MEA UAE Business Awards 2017

MEAMARKETS / UAE BUSINESS AWARDS 2017 75 , The Chalhoub Group is the leading partner for luxury across theMiddle East. Leading Expert in Luxury Goods 2017 - UAE As an expert in retail, distribution and marketing services based in Dubai, the Chalhoub Group has become a major player in the beauty, fashion and gift sectors regionally. The Group’s success revolves around its client focused approach and dedication to excellence. “As a Group and since its inception, we have put the consumer at the heart of everything we do. Our aim is to understand this customer and offer him the width and depth of the offer, the best in class services, a unique experience, and an unparalleled expertise. We are in a very competitive environment and we need to be agile and quick to remain in the game. “Additionally, we invest a lot in building our knowledge, in training our teams and in creating innovative concepts. We have also created a dedicated department “Consumer and Innovation Strategies” which aims to study the consumer, understand his needs, and offer him the best in experience and services.” With a growing workforce of more than 12,000 people, implemented in 14 countries, as well as operating over 650 retail stores, the group’s success is attributed to its most valued asset: highly skilled and dedicated teams,. “For us, people are at the heart of our business. If we are here today it is thanks to our passionate and dedicated team members. As a Group, our goal is to grow people through learning and development providing them with different opportunities leading to a long-term career. Our structure offers a wide diversity of job roles, in different categories and locations. “Ultimately, we believe that our success is driven by our passionate teams. That is why our aim is to always nurture talents, motivate them, train them, making sure they have the competence, the knowledge and the expertise. At Chalhoub Group we invest greatly in our resources in their learning and development through Retail Academies we opened in Dubai and Saudi Arabiabut also through a series of programmes, trainings, etc.” Looking ahead, we foresee tough times ahead for the Group as it seeks to adapt around the ever evolving retail market. Despite this, we are confident of the Group’s ongoing success. “Since 2015, the retail industry in the Middle East has somehow been stagnating because of two short-term phenomena: on the one hand, fiscal adjustments made necessary by low oil prices dampened the appetite for personal luxury goods consumption and on the other hand, the increase of USD pegged GCC currencies have made local prices less competitive versus Europe for both tourists and well-travelled local consumers. “As a Group, and despite our smaller growth compared to previous years, we gained market share in most of our markets. In fact, the consumer behaviours and attitudes are changing; this consumer is young, savvy, acts based on his own pleasure, and is affected by the digital transformation. We are no longer witnessing a double-digit growth in the region; in fact, even if the GCC consumer is wealthy this doesn’t necessarily mean that his spending is increasing. The market is reaching a certain maturity and saturation and we need to accept it, hence we will have to work more and harder with less revenue. The growth will only come from hard work, innovation, differentiation. There is still a huge potential for the luxury market if we succeed in offering something meaningful to the consumer.” Company: CHALHOUB GROUP Contact: Angelica d’Andlau Email: [email protected] Address: MCT Fze, JFZA, Dubai, Po Box 261075, UAE Phone: 00971 4 804 5000