UAE’s online portals offer Eid discounts
MALLS ACROSS EMIRATES ARE OPEN, BUT ADHERING TO STRICT 30% LIMIT
Business Editor
The UAE’s online shopping portals can look to land a decisive win during the upcoming Eid promotions with discounts of 20-40 per cent across categories and one-off special prices, and with more eye-catching offers to follow.
It’s already happening on tech gadgets where 30-40 per cent savings are quite common, and will start to show up more prominently on fashion and accessories in the hope shoppers will once again start spending in these categories. The Eid sales will show whether fashion and apparel retailers can clear most of their stock, which has been piling up.
Newest collections
Some portals also had success in getting brands to launch their latest collections directly through them rather than go brick-and-mortar first.
This year, online portals will have it all to themselves — shops and malls still cannot host any sales promotions, in line with federal guidelines on commercial activity during the time of Covid-19. Some retailers were hopeful sales would markdowns on tech gadgets typically offered during Eid be allowed immediately after Ramadan but, to date, the restrictions are still there.
So, for now, all those shoppers wanting to buy and at a discount, are heading online.
“There are spikes in online shopping even in categories that were primarily store-based,” said Vijay Samyani, Managing Director at Concept Brands Group. “It is challenging to pull customers into brick-and-mortar stores, especially for fashion retailers, as they are spending less on this category unless there are promotions.
“Online portals have the field all to themselves. If any retailer is carrying stocks he wants to dispose of, online is the best way forward.”
Malls in the country have reopened for business, but strictly adhering to the 30 per cent limit on visitor traffic at any given time between 12pm to 10pm. Individual outlets too maintain the same percentage cut-off.