Latest / The Retail Podcast / Inside Saudi Retail in 2025: 5 Trends Shaping the Kingdom w/ Ghadi Ali

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Inside Saudi Retail in 2025: 5 Trends Shaping the Kingdom w/ Ghadi Ali · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome back to another edition of Five things
• 0:03
  Friday Stroke, the retail podcast.
• 0:07
  I'm fortunate enough to be joined by Fadi from Riyadh in
• 0:11
  Saudi Arabia. We as part of our global mission
• 0:15
  on bringing the best of retail to you, the, the retail
• 0:20
  enthusiast across the world, I thought, what better way to look
• 0:25
  at what's going on in the, in the, in the region by talking to
• 0:29
  someone in the region rather than having opinions or
• 0:32
  perspectives. So Vadi, thank you so much for
• 0:36
  coming to the show. I know you, you're quite active
• 0:39
  in the retail community right in, in, in Riyadh and in the, in
• 0:43
  the, in the region. OK, so actually I'm a fashion a
• 0:48
  retail consultant with over 10 years of experience in the
• 0:51
  retail industry. So I work with consultancy firm
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  and retail across GCC region and beyond.
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  Basically I help them adopt, grow and understand the local
• 1:01
  market. You know Alex, the thrive and
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  today rapidly changing environment also spent Yeah.
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  And since 2023, I had the owner of being part of Saudi retail
• 1:12
  firm as a jury member. So to be honest, Alex, this has
• 1:16
  been far beyond what I ever expected.
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  It becomes for me a mission and a passion.
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  I always say that my mission beyond expectation, so this is
• 1:26
  basically what I'm trying to do. Oh, it's fantastic.
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  I mean, I've seen you all over LinkedIn, so you're obviously
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  doing something really well. So why don't we just dive
• 1:35
  straight in? Tell me.
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  I mean, for those of us who don't know the Kingdom, who
• 1:39
  don't know Riyadh, who don't know the cultural differences,
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  just give us an overview, if you like, of what's happening in in
• 1:46
  the, in the retail industry within the region.
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  I believe that Saudi Arabia now is a dynamic and unique market
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  when you talk about young digitally and undergoing rapid
• 1:58
  transformation, especially in the light of Vision 2013.
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  So I believe that also Saudi Arabia has a strong marketplace,
• 2:07
  an amazing opportunity for all brand and businesses to to
• 2:12
  realise and match the commercial success.
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  Got you. And is there from how you see is
• 2:18
  there one industry that's growing faster than another
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  other you know, in terms of like fashion or grocery or what, what
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  sort of the the major growth industry within the region?
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  Actually, it's more about e-commerce and digital things,
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  you know, with Generation Z and all that stuff.
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  I think today you and I will embark, will embark many things
• 2:41
  together. We'll talk more about the five
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  trend shipping, the retail sector also.
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  Sure. OK.
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  Yeah. And I think it's a, it's a great
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  segue. Why don't, why don't you tell me
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  the five things that you see from your opinion that are
• 2:53
  shaping the industry? OK, So I'll start with the Omnia
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  channel because you know Alex, nowadays especially after 2020,
• 3:04
  we all can notice that customer behaviour changing so fast,
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  Yanni, it's like an overnight changes.
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  So customer now start to expect more from the brand.
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  They expect more in terms of quality, delivery price and even
• 3:19
  customer support. So we also notice a high
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  competition between retail and e-commerce.
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  So I believe that today being present online or offline is no
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  longer enough. So I always say that offline or
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  online, at the end of the day, it's a win, win, win
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  competition. So customer now with more
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  seamless experience like across everything, website, physical
• 3:47
  store, even in delivery. So I want to share with you also
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  one example that stands out to me as a pharmacist.
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  So some of them really kneeled at Mashala.
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  They created this super smooth integrated shopping experience.
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  Like you can walk into the pharmacy or just order from the
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  app and it get a delivery like within an hour.
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  I believe that the whole, yeah, the whole experience feel more
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  connected. Let me think what do you think
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  about also Omnia channel? Obviously from my perspective, I
• 4:21
  imagine in the United them the maturity of Omni channel is
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  quite mature because lots of retailers understand that they
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  have to have multiple channels and what they've been focused on
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  is getting the the back end. You know, they're like their
• 4:36
  business is structured in a way that they can compete more
• 4:41
  effectively across all channels. In fact that there is only one
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  channel, right And that's where the customers, but that that's
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  in for example, in the UK or the US where the markets are very
• 4:52
  mature, but in different areas within Europe and within
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  Southeast Asia, we see that there's a different approach to
• 5:01
  Omni channel. Everyone wants to be Omni.
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  Obviously all retailers understand the importance of it.
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  It's just it's not that easy when you're not built to be
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  multiple channel because maybe you've only come from physical
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  stores and now you're becoming digital.
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  Yeah, absolutely. I believe that it's not just
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  about being present everywhere, it's about being fast,
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  personalised Danny, across all those touch point.
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  Yeah, yeah, indeed, indeed. OK, so that's the first one.
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  What's the second one? Also, I want to talk about
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  customer experience, which is something I'm really passionate
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  about it. So yeah, you know what's
• 5:44
  interesting, Alex, about customer experience.
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  We are not just seeing a shift in how people shop, but also
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  why, why, why, why they choose certain brand.
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  I believe that it's no longer just about how offering the
• 5:59
  biggest discount. I we moved from the price wars,
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  experience wars, especially now with the Generation Z here in
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  Saudi Arabia. Yeah.
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  What they're really they're looking for is that personalised
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  experience. So, yeah.
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  So I want to ask you, when was the last time you walked into
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  the store and you feel you felt like the different, I mean in
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  terms of experience? I think the honest answer to
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  that is in the in New York when I walked into a kids bookstore
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  or a kids toy shop. There's a couple of great
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  examples in in the US where the way that retailers position
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  themselves for selling to children, I really enjoyed.
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  So that was from New York, from the UK when I went to Gym Shark
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  in Oxford St sorry in Regent Street.
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  That was really, really impressive.
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  How they've blended experience where you can have a gym session
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  you you can have a class or go and do some weights and the
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  showers and and changing rooms in a retail store.
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  I thought that was super awesome.
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  And then in Shanghai, I loved watching Boy sang.
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  I think there, I don't know how to pronounce it properly, but
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  basically they sell luxury sportswear and they had an
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  internal ski slope. They had an internal freezer
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  where you can put, you know, a jacket for the Antarctic, walk
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  into the freezer and see how warm it is.
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  So super, super cool from experiential.
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  So that I think they would be probably my top three or four.
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  How about for you? Absolutely.
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  That's kind of, yeah, that's kind of experience.
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  It's not just about there, not just about selling a product,
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  it's about creating a journey. 100 percent, 100%.
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  How about for you? Is there, is there anything,
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  Luke, that you've seen that is is is like that for you?
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  Yeah, lots of, lots of lots of great experience.
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  Actually, OK, tell, tell, tell me.
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  Explain it for me. Yeah, especially during Ramadan
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  season. So I remember last Ramadan when
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  I went to the shopping mall, I saw like this kind of one in one
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  store. They tried to present like local
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  food inside the store. You know, that's something
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  that's something I I yeah. It's unforgettable experience
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  because I never imagined like shopping and find food like in
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  store and clothing stores. So it's something for me, it's
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  Yanni. It's the real thing, yeah.
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  Oh, I see what you mean. You OK?
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  Because obviously I presume it was night time.
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  So you you could you were you were allowed to eat at that
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  time, right. Yeah.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. After after mother appears.
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  Yes, interesting. So going into like a fashion
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  store and seeing that they've got I presume it's like dates or
• 8:55
  things like that local, local, local produce.
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  Yeah, that they're yeah, that's really cool.
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  OK, that's, that's an interesting one.
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  It's. To Break to help you break your
• 9:05
  fast during your shopping. So customer experience was #2
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  what's #3 for you, OK. I think that we talk about a
• 9:13
  trial and a customer experience. Let's shift the gear of Betiani
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  to something really important to data and AI, seriously changing
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  the game and now in retail industry.
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  So I believe that behind the scenes retailers here in Saudi
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  Arabia are going all on data analytics and AI.
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  They try to using and adopt this technology to understand more
• 9:40
  consumer behaviour and try to manage inventory.
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  So they try to adopt technology to personalise the customer
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  experience. So I want to ask you another
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  question if you allow me. OK.
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  How do you feel really about the personalising recommendation?
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  It's helpful or kind creepy. I, I no, not at all.
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  I think they don't have enough when you opt into personalised.
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  So if you opt into a loyalty programme, the expectation is
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  that the retailer, you're giving permission for them to know
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  something about you. And so I don't think they go far
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  enough. I think people want more,
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  deeper, wider relationships when they have opted in only when
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  they've said yes. Obviously if they've said no,
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  then they want to be left alone and you know, they want their
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  privacy respected. But when they've chosen to
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  engage and they say yes, please, you know, you know, personalise
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  my experience with you, then I don't think, especially for the
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  new generation, I don't think it's it's creepy or icky.
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  That's what I expect. And I know that's what Gen Z and
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  Gen Alpha expect as well. When, when they're when they're
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  sort of interacting with retailers or, you know, on
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  whether they're on a shopping website, on an e-commerce
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  website or in store. Yeah.
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  Yeah, absolutely. I believe that when and then
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  when it when it's done right, it saves like time and feel super
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  relevant back in 2021. And I mentioned also in one of
• 11:16
  my speech that investing in innovation would be the key to
• 11:21
  driving the economy in the years ahead.
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  Looking looking at me where we are now Alex that could be more
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  true any today that is not just like and I seem to have its
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  engine behind smart decision and the innovation especially when
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  we talk about retail industry. Yeah, no, I, I totally agree.
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  I think, I think retailers challenge is finding the skilled
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  staff, understanding the systems that they need to put in place
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  and building the processes to enable their business.
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  So I think it's I, it's, it's difficult.
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  And so I have a lot of empathy, yeah, for retailers who are
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  trying to do that or leaders, because I don't think it's easy.
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  I want to mention also something really important from my any
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  From my experience, we cannot force like people for example
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  above 7070 to use technology. I believe that retailers need to
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  find another convenient solution for all age group.
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  Now focus just engine a Generation Z, but we also need
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  to focus more in all the people. At the end of the day, we invest
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  in technology just to enhance the customer experience, not
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  replacing human connection. Yeah, that's, that's a really
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  important one. It does feel that some of the
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  customers are being left behind and yeah, well, it probably is
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  the I don't Yeah, the older generation or the less, less
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  digital native people who are not used to being online.
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  And just a few weeks ago, yeah, just a few weeks ago.
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  OK, just two weeks ago, I had a meeting with one of my clients
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  and we discuss, you know, all about the ARVR things,
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  technology. He asked me very simple
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  question, lady, how can we provide customer experience
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  without using technology? So actually my answer was very
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  simple, just focus. You have to focus in three
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  pillars, first communication, second transparency, third
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  three, try to create easy return policy.
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  That's all. How about your advice?
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  How we can how come brand like provide customer experience
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  without using technology or far away from using technology?
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  Yeah, you want me to tell you? OK, this is and so in my mind
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  where, where brands get it wrong is when they forget what their
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  customer mission is. So for example, like the all of
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  the stores that I, I mentioned, they imagine you're a fashion
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  retailer and you, you sell clothes.
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  OK, now those clothes for specific, maybe some of someone
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  wants something to wear to their office, maybe someone wants
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  something to wear to dinner. And So what what retailers need
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  to do is to zoom out and think of the customer journey in the
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  aspect of what the customer's coming in for, What's the
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  shopping mission and those shopping missions.
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  Sometimes you come in and maybe you're, you're greeted with
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  something that has nothing to do with the mission that you're on.
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  And so therefore you as a customer become really
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  frustrated. And so the balance is
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  understanding if if you're buying food for dinner, maybe
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  the experience is having four or five items put together as an
• 15:06
  idea for a Friday night evening meal with your family or so
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  people. Unfortunately, the customer
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  journey depending on who you talk to within the retail,
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  whether it's merchandising, whether it's marketing, whether
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  it's technology, operations, they all have a different view
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  on it. And when you think of where it
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  works well, which is online e-commerce, Amazon, that's
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  because only one person owns that customer journey.
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  And that's what I think retailers need to do a little
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  bit more of, especially, I mean, in the UK as a classic example
• 15:43
  where the idea is if you're coming into a sports shop, I
• 15:48
  just need to give you product. And yeah, that that was true.
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  But when you look at what Jim Shark is doing is like, well,
• 15:58
  don't just come and buy from me, come and spend time with me.
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  And so that's, that's again, what I see a lot in Shanghai in
• 16:07
  China, where retailers. Yeah, it is.
• 16:11
  It is absolutely. Maybe we should.
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  We should. This is.
• 16:16
  I'm curious. Let's let's move on because I'm
• 16:18
  conscious of time #4 yeah. I want to also talk about
• 16:24
  sustainability because now you're seeing more especially
• 16:29
  among your generation among younger customer in Saudi
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  Arabia. I mean, it's a shift towards
• 16:36
  sustainability and ethical retail.
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  So and I think that's becoming more common now even in
• 16:42
  supermarket here in Saudi Arabia, we'll see more eco
• 16:45
  friendly option like for example, reusable bags, simply
• 16:51
  because this generation expect that and really care about
• 16:55
  sustainability. And if you ask me as an expert,
• 16:59
  I believe this is not just a trend, it's a mindset.
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  The younger generation is really driving that shift, if you agree
• 17:07
  with me. So they're choosing a brand
• 17:11
  basically, they reflect their values, especially when it comes
• 17:14
  to environment, sustainability and all these things.
• 17:18
  So it's no longer just about the product itself.
• 17:21
  Sustainability is a really tough one, but I think price and
• 17:24
  affordability is is a, is a big thing.
• 17:28
  And what we've seen here is that when people have to make a
• 17:32
  choice over over price or sustainability, they're choosing
• 17:38
  price. It influences people.
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  So yes, they are influenced, but ultimately they are choosing
• 17:47
  price as a majority. Now, obviously there is a
• 17:50
  minority that will say, OK, maybe I pay more for something,
• 17:57
  but by paying more, I end up with something that's, I don't
• 18:00
  know, unique. It lasts longer, it's got better
• 18:03
  materials, it's better for the planet.
• 18:06
  But I don't think we're there yet because companies like
• 18:09
  Sheen, Timu and fast fashion retailers are just, you know,
• 18:16
  churning out product. And so I think, I think it's one
• 18:20
  like in, again, the difference between for me when I'm Shanghai
• 18:24
  to Manhattan, when you go around Shanghai, if the retailer is B
• 18:31
  Corp certified, which is basically a certification of
• 18:34
  sustainability plus ethics and other elements, you don't hardly
• 18:39
  see that in New York when you walk around the stores.
• 18:42
  So there is a real big mind shift or cultural difference in
• 18:47
  people's approach to sustainability.
• 18:49
  Yeah, so, OK, that was #4 tell me #5.
• 18:53
  OK. I want to talk also about most
• 18:56
  exciting thing happening in Saudi retail now.
• 19:01
  So yeah, it's like this kind of collab between local identity
• 19:06
  meets global standard and I And I want to also share a quick
• 19:12
  note about localisation last year during my participation.
• 19:17
  And so the research firm, they had like opportunity to moderate
• 19:20
  a session focused on how tradition meets tomorrow.
• 19:24
  So basically the discussion was incredibly engaging and really
• 19:29
  insightful and it's really highlighted how localization is
• 19:34
  relevant and important to our marketplace.
• 19:38
  So in a person, a lot if you ask me, I would say like
• 19:42
  localization is something I'm truly passionate about it.
• 19:46
  And I believe that local insight is everything.
• 19:50
  You have to understand the people you are speaking to.
• 19:53
  You have to understand demographic diversity.
• 19:55
  You have to also understand your target customer habits, value,
• 20:00
  even their expectation. So in a market like Saudi
• 20:04
  Arabia, that balance now is more important than ever.
• 20:08
  Customer here are smart, connected and proud of their
• 20:12
  identity. And also customer, I think
• 20:16
  everywhere, everything, any around the globe are aware of
• 20:19
  their power and influence. I love it.
• 20:22
  I think listen, it's, I think that's a beautiful way to end
• 20:26
  the podcast because I think that's such a, a nice way to
• 20:31
  reflect on, on the market and the, the community, if you like,
• 20:35
  and then the retail industry within the region.
• 20:39
  So Gaudi, thank you. Sorry, I pronounce it properly.
• 20:42
  Gaudi, thank you so much for giving up your time to be with
• 20:45
  us. I, I love being interviewed
• 20:49
  that, that was very cool. Thank you very.
• 20:51
  Much. Yeah, Yeah.
• 20:55
  I love it. Thank you for giving me the
• 20:56
  opportunity. It's a conversation.
• 21:01
  It's a it's a conversation. My pleasure.
• 21:03
  And hopefully maybe actually, if you've got anything, any
• 21:06
  recommendations of where I should go in Riyadh, I would
• 21:11
  welcome anything because obviously I'm there next week.
• 21:14
  So please feel free to say oh you must drop by but blah blah
• 21:18
  blah place I would I would recommend any recommendations.
• 21:22
  OK, I'll send it to you. No worries.
• 21:24
  Thank you, have a lovely day. Thank you, Alex.
• 21:27
  Bye.