The 2006-2007 Dubai Shopping Festival has seen a record number of registrations in the first two weeks of bookings for retail trade participation. The registration, open to all interested retail outlets, will hopefully see more than 3,000 retailers take part in the biggest and the longest edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival held yet, said a DSF official.

The combined edition of DSF 2006-2007 will run from December 20, 2006 to February 2, 2007. The month of January is slated to rake in huge profits for retail outlets that can participate in six different categories.

Although participation is open till the end of the shopping festival, retailers are rushing to register their outlets to make the most of the shopping bonanza that will last a long 45 days.

'The registrations witnessed in the first week are very encouraging and we are extremely optimistic of more retailers participating by the end of this week. We have provided six categories of promotions where retailers can choose to participate in the promotion they think is best suited for shoppers,' said DSF registration officer Mohammed Al Dehail.

The DSF 2006-2007 provides a unique opportunity to shoppers by offering two shopping seasons within one festival, the Offers and Gifts Season and the Sales and Discounts season, the official added. The former begins in the month of December and runs till the end of DSF. The 'DSF Offers' category entails genuine offers imparting tangible benefits to the consumers.

The participating outlets are entitled to a maximum of four free offers, also included in this category are 'buy one get one free' offer, 'bundle of offers' and 'extra value', etc. The 'DSF Raffles' category is open only to outlets owned by key sponsors. The 'Offers category' also includes the DSF Gifts segment where gifts are given to shoppers when they shop for a certain amount or buy a particular brand or item in the store.

The Sales and Discounts Season, which opens in the beginning of January and runs till the end of the festival, is divided into three categories - DSF Sale, DSF Part Sale, and DSF Discount. The DSF Sale category entitles shoppers to buy goods at retail outlets where the entire merchandise will be marked down by 25 per cent of prices prevailing just before the shopping festival. Retailers will have to provide documentation of proof of prices before DSF 2006-2007 for each item to facilitate checking by inspectors.

Interested parties are invited to submit completed application forms with relevant fees at the Department of Economic Development between 4pm to 8pm from Sundays to Thursdays and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays between November 20, 2006 till January 20, 2007.

The 45 days of family fun, entertainment and shopping frenzy will offer retrospective glimpses of the 10 previous editions combining the best of the best and promises to be even bigger and better.