Experts at a panel discussion entitled "Evolution or extinction" organized by the Retail Summit Foundation in cooperation with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Meydan One stressed the importance of making changes in the mechanisms of trade in line with the requirements of the future. It will enhance competitiveness, improve the performance of the retail sector and enable companies to achieve greater gains and take advantage of opportunities for online expansion and communication technologies to gain a larger segment of consumers.
The meeting is part of preparations to host Dubai's second edition of the 2020 Retail Summit under the slogan 'Consumer patterns and accelerated connectivity', which will be held in March.
Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The global retail sector is witnessing a fundamental transformation related to the developments brought by technology output, noting increasing global trends towards taking advantage of the adoption of AI and IoT solutions. 2020 aims to explore the most important opportunities and contribute to enable the sector to keep pace with these global changes and enhance their competitiveness on the map of the retail sector locally, regionally and globally.
`` The retail sector is a major contributor to Dubai's economy, accounting for more than 26% of GDP in 2018. With Expo approaching, Dubai stands out as a premier retail hub, and the emirate will play a key role in highlighting and examining key trends that contribute In defining the future features of retail. "
Gary Thatcher, CEO and co-founder of the Retail Summit, said: “Businesses must pay attention to the importance of leveraging the expansion prospects of e-commerce, as it allows them to reach wider segments of consumers through the adoption of marketing systems. "This trend is one of the most important features of the retail sector for the future globally."
“The study of the promising opportunities in the local and regional markets shows 99% Internet penetration in the UAE, which means that more than 9 million people use the Internet daily. 93% of them use the Internet for an average of 8 hours a day, providing a great opportunity for Digital retailers are well versed in taking advantage of these behavioral patterns of consumers and their interactions online.
Fahad Kazim, vice president of Meedan Mall, said: “The accelerating trends towards enhanced technology patterns in retail are capable of making changes and improving the performance of businesses. They should take advantage of these opportunities and seek to enhance the consumer experience and reach it in more different ways. In line with its requirements, he pointed out that technology solutions contribute significantly to enhance the competitive position of enterprises and attract consumers to them.
“Businesses must seek innovative and innovative practices in marketing and product identification mechanisms according to the nature of the target consumer, and build flexible models that are applicable across countries, taking into account different cultures,” said Mark Tesseman, CEO of Liwa Trading. And attractions associated with different consumer diversification "
Nowadays, 45% of our business is done online, said Yippy Stanford-Christiansen, CEO of Novo Cinemas. We have a broad spectrum of target consumers, and we seek to align supply with their requirements and behavior patterns that technology outputs allow us to identify more accurately. ”
The Retail Summit is an annual gathering of local and international retail industry experts to review outstanding brands and learn about the latest market trends. The second edition of the Summit will be held in 2020 under the theme “Consumer patterns and accelerated communication”.