Gulf retailers urged to change focus

Dubai: Gulf retailers experiencing double digit growth could still be losing market share unless they adopt a more consumer-oriented business approach, says the regional head of analysts The Nielsen Company.

Companies boasting growth rates of 10-15 per cent have a tendency to focus on the success of their product and fail to spot new trends in consumer behaviour," said Piyush Mathur, regional managing director, Nielsen Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

He identified current and future trends as growing demand for online shopping, the spread of hypermarket shopping in Saudi Arabia and impulse buying for durable goods such as DVD players.

Warning

If companies fail to adapt to new behaviour, they could miss out on potential growth rates in the region's booming retail market and lose market share to more consumer-oriented competitors, he warned.

"If you want to keep up with market growth, or exceed it, you need to be focused on the consumer. It's very easy to sit back and say you're growing at 15 per cent and exceeding the management targets. But if the market is growing at 20 per cent, then you're losing share."

"A lot of organisations are very inside-out, rather than outside in, especially in booming economies. They have a product and tell the consumer to take it or leave it, without catering specifically to what they want."