David Hirsch, the owner of retail venture, has opened the company’s first tech retail store at Rosebank Mall. Hirsch is a former Incredible Connection executive director and established TechMarkit last year.
TechMarkit first started as an online store but quickly evolved to the physical realm when Hirsch realised that people like to see what they are buying, especially regarding technology.
He also found that his customers prefer speaking to an actual person because of the long list of questions that they want to ask before parting with their hard-earned money.
He also understood that South Africa only has 30% PC penetration.
Hirsch said in a statement, “Our people may have mobile phones but laptops and PCs remain unattainable for most. Brand-new laptops are prohibitively expensive for most people, and yet they are essential tools for school, higher education, work and life in general. I would like to play a part in changing this, in making technology accessible to everyone.”
All TechMarkit products are graded into usage categories to help customers get technology based on their needs. For example, if your teen needs a laptop for school, you can buy a grade D because he won’t need the same functionality as a businessperson or an online gamer.
Equally important is the trade-in component of the store. This component is appealing because you can take your second-hand technology in and get a fair trade-in price for it.
TechMarkit sports its very own trade-in calculator to make sure the trade-in is a win-win for both the customer and the store. Your laptop is first diagnosed, then refurbished and finally priced – very competitively. Perfectly re-purposed for the next owner. What’s more, the technology comes with a six-month to one-year warranty – covering all the same things that manufacturers’ warranties would normally cover.
The first TechMarkit store was designed with re-purposing front of mind by stylishly refurbishing wood pallets from their warehouse to make up the counters in the store which are also embedded with old keyboards and tech components. Not only is this a smart use of what would otherwise have ended up in a landfill, but it also underpins the message they are committed to conveying.
“We are in the business of refurbishing. From our counters to our technology. We aim to teach the younger generations that you can re-purpose – it’s more cost effective and it’s not always necessary to buy new,” said Hirsch.
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