The challenging economic environment is persuading UAE retailers to focus on customer service to maintain footfall and engender loyalty, according to the head of one of the biggest regional chains.
“Five years ago it didn’t matter how you treated this customer, because there was one waiting behind her, today that is not the case,” said Simon Cooper, the head of Centrepoint, part of the Landmark Group. “We have told our managers to be on the customer’s side, so there will not be a problem with returns, and if we haven’t got the product you want, we will do everything in our power to find it.
“We are fully integrating our e-commerce platform and will launch click and collect in the UAE on May 15.”
Mr Cooper said the UAE is a tough retail environment, with all retailers struggling to maintain footfall.
“The average basket price hasn’t changed, but the amount of people buying has.”
Nautica, the US fashion brand partnered with the Apparel Group, has relaunched its flagship store in The Dubai Mall with a firm focus of conversion. It currently has five stores in the UAE and is looking to expand. However, it says footfall is down in its stores and therefore those customers who do come in need to be better catered for to increase revenues.
“Footfall is down across the UAE market,” said Patricia Canavan, the vice president of Nautica. She said while retail was suffering globally, her firm plans 30 new stores in the GCC over the next five years. “I think the experience online and offline has to be excellent, but here in the UAE the physical experience is critical to a brand’s success. While we may not expand as rapidly in bricks and mortar as we did 10 years ago, we are now spending more time making our outlets echo the desires of our customers.”
Centrepoint has 138 stores across the GCC and plans for three more in the UAE, expanding its customer-focused stores that include bells in the changing rooms to call for extra sizes and colours and mobile point-of-sale options to cut down on queuing.
Industry experts agree that good customer service has been a long time coming to the UAE.
“This is an industry trend which has been badly needed in the UAE,” said David Macadam, the chief executive of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centres. He said the rise of e-commerce meant retailers had to make the in-store experience satisfying and rewarding and incorporate technology into the bricks-and -mortar operation.
“Yes, it is an investment but it doesn’t cost, it pays. Many bricks-and-mortar outlets in western markets are finding the payback now. It is not a fight against e-commerce but adding another string of the retail experience to actively encourage in store participation.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 (PA) Group 1 | US$75,000 (Dirt) | 2,200 metres
7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas (TB) Listed | $250,000 (D) | 1,600m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic Trial (TB) Conditions | $100,000 (Turf) | 1,400m
8.15pm: Al Shindagha Sprint (TB) Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (D) | 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,000m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
