Middle East > Retail

Retail in Middle East

  • Seasonal sales highlight e-commerce potential in Qatar

    QATAR, 2017/06/30 With online consumer activity set to spike across the MENA region during the religious festivals of Ramadan and Eid, Qatar is looking to encourage e-commerce, as part of a broader push to catalyse private sector development. Shipping initiatives At the end of May, Qatar Postal Services Company (Q-Post) slashed shipping charges by as much as 35% for customers using its “Connected” e-commerce service throughout Ramadan, in a bid to spur online retail during the annual gift-giving that marks these holidays. Launched in April of last year, Connected provides users with an “international shipping address” allowing them to shop at select world retailers that ordinarily restrict shipping to Qatar, thus easing postal wait times.

  • Dubai’s retail space expands as growth cools

    UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 2017/04/16 Last year saw Dubai’s retail space grow by 26,000 sq metres, though revenues could remain muted this year as slower economic growth and a stronger US dollar impact trading. Room to grow The growth in floorspace, the highest seen since 2010, takes the emirate’s existing retail space to 3.4m sq metres, according to real estate consultancy JLL’s “The UAE Real Estate Market Review”. This figure is set to be dwarfed by the 350,000 sq metres scheduled for release in 2017 and the 367,000 square metres listed for completion in 2018. Though retail vacancies grew by only one percentage point in the fourth quarter last year to 9%, there are concerns that this rapid expansion could lead to a glut of formal retail space in the short term.

  • Busy supply pipeline breeds competition and innovation among Qatar’s malls

    QATAR, 2017/04/15 An abundance of new supply is set to transform Qatar’s thriving retail landscape, with sustained levels of consumer confidence and high occupancy rates driving optimism part brick-and-mortar retailers. According to a Qatar real estate statement released by DTZ Research at the end of last year, following the opening of the 195,000-sq-metre Mall of Qatar on December 10, retail space in Doha totalled 838,000 sq metres distributed across 15 malls. Total retail space is set to increase to some 1.85m sq metres by the end of 2019, by which time a further nine malls are expected to have opened. With all but two of these malls set to open this year, concerns have been raised that the retail market may suffer from the dual effects of oversupply and additional straitened economic circumstances in the coming years.

  • Saudi opens retail sector to greater foreign investment

    SAUDI ARABIA, 2016/08/31 Saudi Arabia has approved rules opening its retail sector to better foreign investment , official media said on Tuesday, as part of wide-ranging economic reforms. The cabinet approved rules "for foreign companies to invest in (the) wholesale and retail trade sector with 100 % ownership," the Saudi Press Agency said. The decision is in line with the Vision 2030 plan to wean the kingdom off oil, SPA said.

  • Bahrain’s retail sector branching out

    BAHRAIN, 2015/01/10 The development of middle and lower gain housing units in outlying areas in Bahrain is not only welcome news for those looking for a home to buy, it as well signals a wave of new opportunities for retailers eyeing untapped markets in the kingdom. Appetite for retail space, from both local and international investors, has been supported by positive consumer sentiment in recent quarters, next the economy grew 5.1% in constant prices in the third quarter of this year, according to official data published at the start of December, with GDP rising 1.7% in the quarter, despite a mixed economic picture.

  • E-trade: Turkey's food company buys stake of Jordanian firm

    JORDAN, 2014/11/19 Yemeksepeti, a leading Turkish food ordering website, has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in the Jordanian site ifood.jo as daily Hurriyet online reported. The company has spread its operations to eight nations with the new acquisition. “We will continue to grow in potential markets with new acquisitions,” Yemeksepeti CEO Nevzat Aydin vowed in a written statement yesterday. The Jordanian brand becomes the fourth brand to join the company's expanding portfolio, alongside Yemeksepeti.com, foodonclick.com, and clickdelivery.gr. In total Yemeksepeti serves over 3 million registered users. ifood.jo, which launched in January 2012, is a market leader in Jordan, serving 25,000 registered users per year and an average of 500 orders per day.

  • Over $1bn worth of Swiss watches shipped to UAE in 2013

    UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 2014/03/06 The price of Swiss watches imported into the UAE has risen 36 % in the last three years, putting the emirates in the top ten of nations for the luxury accessories, official figures showed. Cumulative 2013 figures released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry have ranked the UAE as the primary Middle Eastern country for the importation of Swiss timepieces. The total price of Swiss watches into the UAE last year was 934.1 million Swiss Francs ($1.05bn), up a staggering 36 % since 2011 and up 9 % since 2012, reflecting the strengthening position of the UAE’s luxury retail market in 2013.

  • Georgia: Bouncing Along on a Retail Bubble?

    GEORGIA, 2013/09/05 Georgians love to shop, and high-end retailers are paying attention. But economic data indicates that consumers’ expensive tastes could be leading a lot of shoppers into a deficit trap. Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, is experiencing a quiet from presently on steady transformation in retailing. Traditionally, city residents have exhibited strong loyalties to their respective neighborhoods, and have tended to make their purchases in local, family-run shops. Of late, however, American-style shopping complexes have started appearing. And destination shopping appears to be rapidly gaining appeal part consumers.

  • Dutch retail giant SPAR to enter MidEast

    NETHERLAND, 2013/01/27 Dutch food retailer SPAR International plans to enter the Middle East, aiming to have 30 stores in the region by the end of 2015, its managing director said on Sunday. The company, which says it has over 12,000 stores worldwide, will have eight stores in Abu Dhabi, two in Qatar and one in Lebanon by the end of this year, Gordon Campbell told us;
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