Client Situation
Our client is a leading UAE group of companies with diversified business interests in five operating divisions: aviation, financial services, construction and trading, facility management and HR consultancy. As a part of its expansion strategy, it was exploring the fashion and accessories retail market and the foodservice retail market in the region. Therefore, its management was keen to undertake a detailed market assessment of fashion and foodservice retailing sector in the UAE and develop an entry strategy.
Cedar’s Approach
The client mandated Cedar to assess the fashion and foodservice retailing markets in the UAE to evaluate the market potential and develop the market entry and way forward strategies. Cedar’s approach was as follows:
- Review of all relevant internal documents, including all previous research performed by the client
- One-on-one interviews with appropriate members across the client’s teams to allow articulation of their perspectives
- External market research using Cedar’s database and secondary data sources
- 29 Primary interviews conducted across 23 organizations in fashion, food and beverages, and the commercial real estate industries
- Integration and analysis of the internal assessment, external research and interview inputs
- Strategy formulation & presentation to key management
Outcome
Some of the key outcomes of this program were as follows:
- Determination of key categories and brands represented; networks and stores; key store metrics such as revenue, capital expenditure, margin per store and geographies covered
- Market entry prioritization evaluation across categories like size, growth competitive intensity, barriers to entry, net margins and investment per outlet revealed that both fashion and food service were attractive markets, but the client should prioritize entry with the foodservice brand
- Identification of 6 critical success factors in fashion retail and 5 in foodservice
- Development of:
- A 5-year strategy, beginning with market entry in both the fashion and food markets with one brand and one outlet each, and ending with five outlets (no change in brand) in each market
- A detailed marketing mix using the 4-Ps approach for both fashion and food service
- A shortlist of 19 fashion brands identified for potential participation/partnership in select categories
- A shortlist of 13 casual dining brands identified for franchising opportunities out of 110 global casual dining restaurant brands
- An outlet expansion and location strategy with the first outlets to be opened at prime locations in Dubai to maximize target audience reach
- Organization structure for food and fashion strategic business units
- An implementation plan was formulated, identifying key activities to be undertaken over the next six months