Luxury Eyewear in the United Arab Emirates

PROSPECTS

Luxury eyewear slightly recovers after taking a hit

The outlook of eyewear in the UAE remains muted despite the increase in myopia and the fact that the ubiquitous sun is conducive to eyewear sales. There are still several major challenges: first of all, the population is very young and tends to be transitionary, ie the majority of the population are millennials and expats.

The gateway to luxury

In a similar fashion to brand name fragrances, sunglasses have become the gateway to luxury at high but affordable prices, especially for millennials or generation Z. There are opportunities for luxury brands to reach out to new consumer segments, who are fashion-conscious but cannot afford bags, footwear or clothing from these brands.

Consumers are highly brand conscious

With limited regional players manufacturing sunglasses, the market in the UAE is dominated by international players as well as international brands. Furthermore, the UAE is a highly brand conscious when it comes to sunglasses and brand names such as Chanel, Dior and Gucci are coveted, especially by aspirational luxury consumers who want to purchase a luxury product.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

E-commerce is growing; but optical shops dominant

Distribution is dominated by optical shops in the UAE but there is a strong challenge by e-commerce. For example, sites like souq.

International brands dominate

Consumers of contact lens in the UAE are primarily concerned about quality and as such, well-known established international brands have deep roots in the market, such as Johnson & Johnson Inc, Novartis AG and The Cooper Cos Inc. There are no local manufacturers in this category and the closest regional brand is the Kuwait-based Bella Contact Lenses; known for offering coloured contacts to Arab consumers.

Increasing competition leads to competitive promotions

The last several years in the UAE has seen unprecedented and steep discounts. This has been particularly relevant among optical shops which hold special promotions almost year-round.

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