UAE, Saudi consumers cut back on shopping trips

The global economic turmoil has forced consumers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to readjust purchasing habits, new data has revealed.

According to Datamonitor's latest Recession and Recovery figures, 41 percent of UAE and 45 percent of Saudi consumers were actively making an attempt to limit the number of shopping trips made.

The research also revealed that 54 percent of UAE consumers said they now take packed lunches to work rather than visit restaurants, cafes and local shops in an effort to save money.

And 45 percent of UAE women said they have started to use home treatments such as hair dyes and waxing kits rather than spend money visiting salons.

Datamonitor consumer retail analyst Richard Adams said: “The prosaic shopping list has re-emerged with 55 percent of UAE and 62 percent of Saudi consumers now using a shopping list regularly.

According to Adams, own-label products have gained traction and as of August, 12 percent of UAE and 17 percent of Saudi shoppers indicated that they purchase own-label products all the time.

"Consumers, looking for the best deal, have become more precocious, and willing to switch between brands, in-store," he added.

He said long-term patterns of consumer behaviour have been disrupted and new behaviours are emerging which are likely to be sustained even as economies recover.

"While the gulf between consumer expectations and behaviours is often very great, it is infeasible for the retail industry to return to its pre-recession status quo when recovery occurs," Adams added.

As Datamonitor noted in a report in February, not only is consumer behaviour changing, but the best retailers are changing as well by driving down costs, becoming more efficient and placing more emphasis on meeting customer needs.

Datamonitor’s study of 35 leading UAE and Saudi brands also showed that consumers are much more likely to flit between brands in-store – even when they have a tightly defined shopping mission.

The range of shopping destinations consumers consider visiting to make a purchase has also widened, the research said.

"The days of customer loyalty to a single main store are long gone," Adams said.

According to Datamonitor Recession and Recovery data, only about 20 percent of UAE and 18 percent of Saudi consumers made no attempt to shop around for best prices in August before making a purchase decision while only one in three consumers who enter a UAE or Saudi store actually made a purchase.

"Retailers and brand managers need to re-invent corporate strategy to reflect re-defined trend frameworks and changed patterns of consumer behaviour," added Adams.

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