Retail

India/UAE Trade: $115 billion Bet

There are only few pockets of growth available post-Covid. India and UAE can count themselves among these pockets. Both countries have hitherto restricted their trade and investments to normal levels. However, in recent meetings the trade ministers of both countries have set up ambitious targets to take this engagement to next level. For example, the total trade (meaning exports +Imports) dropped by 30% in 2020 due to Covid and is now placed at $42 billion. The aim is to take...

GCC retail sector in the post-covid world: Bound for a “K” shaped recovery

The pandemic has changed the lives of billions of global citizens. Businesses have been forced to adopt new ways of functioning. The post pandemic world is expected to be never like before and experts have christened it as the “new-normal”. The GCC retail sector is no exemption to this. Being one of the region’s important sector for the economy, the retail sector has witnessed one of its worst performance in 2020. GCC retail sector, unlike in other regions, is not...

Islamic Retail Asset Management

This article was first published in Islamic Finance News dated the 22nd December 2020 We live in times where consumers are increasingly aware of their choices and demand that values and purpose are embedded into products that they consume. In financial context, today’s generation seem less driven by the narrow definition of investing to generate returns and consider social and environmental impact of the companies they invest in to be an important part of investment decision-making. Millennials view their investments...

COVID-19 derails traditional Kuwait retailers

Kuwait’s retail sector is small in absolute terms when compared to regional peers like the UAE or Saudi Arabia. However, Kuwait has one of the highest concentrations of international retailers in the GCC, with luxury segment proving to be a major draw. The value of Kuwait’s retail market was KD 3.5bn or 9.1% of non-oil GDP, as of February 2018 (Oxford Business Group). Consumer preference towards international brands and better retail shopping experiences were exhibiting an upward trend until COVID-19...

Kuwait Retail Sector Positioned for Significant Growth

Kuwait’s retail sector is small in absolute terms when compared to regional peers like the UAE or Saudi Arabia. However, Kuwait has one of the highest concentrations of international retailers in the GCC, with luxury segment proving to be a major draw. The value of Kuwait’s retail market was KD 3.5bn or 9.1% of non-oil GDP, as of February 2018 (Oxford Business Group). These figures are expected to grow even further as consumers have shown an increased preference for international...

Automation in SMEs

Rise in automation is changing the ways of doing business. Similar to the digital and technological revolution, big business houses have been the first to adopt automation across their activities in the form of driverless cars, robot assistants, and delivery drones etc. For example, the Dubai Metro is already driverless, and the UAE is pioneering the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy aiming to make 25 per cent of all trips autonomous by 2030. With progress in automation, the costs of sensors...

تبني التكنولوجيا في المتاجر التقليدية بالأسواق الخليجية: 6 أفكار

Euromonitor International projects that the retail sales across Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE will increase by more than USD 24 billion over the next five years. The UAE retail industry currently (worth USD 55 billion) will lead the trend reaching to USD 63.8 billion by 2023, at an estimated growth rate of 16%. Non-store modes of retailing such as online shopping, direct selling, social media and home shopping is estimated to grow by 78 percent from 2018 to 2023....

قطاع الأغذية والمشروبات في دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة – ما هي نقاط الألم به؟

The total outlets in UAE for food services were 16,000+ in 2015 which is expect to expand by 17.4% annually to reach 19,000+ by 2020 (KPMG report). The market size for food and beverage (F&B) in UAE was measured at USD 14.27Bn and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 9% to reach USD 22.32Bn by 2020. While an affluent population with more mouths to feed is a positive indicator for the economy and for the F&B...

Sectors with high E-commerce potential

Sectors with high E-commerce potential People in Dubai and Saudi Arabia love to shop in malls. Dubai has two shopping festivals in a year and the number of malls in GCC is growing, as more companies prefer brick and mortar stores. In the GCC, e-commerce is still at its nascent stage. According to BQ Doha, while 90% of global e-commerce sales come from Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe; while GCC accounts for a mere 2% of total retail sales....