‘Retail of the Future’: The impact on the Middle East
Elias Hayek
Management, Strategy and Innovation Consultant | Business Instructor | Transformational Change and Retail Expert
‘Retail of the Future’ seems to be troubling for a lot of retailers in the Middle East.
After speaking with many executives at well-established retailers in the region, I came to realize that ‘uncertainty’ about the future of retail is keeping them on their toes.
On the other hand, if we look at international retailers and e-tailers and at the different ways in which they have tackled the changing trends in retailing in the past few years, we notice that in many cases innovation has been a common denominator in keeping these businesses sustainable in the new age. For this reason, retailers in the Middle East cannot afford ‘not to innovate’ because they risk losing grounds in the future of retailing to regional and even global players who will come in to the Middle Eastern market well-equipped and ready to fill in the gaps. Barriers to entry are becoming cheaper every day with online shopping and free delivery across borders. For instance, customers flocking in cross-border shopping between the US and Canada on holidays was a huge concern for local retailers in the past few years in North America. We could witness something similar happening in Middle Eastern markets as well.
It is no secret that connected-consumers of today are shaping the future of retail. And despite the uncertainty associated with this change, many global retailers are being increasingly innovative not only to better serve the connected-consumer today but also to win his loyalty for the future. On the other hand, their counterparts in the Middle East are still slow in reacting to the upcoming changes in the retail landscape, and the main focus is put on creating transactions rather than experiences.
Unless serious efforts are made towards creating memorable experiences through a systematic approach to innovation, many powerful retailers in the Middle East will find themselves in a very tough situation in the coming years.
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