
graphic). "Most of our appliances are
standardised European products, which come
energy rated so customers can make their own
judgements," she says.
"But when we say energy efficient, we do not
compromise on products or performance. These
products are not only highly efficient; they are
very good when it comes to performance. And they
help to contribute something to society."
Jacky's Electronics' Ashish Panjabi agrees.
According to him, the absence of stringent
energy laws in the UAE should not deter
customers asking for energy-efficient products.
"Although it is not mandatory in the UAE, the
Energy Star certification is something you can
look out for when purchasing as many products
here carry the certification," he says. "Energy
Star is a standard implemented in the United
States and in order for a product to obtain an
Energy Star status, it must meet certain
requirements with regards to power consumption,
emissions, etc. A lot of the IT vendors are
already adopting Energy Stars on their products
such as Samsung for their LCD monitors and Sony
for their Vaio range of laptops."
"In the refrigerator category, most products
today are now CFC-Free which means they are more
Ozone friendly. You can expect to find CFC-Free
refrigerators from brands such as Sharp,
Toshiba, LG, Panasonic, Hitachi, Venus, Indesit,
Bosch, Siemens and Ariston."
"For washing machines and dishwashers, it is
wise to ask if a product has a "AAA" rating as
this means it consumes less power and water.
Brands which have "AAA" products include Hoover,
LG, Bosch, Siemens, Indesit and Smeg."
Better Life's Priyadarshi says her chain is
constantly in talks with suppliers about
changing consumer demand trends in
energy-efficient products. "Our manufacturers
are quite aware. We are partnering with them and
making sure that the product that we bring in
are highly efficient and that it is our
responsibility to create awareness."
