UAE's retail industry set for exponential growth

New developments put country at the epicentre of retail revolution, says leading retail expert

Dubai, UAE, September 27, 2014: New mall announcements and Dubai’s successful Expo 2020 bid have placed the UAEat the epicentre of a global retail revolution.
In the run-up to Expo 2020, the next few years will prove to be “critical” as regional retailers and mall owners investheavily innew technologies and trained manpower to maintain profitability, according to a leading expert on international retail trends.

Prakash Menon, Executive Director of Thought Leaders Middle East and one of the foremost authorities on global retail and supply chainpatterns, has said that huge changes in the Middle East’s retail environment were imperative due to major changes in the customer’s buying habits and behaviour as well as the competition between retailers to adopt innovative strategies while targeting customers.

Speaking in Dubai this week, Menon said: “Dubai’s Expo 2020 win has in fact speeded up the pace of retail development in the region, which already has a sizeable retail sector. We are already seeing an increasing number of regional retailers in the rush to improve their retail infrastructure well before Expo 2020 isheld here.”
“At the same time, the world has changed and so have retail environments. No longer can retailers afford to ignore the changing patterns of buying behaviour in favour of traditional marketing. Factors such as the boom in construction of new malls, growth of the younger population, increase in purchasing power, entry of major international retailers and strong GDP growth are encouraging regional retailers to think differently,” he added.

Supported by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, The Future Retail Summit 2014highlighted theMiddle East's retail success and global attractiveness, by providing a platform for the top echelon of the Middle East’s retail worldto come together and discuss current and future market trends, and how they can be capitalized on.

According to the 2013 “How Global is the Business of Retail” Report by market research specialists CBRE, Dubai currently ranks only second to London as the city with the highest percentage of international retailers. The rank is based on a survey of 323 major international fashion retailers, ofwhich 53.8%(174 retailers) said that they currently have outlets in Dubai.
In its June 2014 report, A.T. Kearney pointed out that the Middle East continued to show strength as a dynamic retail market with fivecountries – UAE, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Oman and Jordan – rankedamong the top 25in the 2014 A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index™ (GRDI). This year, the UAE claimedthe fourth position, with retail sales growing 5 percent in 2013 and boosting annual sales to touch $66 billion.

Prakash Menon added that the retail industry was therefore experiencing phenomenal growth over the past five years than it has been over the past 100 years. One of the newest strategies was to deploy omni-channel retailing initiatives that involve in-store, online and mobile shopping activities.

“It is an undeniable fact that consumers are evolving faster than the brands. They have become more demanding and tech-savvy, with access to real-time information. The challenge for retailers will be how to deploy such innovative strategies to remain competitive in the digital marketplace to attract their target audiences,” he added.
By creating omni-channel platforms, retailers can provide customers with options to research, interact and purchase at their own convenience, while leveraging digital media to attract new customers into the store, build relationships and strengthen brand loyalty.