UAE retailer Brands for Less is looking to launch homegrown brands, the company’s deputy CEO and COO Ayman Beydoun said at The Retail Summit in Dubai.
The event is taking place at The Atlantis, The Palm, until March 15.
The company has more than 3,000 brands across 11 categories in its stores, and is “looking to add homegrown brands”, Mr Beydoun said.
Brands from the Mena region can adapt to the UAE market easily and more efficiently, as compared to brands from the Asian or Western markets, he added.
Homegrown brands are also spearheading technological innovation in retail, which one of the main reasons that big players are wishing to launch local brands.
Raffaella Campagnoli, chief strategy officer at Majid Al Futtaim Retail said that the company is also expanding its private label range.
“We are expanding our private brand range by sourcing more from local and regional suppliers.”
Carrefour will also be seeking to source local produce, she said.
Ms Campagnoli and Mr Beydoun also said that e-commerce is aiding them to add homegrown brands to their portfolio.
“Consumer behaviour has changed since the pandemic. What a customer buys, and how he pays for the product has changed as well,” Mr Beydoun said, adding that buy-now-pay-later options are growing in the region.
Adding BNPL options will be an essential aspect of increasing sales for the Brands For Less Group.
“Covid has taught retailers to focus on the local customers and to retain the existing consumer base. It also taught us to engage with the customer on a personalised level,” Mr Beydoun said.
E-commerce has also helped Majid Al Futtaim.
The company is one of the largest omnichannel retailers in the region, and “Covid has helped grow our online business further”, Ms Campagnoli said, speaking on how online sales grew during the pandemic.
Having an online presence is also helping MAF’s brick-and-mortar stores to grow as well, with 18.5 million people entering Majid Al Futtaim’s physical stores across the UAE last year, said Ms Campagnoli.
“E-commerce brings value to consumers, apart from adding to our total revenue.”
Brands for Less will also expand within the GCC while also considering markets such as Egypt.
It will continue to add more brands to its portfolio, and cater to consumers who want “luxury items at a lesser price”.
It will also continue to grow its online marketplace.
“15 per cent of our business is through e-commerce and we expect it to expand in the future,” Mr Beydoun said.
He said the current economic slowdown will not be as bad as the Covid pandemic, adding that the region is resilient and is least affected by the global market.
Majid Al Futtaim will be taking a “wait and see approach”, Ms Campagnoli said with regard to international expansion.
The pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation, and a global economic slowdown have all contributed to a reduction in growth for retailers.
The company will focus on existing markets in the GCC for expansion, Ms Campagnoli said.
