Dubai Shopping Malls Group: Energizing Dubai's retail sector

As the Dubai government had identified shopping as one of the engines of growth for the Emirate, the formation of DSMG was a significant step towards the achievement of this objective.

"Dubai's malls were a scattered voice and the biggest achievement of DSMG has been to unify the city's retail industry on a single platform," says Eisa Adam Ibrahim, President of DSMG. "In addition, as a key sponsor of DSS, DSMG has been able to transform Dubai's summers from a lean business period to one which now adds significant revenues to the coffers of its members," he adds. To give a comparative evaluation - in the first year of DSS, the total number of DSS visitors was 600,000, and total spending was Dhs 850 million. In 2005, the DSS clocked up overall sales of Dhs 1.72 billion and recorded 1.51 million visitors.

Saeed Al Nabouda, DSS CEO, lauds DSMG's efforts of putting up one of the biggest promotions to drive retail sales. "The DSMG's DSS campaigns have been growing over the years," he says. "This year, the body and its members are hosting one of its biggest shopping extravaganzas, with one shopper winning Dh 50,000 daily across the 72 days of the promotion and the total value of prizes reaching Dh 5 million."

The mechanics of the promotion are simple - any shopper spending Dhs. 200 at any of the participating malls enters a daily raffle with a prize of Dh 50,000. The grand prize, to be drawn at the end of the promotion, is a 2 bedroom apartment at Lakeside Residence, courtesy Al Manal Development.

Looking forward

"While we at DSMG are satisfied with our past efforts, we do not intend to rest on our laurels," says Eisa. "We are looking at various ways to infuse new vigour in the organisation and make it ready to face up to the challenges of the future." With Dubai's retail space expected to double in the next four years, the challenges are considerable.

The Dubai government and its various bodies - Dubai Economic Department, DSF office, DTCM and others - are in the process of putting together a comprehensive document of data and statistics from which will emerge recommendations and policies that will drive Dubai's growth as a global tourist destination over the next 10-15 years. "New policies and initiatives will be unveiled in Q1 of 2007, which will not just re-address the role of DSMG but will also re-engineer the whole process of growth," says Al Nabouda.