The retail sector continues to be a booming one in Dubai accounting for 30 percent of UAE’s $71 billion total sales in 2021, or $21.3 billion, amidst a continuing e-commerce boom and the opening of new malls, the most recent of which was the Dubai Hills mall in mid-march.
This performance has been bolstered by several factors, including Dubai’s hosting of Expo 2020 over the course of six months, and the post-pandemic tourism recovery.
“The global ease in travel bans, easing of health restriction, successful national vaccination programs, and the launching of Expo 2020 Dubai October 2021 have all supported the ongoing economic recovery of the emirate and the UAE national economy at large,” said Hamad Buamim, president and CEO, Dubai Chambers speaking at the annual Retail Summit, held in Saudi Arabia mid-March.
“According to the latest available figures from Dubai tourism for 2021, the city received 7.3 million international guests. This influx of international visitors has supported the overall performance metrics of hotels and restaurants establishments,” he continued.
“Another positive indicator for the Dubai economic recovery is consistent pick of the Dubai Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) over the fourth quarter of 2021, while maintained its positive trend in the first two months of 2022,” added Buamim.
With the high number of international brands and retailers in the city, and the abundance of shopping destinations, Dubai has become a “global destination” for shopping, said Buamim.
“In order to attract consumers and differentiate in increasingly crowded markets, UAE malls are investing in becoming experiential centres,” said Buamim.
“From Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope to putting a greater emphasis on food and beverage and other entertainment offerings, the UAE’s retail sector is investing heavily in maintaining and enhancing the role of the mall in the future,” he added.
When it comes to the malls of the future, the experience is not going to be fully digital or fully bricks and mortar but a “unified-commerce,” combination of the two, explained Hosein Moghaddas, consumer and business lead, Deloitte Middle East.
“E-commerce isn’t going away. It will change shape, merge more seamlessly with other channels such as mobile-commerce, social-commerce, live-commerce and of course, much more closely with in-store ‘bricks and mortar’-commerce that we all know and love. This “unified-commerce” is here to stay and to make our lives easier by allowing us to shop in the way we want to,” said Moghaddas.
“The future of retail for the region will gravitate towards the key issues we all face today – winning the hearts and mind of Generation Z customers through the adoption of sustainability practices. By delivering business differentiation through digital transformations – such as through fun Metaverse and NFT offerings. And finally, by understanding that the huge amounts of data that customers are willing to share with retailers will allow Artificial Intelligence engines to deliver what the customer wants when the customer wants it,” he concluded.
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