![](http://middleeasttime.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Power-Letters-2023-Fahed-Ghanim-CEO-Majid-Al-Futtaim.jpg)
The 12 months 2022 was one among influence. Nevertheless it additionally got here with challenges, which moved the needle on folks’s priorities.
Web zero has a brand new urgency, healthcare priorities proceed to evolve, and clients proceed to stay skeptical of manufacturers, looking for out those who supply hybrid experiences and are purpose-driven. We have now taken this on all through 2022, whereas sustaining our deep dedication to understanding and assembly the wants of our clients.
We continued to develop our portfolio, significantly on-line – with the launch of seven new know-how platforms – expanded into new geographies and even entered new classes for the primary time. This fixed redesign of buyer journeys improves interactions throughout a number of touchpoints as we give attention to omnichannel progress.
Protecting clients on the coronary heart of what we do means we can’t ignore the anxieties attributable to financial inflation, which has brought on buyers to reassess their spending priorities. Right here, we have began to see the shift from the “expertise” economic system to the “second” economic system—clients selecting smaller moments together with smaller purchases.
Regardless of the decline in actual spending, some classes, similar to cosmetics, are seeing double-digit progress globally.
This tells us that there are nonetheless alternatives to make daring strikes and intentionally wager on long-term progress. And so I did simply that; Majid Al Futtaim Life-style has moved into the wonder and skincare class by its newest partnership with iconic magnificence chief Shiseido.
We additionally capitalized on the chance to take our accomplice manufacturers throughout borders by introducing CB2 to Saudi Arabia and increasing lululemon throughout the area and on-line.
We anticipate athleisure to generate large progress because it firmly establishes itself as a core style class, pushed by rising wellness tendencies. In reality, after lululemon’s regional growth, we have seen a powerful 63% year-to-date progress.
Retail is element, not rocket science. We should stay opportunistic and versatile, responding to tendencies as they come up.
On the one hand, e-commerce continues to blow up; rising within the UAE by 34% between January and September 2022 and accounting for 11% of whole retail gross sales. In response, we’ve quickly accelerated our digital presence, doubling our on-line income in 2022 alone – with forecasts to double once more in 2023. Alternatively, we’re witnessing a rising urge for food for in-person purchasing – an ongoing pandemic after impact.
As such, we’ve constructed on our bricks and mortar proposition and opened 15 new shops in 2022. We’re conscious that the continued relevance of ‘brick and mortar’ retailers will depend upon our potential to ship to a buyer.
expertise that seamlessly blends bodily and digital with minimal friction.
Our home model, THAT Idea Retailer, is a good instance of this: designed as a retail vacation spot that provides further experiences past looking or shopping for, clients may also use the good instore.
mirrors to digitally request objects within the becoming room, guide a hair appointment by way of the cell app, search the newly launched on-line platform and extra.
What’s fascinating is to see how all our contact factors interconnect. Cell gadgets have come to be seen as an extension of brick-and-mortar shops, as clients use their telephones to seek for product data, learn critiques, and talk with buddies about purchases. There’s an elevated demand for transparency and engagement with retailers, which has led us to ascertain our social interactions.
As we glance to the 12 months forward, we are going to undoubtedly see “moments” grow to be the foreign money of buyer expertise. Majid Al Futtaim will stay targeted on rising its omnichannel proposition inside its enterprise.