Competition between stores and electronic platforms ahead of Ramadan is at the highest level in years

With the approaching month of Ramadan, competition has increased at remarkable rates between e-commerce platforms and traditional retail outlets, whether through discount campaigns or offering additional offers to attract consumers.

Retail markets witnessed the offering of discounts on the occasion of the month of Ramadan, ranging from 10 to 70% in stores and electronic platforms, while the platforms were not limited to offering food goods, but rather expanded in offering discounts that included clothing, electronic devices, furnishings and furniture, in addition to granting installment offers on all purchases, and additional discounts when using various credit cards.

On the other hand, retail stores, in addition to Ramadan sales, offered cash back offers on purchases, additional loyalty points, and draws for prizes and purchase vouchers.

At a time when consumers confirmed to “Emirates Today” that the increase in competitiveness during the month of Ramadan added additional advantages for shoppers, with the diversity and difference of offers, and privileges between e-commerce platforms and stores, retail trade specialists considered that the current Ramadan season is the most competitive in years, for reasons related to the increase in purchasing power, with the increase in the population, and the growing number of new retail trade entities in the markets, and traditional stores resorting to developing their platforms to keep up with the competition.

In detail, consumer Hossam Ibrahim said: “The increase in competition between stores and e-commerce platforms before the month of Ramadan contributed to providing additional offers for the benefit of consumers, allowing them to choose between different means of shopping, and to benefit from these offered privileges.”

In turn, consumer Ahmed Youssef said, “The discount offers for the current month of Ramadan are the highest compared to Ramadan last year, which supports more alternatives for consuming families, especially with the different offers and privileges offered on electronic platforms, compared to those available in traditional stores.”

In the same context, consumer Ali Hamdan said that he “noticed an increase and diversity in the Ramadan offers offered, whether on e-commerce platforms or traditional sales outlets, which is considered one of the positive aspects that enable shoppers to be able to buy from stores and benefit from their offers, while purchasing part of their supplies from the platforms, according to the best offers on both sides.”

In addition, the director of business development at one of the e-commerce platforms, Ribal Olbeck, said, “The month of Ramadan is an exceptional season for shopping, which raises the manifestations of competitiveness between electronic platforms and traditional sales outlets that have appeared remarkably during the current period, given that the current Ramadan season is the most competitive compared to previous years, with the rise in purchasing power supported by the large increase in the population.”

He added: “The increase in competitiveness at greater rates came with the growth in the number of retail trade entities in the local markets, whether from stores or electronic platforms during the recent period, which doubled the offers to increase market shares, especially with the development of many traditional stores of their electronic platform systems, to keep pace with greater rates of competitiveness.”

For his part, Director of Marketing and Public Relations Department at Sharjah Cooperative, Faisal Khalid Al Nabouda, said, “The competitiveness of the retail markets has increased at a significant rate during the recent period, which has increased the intensity of sales campaigns and additional qualitative offers in the markets, especially since the month of Ramadan is considered an exceptional season for consumer demand.”

He added, “In addition to the discounts, Tawuniya offered prize draw offers for consumers, allowing shoppers to win about 65 prizes, including 30 shopping vouchers and five cars, in addition to other prizes.”

In the same context, the CEO of the retail sector at Adcoop, Bertrand Lemay, said, “Offers for discounts were offered on the occasion of the month of Ramadan through traditional sales outlets, and were also made available through electronic channels, as discounts were offered on more than 1,500 basic commodities, in addition to cashback offers for consumers worth 50 dirhams, when shopping worth 250 dirhams.”

For his part, the CEO of Union Coop, Mohammed Al Hashemi, said, “The cooperative has launched offers for discounts in its sales outlets before Ramadan until the end of the month, and has made the offers available via online shopping, which gives consuming families more shopping options,” pointing out that “offers for various prizes have been offered to consumers with the discount campaigns.”

Ramadan..the month with the highest rates of purchases

Retail trade expert, Ibrahim Al-Bahr, said, “The current Ramadan season is considered the most competitive compared to previous seasons, which has made electronic platforms and stores not only offer expanded discount offers, but also resort to additional offers to increase consumer attraction and raise sales quotas.”

He added: “The development of traditional stores’ activities and discounts through their electronic platforms has contributed to increasing competitiveness with famous trade platforms,” noting that the increase in population and the rise in purchasing power has made the entities present in the markets, whether platforms or stores, tend to increase their market shares, especially since the month of Ramadan witnesses a significant growth in consumer demand, achieves large returns for retail trade establishments, and is considered the highest month throughout the year in purchase rates.