Acer inaugurated six new Acer malls across Mumbai. The new malls have been opened in partnership with some leading names like Silicon Valley, Suresh Computers, Smile Compuware, Pooja Trades, Infoworld and Sainath Associates. Like all Acer Malls across the country, these outlets will showcase the entire range of Acer desktops, notebooks and consumer peripherals, which will include the Aspire series of consumer PCs, the TravelMate notebook series and projectors. 
The new Acer Malls are located in Lokhandwala Complex, Lamington Road, Mulund (W), Powai, Vashi and Kharghar. These stores are the first exclusive brand stores of Acer in Mumbai and is part of the initiative to increase the number of Acer retail outlets to over 250 by end of 2005.

WS Mukund, MD, Acer India, said, "We are looking forward to a very positive response to the opening of our new Acer Malls in Mumbai. We hope to move ahead in the notebook market by year-end through our vigorous expansion plans. One of our challenges is to reach out to our customers across the country, which we do through our retail partners, who have become the backbone of Acer."

"Retail is the way forward for the PC industry. Our retail business has been growing at over 50% quarter-on-quarter, with each of the product categories, which we address through retail, contributing to the growth. Our foray into the Mumbai market has been to ensure that our customers have a comprehensive knowledge of our product range, convenient access to our products and the experience of 'touch and feel'. In an environment where the customer has multiple choices of brands, retailing becomes a key medium to reach out to them," said S Rajendran, GM-Sales & Marketing, Consumer Product Group, Acer India.

According to a retail and consumer study done by Pricewaterhouse Coopers in 2004, India is among the six countries recommended for investment in the retail sector. The study assesses growth opportunities in 14 countries in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Russia.

Acer has Acer Malls and Acer Points across the country and is on a major expansion drive. Acer's retail stores fall into two categories. The first is a full shop or 'Acer Mall', which will comprise of Acer products and non-competing products. In the second category, known as 'Acer Points', only a section of the store will display Acer products. Presently there are over 50 Acer Malls and 135 Acer Points across the country.

The support provided by Acer for its retail partners, covers virtually all-important areas from a retail perspective. Acer provides branding and visual merchandising for the stores in the form of standees, banners and signages. It also takes full responsibility for training of the sales staff at the outlet via its comprehensive Acer Certified Sales Professional (ACSP) program.

DQC NEWS BUREAU
MUMBAI

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