Despite a UAE e-commerce boom propelled by events such as White Friday, Black November and Cyber Monday deals, brick-and-mortar outlets do not regard online as a threat to their market share.
"While e-commerce will make inroads and transform the retail sector – and it must as part of our digital evolution – the touch-and-feel of malls will continue to be relevant," Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, chief executive of Emaar Malls, told The National.
“We have recorded year-on-year increase in visitor arrivals, with all assets under Emaar Malls welcoming 99 million visitors during the first nine months of 2018,” he said.
“We saw a sustained growth in visitor footfall at The Dubai Mall with a 4 per cent increase in the first nine months to 60 million.”
With a gross leasable area of more than 6.7 million square feet in Dubai, Emaar Malls’ physical assets also include Dubai Marina Mall, Souk Al Bahar and Gold & Diamond Park.
The Middle East e-commerce market, driven primarily by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, will grow by 16.4 per cent over the next three-and-a-half years, according to a report by BMI Research.
The consultancy firm AT Kearney said the regional market is forecast to reach $20 billion by 2020. And with e-commerce accounting for less than 3 per cent of total Middle East retail sales compared to more than 10 per cent in the US, there is significant room for growth.
Mohamed Alabbar, billionaire businessman and chairman of Emaar Properties, got the ball rolling in 2017 by unveiling the $1bn e-commerce venture Noon in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Emaar Malls retailers recorded strong sales that were reflected in occupancy levels of 93 per cent in the first nine months of this year.
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Read more:
Middle East e-commerce players cash in on mega-shopping trends
Emaar Development nine-month net profit rises 19%
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In a bid to further boost footfall, Majid Al Futtaim offered discounts up to 90 per cent at its shopping malls in Dubai last weekend, coinciding with Black Friday deals.
"During this Black Friday, we saw a huge surge in sales and we also acquired a number of new customers. Social media was the biggest driver for sales for most e-commerce companies," said Ulugbek Yuldashev, founder and chief executive of Awok.com.
“Offline companies, too, have tried with a number of aggressive offline promotions to boost their sales this year, but online shopping is fast becoming a rage in the UAE.”
Amazon-owned Souq.com ran White Friday from November 20-24 and offered customers in the Arabian Gulf and Egypt discounts of up to 70 per cent.
"The majority of customers shopping on Souq this White Friday used credit/debit cards, which is a very positive change," said Ronaldo Mouchawar, chief executive of Souq.com. "It is exciting to see the sheer number of first-time customers who used our mobile app."
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The low down
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Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona v Real Madrid, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
West Indies v India - Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Company%C2%A0profile
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
