The “bold and the beautiful” of the UAE retail environment
The Duality of UAE Retail: Hedonic Shopping Malls vs. Online Retail
This paper, titled “The Bold and the Beautiful” of the UAE Retail Environment, examines the influence of shopping malls on the retail sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — a country known for its culture of hedonic consumption.
The study combines personal observations and a review of media reports to analyze the dual nature of retail investments in the UAE, contrasting physical shopping spaces (bricks-and-mortar) with the rise of e-commerce (clicks).
Early findings in the study suggest that online retail (e-tailing) may struggle to replicate the immersive, experience-driven elements found in UAE malls. These malls, exemplified by the Dubai Mall, feature attractions like aquariums, cinemas, zoos, and even on-site hotels, which reinforce a consumption pattern heavily centered around entertainment and indulgence.
Two key challenges emerge from this research. First is the question of how retailers can convert these experiential elements into substantial profits. Second, the paper highlights the need to reconcile the competing investments in e-commerce and physical retail spaces, both requiring significant financial resources.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/05/travel/dubai-mall-largest-shopping-expansion-hnk-intl-spc/index.html
Opened in 2008, Dubai Mall has 1,200 shops and a retail floor area of over 5.4 million square feet. It also has luxury brands aplenty, including Burberry, Dior, Prada and Gucci, as well as its own dedicated gold souk. There’s also a multiplex cinema, restaurants and Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo.
As one of the few academic analyses of the UAE’s retail sector, and perhaps the first to explore it through the lens of hedonism versus utilitarianism, this paper adds valuable insights to the discussion on the future of retail in this unique market.
Findings
Initial observations of developments in the UAE shopping landscape provide compelling evidence to suggest that online shopping (etailing) is unlikely to match the hedonic consumption patterns such as major bricks‐and‐mortar investments in shopping malls (the Dubai Mall is not only equipped with an aquarium, a cinema, and a zoo, but also has an on‐site hotel).
Practical implications
The findings highlight two key challenges that would require further investigation. First amongst these is how to transform the identified entertainment aspects epitomised by the hedonic attributes of UAE shopping malls into generating “real profits” for retailers. Second is to establish how to reconcile the conflicting etailing investments in the country with the fast paced bricks‐and‐mortar developments — both running into millions of dollars.
Overall, this paper is one of the very few on the retail sector in the UAE and perhaps the first that examines this sector in the light of hedonism versus utilitarianism.
Citation
Madichie, N.O. and Blythe, J. (2011), “The “bold and the beautiful” of the UAE retail environment”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 29 №6, pp. 593–601. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634501111166102
Publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Copyright © 2024 Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining, artificial intelligence training and similar technologies.
Originally published at https://www.emerald.com.
