UAE Black Friday sale: 50-80% off for shoppers, but will Qatar’s FIFA World Cup be a distraction?

As the World Cup heats up in the evening, discounts and offers must grab shoppers’ attention immediately, retailer sources said. Because once the audience is hooked on the game, it’s not easy to divert their attention.

In addition, categories such as TVs, smartphones and tablets have seen shoppers start buying new products or major upgrades, starting with the summer and seeing peak demand again during this month’s 11.11 sale.

“Popular Black Friday categories such as fashion, accessories and appliances may experience a lag between when people want to buy and when they actually buy,” one retailer said. Fashion items are 20-30% off, while fragrances — the season’s other favorites — are down an average of 30%.

As is now commonplace, e-commerce channels and brick-and-mortar operators hope to convince shoppers to start taking advantage of BNPL (buy now pay later) backed offers with 0% interest rates.

“We are working with our local partners to add more BNPL options to our platform to increase conversion rates and purchase value for Noon sellers and businesses in all the markets we serve (UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt),” said Digital Strategy and Noon Grow, whose Yellow Friday runs until November 27.

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Consumer spending in the region has not been affected as the overall economy remains resilient. Purchases at existing retailers increased 34% from July to October. This is likely to become more pronounced as customers continue to shift more of their purchases away from interest-bearing credit transactions and towards consumer-friendly payment methods.

– Tabby spokesperson of BNPL platform

So far, there’s not much sign that shoppers in the UAE are postponing their spending on discretionary items, brought on by all the rate hikes this year and continuing into next, according to the Fed.

Throughout the next month, UAE residents have not slowed down in planning their New Year holidays. Auto dealers talk of another strong month as more options for the 2023 model year arrive. If someone asked restaurant businesses what their forecast was, their collective answer would be “a record December.”

Still, online shoppers will be looking to improve their chances with zero delivery costs in keeping with the times. As for online retailers, mixed opinions will be heard.

Noon’s Neha said free shipping will “depend on each retailer’s strategy for the season”. “This has been our craziest November yet and we’re working hard to give our customers the best bargains and shopping experience possible through our platform,” she added.

Beyond the zero shipping aspect, we are also focused on introducing new features to our platform that will make shopping easier and attract customers to noon.com.

– Neha Choudhary, Noon Digital Strategy and Growth

Sandeep Ganediwalla, regional partner at Reducer Consulting, disagrees. “We don’t think shipping costs will come down during this period because it’s often an acquisition tool. Players use loyalty programs to offer these kinds of discounts, rather than free shipping to everyone.

“Discounts are brand/product specific. In general, we expect discount levels for smartphones to be similar to last year. Depending on strategy – customer acquisition/inventory disposition – brands will set the discount (range).

Amazon, for example, rewards its Prime members with “save up to 70% off.” They’ll also have a day’s early access to their White Friday deals, which run until November 28th.

Listening to our customers and their concerns, we also work with a wide range of banking partners to offer more flexible payment options through 0% installment plans and instant bank discounts for even more savings.

– Stefano Martinelli, Amazon GCC Retail Director

If shoppers can be distracted from the World Cup to place orders online or shop in stores, retailers can achieve their goals this year on Black Friday.

UAE retailers are fine-tuning their omnichannel strategies for this Black Friday season, as more shoppers become accustomed to using a combination of online and offline for ordering and delivery.

“At Eros, we have a strategy of expanding our Black Friday deals both online and in our brick-and-mortar stores, which offers our customers the flexibility, comfort and assurance that they can drop into one of our many stores or online Buy at the best price,” said Mohammed Badri, Director, Eros Group.

“Given that we are in the business of selling electronics and appliances, most of our customers really want to see, touch and feel products and get first-hand information from the experts in our stores. We really see Black Friday as a huge opportunity to drive more foot traffic into our store and ensure a good sales conversion rate.”

Fragrance will be one of the hotly contested categories this Black Friday, as retailers and brands see more of these products purchased through online channels.

“We estimate that at least 10% of fragrance sales in Saudi Arabia now occur online,” said Malik Shehab, co-founder and CEO of Golden Scent. “We believe that by 2030, e-commerce penetration in fragrance sales will approach 20%.

“Given the well-known global supply chain challenges and rising raw material costs and inflation, many international brands have increased prices on certain items by 5% to 15%. Local brands, however, remain committed to remaining competitive.”