Copycat culprits

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Holbrook identified online shopping and one-stop shops for lingerie as Long Tail niches in the UAE market.

Regional businesses must halt the slide towards copy-and-paste concepts and profit from niche stores, experts warn.

As more and more formats are imported into the region, local entrepreneurs and traders are increasingly tempted to say, "I can copy that," warns Rob Davie, an independent retail consultant in the UAE, with more than 30 years of expertise in the business of design and merchandising.

"In reality, I don't think there is any easy way to create a new concept. Competition is getting harder. Creating a new, innovative concept is difficult, as the mall operators are reluctant to give you space. They want credible brands, so they can charge the rents."

To dodge taking the mimicry route, retailers and entrepreneurs need to research the market by examining the niches they can exploit. How can we take something like lingerie and create our own opportunity over here, rather than import a new brand?

How can we take a gift card shop concept and create something over here rather than import a brand from elsewhere? By identifying commercial opportunity and developing a retail strategy, Davie suggests.

"Generate a unique name; find one that encapsulates the essence of what you want to do and define the product offer. Identify the product groups you want to sell and get samples out," he suggests.

The greatest challenges holding back in-store success in the Middle East market are staff motivation and training, and "getting the quality of service to work for us. Take your staff through the concept and what your dream is, differentiate the quality of service in your stores so that when customers come in they will see it's really different as the staff know what they're selling and why."

Retailers should create a retail concept before they conceive how the shop is going to feel when consumers walk into it. What kind of displays do you want? Will it have screens and sound? Does it have windows and an open front? What kind of fixtures?

Brand positioning is key to victory in this market and retailers must define their vision, mission, personality and values, according to Steven Holbrook, the head of business development for Nakheel's Retail Corp UAE.

"You have to the best in your brand area to be successful. Today's retailers need to become marketing powerhouses to build strong identities and compete with other retailers. Consumers buy your brand values, not just your products, such as the environmentally sound and Fairtrade products from The Body Shop."

"Create local brand leadership. The best in my opinion are Paris Gallery and The One. Brands doing well in the local market all have big box formats, and to achieve differentiation from the competition retailers have to look outside of the box, " he says.

Holbrook urges companies to move away from mass market and shift their efforts towards the niche sector, in a bid to capture the growth of Long Tail retailing.

"If another mid-market apparel brand didn't open in the UAE for two years, the consumers wouldn't care." He reveals that as customers want quality produce and are willing to pay more for it, "Balducci's is coming to this region."

The US-based chain of gourmet supermarket powerhouses offers a market-style concept, stocking hand-selected products from prime cut meats, fresh fish and restaurant-quality prepared foods to imported cheeses and meats roasted and smoked in the Old World tradition. The company currently operates 10 stores in Maryland, DC, Virginia, New York, and Connecticut.

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