Arabian Centres malls receive 15mn visitors during Ramadan

Arabian Centres – developer, owner and operator of shopping malls in Saudi Arabia – attracted 15 million visitors during Ramadan, an increase of 12% year-on-year, resulting in the company’s highest ever footfall during the holy month.

Mall of Arabia in Jeddah led the way with an impressive 26% increase in mall visitors during the period. Other popular shopping destinations in the Arabian Centres portfolio of 17 malls across 10 cities, including Aziz Mall in Jeddah and Nakheel Mall and Khurais Mall in Riyadh, also saw double-digit visitor growth during Ramadan.

“We are pleased to report Arabian Centres’ highest ever visitor figures during the holy month of Ramadan,” says Simon Wilcock, CEO of Arabian Centres. “We consider every Arabian Centres property to be a focal point for the local community. This is never more evident than during the holy month, when our customers are rushing to buy food, gifts and other necessities for their families.”

Arabian Centres attributes its record Ramadan footfall to the launch of several key initiatives that enhanced the customer shopping experience. For the first time, selected Arabian Centres malls were open for early morning shopping. The innovation was particularly successful at Aziz Mall and Mall of Arabia in Jeddah and Nakheel Mall in Riyadh where the early opening hours led to an estimated 20% increase in visitors during the Holy Month.

“Arabian Centres constantly strives to innovate in order to transform the Saudi Arabian shopping experience in line with international standards,” adds Yassir Alammar, public relations and communications manager of Arabian Centres. “Taking into consideration specific customer needs during the holy month, we extended our operating hours to include an early morning shift to enable visitors to do their shopping after finishing Suhour and morning prayers. This resulted in added convenience for our customers and increased sales and footfall for our malls.”