United Arab Emirates

The excise taxes on carbonated drinks (excluding sparkling water) and energy drinks, are impacting the food and drink category. In October 2017, the UAE began taxing soft drinks, energy drinks and tobacco as an effort to curb over consumption. A tax ...

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Leapfrogging is when an individual bypasses the use of an inferior technology and moves to a more advanced one. For many people from the older generation in the UAE, or from the working-class expat community, mobile is their first embrace of ...

The content is targeted at middle-aged Emirati nationals and is in Arabic language with a focus on stay-at-home wives, many of whom would prefer to stay indoors and not go out to shop and may not be as inclined to search the internet for what they ...

Landmark Group has 15 discounter stores called Viva in the UAE, up from four outlets in 2018. There is one more set to open in 2020 bringing the total to 16 locations. Prior to 2018, the UAE did not have any discounters. Viva is a no-frills grocery ...

A growing trend in the UAE is the “smart home”; millennials especially love home automation devices that are available in electronics and appliance specialists. There are many Alexa-type products that are from China as well which compete with the ...

Given that the majority of the UAE’s modern retailing landscape is made up of modern retailers, consumers are less interested in traditional grocery retailers, which are struggling, with sales declining. Furthermore, traditional retailers do not have...

Touch and feel is an important component of making high-value purchases. The vast majority of consumers in the UAE prefer to make big-ticket purchases such as electronic and appliances in person, hence the in-store experience still supersedes the ...

Warehouse clubs are not present in the UAE. Warehouse clubs is not expected to be an emerging category over the forecast period....

In 2019, consumers could download an app called I.AM+ that acts as a voice assistant when they are shopping across Majid Al Futtaim’s grocery outlets: Carrefour Hypermarkets and Carrefour Supermarkets. The app is a pioneering technology in the Middle...

While the UAE is traditionally characterised by highly brand-conscious consumers, changing purchase patterns and availability of smart products at variety stores have increasingly benefited variety stores in the country. With greater intention to ...

Leaders in hypermarkets are creating buzz by bringing cutting-edge technology to their brick-and-mortar stores. The best example of this is Carrefour’s Tally, a 14kg robot with a height of 163cm, which scans items on the shelves and alerts managers ...

While debit card and credit card penetration is very high in the UAE, cash on delivery is the preferred method of payment. However, card payments are on the rise with respect to e-commerce. When you give consumers in the UAE a choice to either pay ...

Among UAE residents, there is an ever-increasing value placed on retailers who provide convenience and certainly convenience stores capitalise on this. Given this, grab-and-go products from convenience stores, despite having a higher mark-up than in ...

Department stores in the UAE have traditionally been the primary sales channel for luxury products but are now being challenged by the rise of e-commerce sites such as Farfetch. The company strives to appeal to the younger generation by sponsoring ...

As the UAE plans to welcome an estimated 25 million visitors for Expo 2020 over the forecast period, the demand for vending machines will grow. It is expected that the variety of vending machines will also increase to appeal to a wide range of tastes...

There is a shift in the market in that the beauty industry in the UAE used to be very much about “quick fixes” and covering up imperfections and now it is more about beauty as health and prevention of flaws. This new mindset of skin care as health is...

The new Zara flagship store that opened in Dubai Mall in September 2019 is a major innovator with respect to non-grocery retail concepts. In addition to being bigger and more modern than the previous version, the store features a traditional cash ...

There is some confusion about the legal status of working full-time as a direct seller in the UAE, with its strict employment laws. Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) views direct selling as a part-time activity and sellers are not ...

The economy will pick up steam in 2020. Dubai Expo, which will run from October 2020 to April 2021, is expected to attract 25 million visitors, 70% from outside the UAE. However, oil prices are not expected to recover this year, and it is anticipated...