Dubai's summer shopping festival is to be cut in half this year in a bid to rejuvenate the country's more than Dh41 billion retail industry.
As part of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment's (DEPE) new remit to provide year-round attractions, Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) will be reduced from 10 to five weeks next month and July.
DEPE aims to make shorter promotions throughout the year, rather than two long blocks of discounted sales during DSS and the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).
"We are going to package the whole summer in Dubai this year and try to promote that," said Laila Suhail, the chief executive of the DEPE.
"This is one of the ways we are rejuvenating the brands because we realise that the city is rapidly changing and we need to change the DSS and DSF brands with it."
Ms Suhail said the start of summer was a strong period for many retailers, as shoppers splashed out in the run-up to the August holiday season. She said electronics and clothing retailers were the biggest beneficiaries.
The UAE's non-grocery retail sector was worth Dh41.7bn (US$11.35bn) last year, after a 5 per cent rise from 2009, according to Euromonitor. Shopping centre operators are looking at ways to attract more customers to their entertainment offerings in the hot and humid summer months, when people spend more time indoors.
"In many respects, it is not a surprise decision to reduce DSS because this year it is sandwiched between Ramadan and the school holidays," said Richard Adams, an analyst at Verdict, part of Datamonitor.
The DEPE aims to provide a further boost to retailers' revenues through last week's launch of Dubai Calendar, a website providing information on current festivals, entertainment, sports events and exhibitions in the emirate.
In partnership with the Dubai Shopping Malls Group, DEPE will replace the second half of DSS with promotions for Ramadan and the Eid celebration.
"Ramadan will come alive through retailers in the malls and through decoration," Ms Suhail said. "We are promoting the Ramadan spirit, and we have some major events happening that will be highlighted through the dubaicalendar.ae."
The DEPE will also run specific promotions to take advantage of the peaks in jewellery shopping throughout the year.
"Gold and jewellery gets active during April and May for Indian weddings and October for local weddings, so we are looking at doing something for that," Ms Suhail said.
Analysts say the benefit to retail sales in the DSF is not clear, so the response to shortening the festival is likely to be mixed.
Mr Adams said he received mixed messages from retailers about the DSS, with some indicating sales were slow in the summers before the festival began in 1998.
But other retailers say the increase in their sales is now minimal, while many see it as a good time to shift old stock.
"It does have a beneficial effect," Mr Adams said. "But it's not the effect retailers are demanding … they want to make it a better opportunity through pushing entertainment."
