Retailers in Qatar, who have successfully weathered the Covid-19 pandemic, are now committed to a blended, omnichannel distribution strategy, which according to Oxford Business Group involves boosting and expanding their digital offerings while at the same time maintaining a brick-and-mortar footprint.
The pandemic gave rise to a massive increase in online shopping, to the extent that many observers predicted that brick-and-mortar stores would be phased out, OBG said in its ‘Growth and recovery outlook’.
“However, instead of closing physical branches, many retailers – which may have lacked the capacity, motivation or know-how to scale up their digital platforms – have partnered with major e-sales platforms and delivery companies,” OBG noted.
“The future of traditional players in retail will be in omnichannel in terms of their reach,” Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, told OBG. “While there was certainly an increase in e-commerce for groceries during the pandemic, numbers are now returning to the pre-pandemic average. In part, this is because consumers still value the ‘touch and feel’ experience of brick-and-mortar stores, even while some have maintained a preference for e-commerce."
A recent report by international consultancy KPMG notes that stores now need to be adept in areas such as online fulfilment, data analytics and process automation.
Another consequence of the pandemic is that retailers are increasingly seeking to differentiate themselves through their value addition, OBG noted.
“Whether this is by way of a brand’s aim to promote corporate social responsibility, for example, or the ease and experiential richness of the on- and offline shopping experience, retailers are needing to do more than simply provide goods and services.”
The retail panorama in Qatar is notable for its preponderance of malls: Super-regional malls take up 52% of total gross leasable area in the country.
This has heightened the need to drive a return to offline shopping.
“In the GCC, malls are a central cultural and social component of the community,” Emile Sarkis, general manager, Mall of Qatar, told OBG.
“As a result, there is a strong case for shaping the retail environment so that offline and online channels coexist in a mutually reinforcing way.”
Prior to the pandemic, there was already a move towards introducing new food and beverage concepts and entertainment options, to draw more footfall to malls.
In line with the broader drive to enrich the offline shopping experience, this tendency is set to expand going forwards.
“Malls can only differentiate themselves through entertainment. At the end of the day, the brands and shops found in the malls in any given market are very similar; a diverse shopping experience and entertainment offering, particularly one catering to both kids and adults, must therefore be a fundamental pillar of the strategy,” Sarkis told OBG.
The pandemic gave rise to a massive increase in online shopping, to the extent that many observers predicted that brick-and-mortar stores would be phased out, OBG said in its ‘Growth and recovery outlook’.
“However, instead of closing physical branches, many retailers – which may have lacked the capacity, motivation or know-how to scale up their digital platforms – have partnered with major e-sales platforms and delivery companies,” OBG noted.
“The future of traditional players in retail will be in omnichannel in terms of their reach,” Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group International, told OBG. “While there was certainly an increase in e-commerce for groceries during the pandemic, numbers are now returning to the pre-pandemic average. In part, this is because consumers still value the ‘touch and feel’ experience of brick-and-mortar stores, even while some have maintained a preference for e-commerce."
A recent report by international consultancy KPMG notes that stores now need to be adept in areas such as online fulfilment, data analytics and process automation.
Another consequence of the pandemic is that retailers are increasingly seeking to differentiate themselves through their value addition, OBG noted.
“Whether this is by way of a brand’s aim to promote corporate social responsibility, for example, or the ease and experiential richness of the on- and offline shopping experience, retailers are needing to do more than simply provide goods and services.”
The retail panorama in Qatar is notable for its preponderance of malls: Super-regional malls take up 52% of total gross leasable area in the country.
This has heightened the need to drive a return to offline shopping.
“In the GCC, malls are a central cultural and social component of the community,” Emile Sarkis, general manager, Mall of Qatar, told OBG.
“As a result, there is a strong case for shaping the retail environment so that offline and online channels coexist in a mutually reinforcing way.”
Prior to the pandemic, there was already a move towards introducing new food and beverage concepts and entertainment options, to draw more footfall to malls.
In line with the broader drive to enrich the offline shopping experience, this tendency is set to expand going forwards.
“Malls can only differentiate themselves through entertainment. At the end of the day, the brands and shops found in the malls in any given market are very similar; a diverse shopping experience and entertainment offering, particularly one catering to both kids and adults, must therefore be a fundamental pillar of the strategy,” Sarkis told OBG.
