Update KSA English Mar 24 2024

Vol 1 Issue 13

عربي SUNDAY, MARCH 24

DIGITAL PAYMENTS BRINGS BACK CUSTOMER TO THE SHOP

More than 70% of retailers and brands have revealed that when they started accepting digital payments in their stores, it helped them pull in more footfalls.

A new survey conducted by Visa has revealed merchants’ attitudes toward digital payments and the impact of digital commerce on companies and small businesses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 87% of the merchants participating in the survey who accept digital payments indicated that cards and digital wallets used via mobile phones are considered an essential matter that has contributed to the significant growth of their business.
The survey explored the opinions of two groups of merchants in Saudi Arabia, split between merchants who have used digital payments for between 1-4 years, and retail merchants who deal exclusively with cash payments. According to the study, digital and cash payments represent 99% of payments between small retail stores that deal with both methods, but digital payments constitute the largest portion.

SHOPPING CENTRE ECONOMY IS EVOLVING

Piggybaking on the evolving customer sentiments the government in KSA is putting the right plans of progress to action. This helps push the growth story forward.

The Kingdom is experiencing developments in two-fold, on one part it’s the government initiatives and the giga projects and on the other is the private companies. However, there is no way to think of these giga projects or the government initiatives as a threat, but it is necessary to look at these as opportunities. They are the torchbearers of change, and we all need to support and strategize our growth plans in such a way that we can build a conducive ecosystem of development for every stakeholder of retail.”

Faisal Abdulrahman Alnasser

CEO, Alandulus Property

LIFESTYLE IS PUSHING SHOPPING GROWTH

Lifestyle demands is pushing the shopping centre ecosystem to grow and expand to accommodate evolving customer needs.

Lifestyle shopping malls lead the way when it comes to the future of shopping malls, across the globe. In Saudi what has grown to come under the radar is the shopping malls emerging as international hubs when it comes to entertainment, shopping, F&B and much more. But the speed at which development is happening is interesting to note and what is even heartwarming is the growth of homegrown across categories – brands that are finding their niche to evolve and grow.”

Mohamed Galal
President & CEO, TSM

“Google ran a survey to find out what people search for in entertainment and got the words ‘clothing’ and ‘concert’, and that there has been a 46% rise in queries with both clothing and concert in it. People are keen to wear new outfits as they attend events around Riyadh Season, dress up for Formula One or for Saudi National Day. Google found that 75% of those attending an event intended on purchasing an outfit for that event. Saudi National Day has been growing year-over-year leading to growth in retail queries. As cultural moments start to diversify and new cultural and celebratory moments emerge in Saudi Arabia, there is a direct retail effect.”

Basel Hijazi
Retail Marketing Lead
for Google MENAy

Costa Coffee has opened its 100th store in Saudi Arabia. To further highlight its commitment to the Saudi market, Costa Coffee has partnered with the Saudi Coffee Company to serve its Jazean filter coffee across its 100 stores.

Taking their KSA partnerships a notch above the ordinary Kitopi has unveiled a new outlet for Shobak in Riyadh Park.

Al Othaim Life has just unveiled the first Bella Maison store out of 5 this year in Othaim Mall Dammam. The company is on a journey to reopen 150 stores in 20 days.

ABANDONED CART VERB

/əˈbæn·dənd kɑːt/

This is a constant problem faced by most e-commerce brands and retailers today, when a potential customer starts a check out process for an online order but drops out of the process before completing the purchase. This leads to their order getting abandoned without any confirmation.

29 April

18 April

24-March

13-March

11-feb

29-jan

22-jan

14-jan

28-dec

13-dec

6-dec

28-nov

21-nov

15-nov

Download Images RetailME Magazine