'Revolutionising Retail' Key Insights from the Saudi Retail Forum 2024
Gilly Farrell
'REVOLUTIONISING RETAIL': KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE SAUDI RETAIL FORUM 2024
In December 2024, the Saudi Retail Forum proved to be a pivotal event for the retail sector in Riyadh. As Glory, we were proud to return as sponsors, showcasing our innovative solutions and engaging with key industry players. Joining us, our local technology partner in Saudi Arabia, Abana. Glory’s successful relationships in the kingdom reach back over many decades with the banking sector. Now we aim to communicate our value to retail businesses and learn from events like SRF how best to add value in this sector.
This year's forum highlighted the dynamic nature of the retail landscape in Saudi Arabia, with investments in the retail and hospitality sectors continuing at an astonishing pace. The challenge for businesses is to identify technology that ensures the sustainability and success of new retail ventures, both domestic and international. Glory’s aim at the event was to demonstrate the vital role of automation in achieving this goal. Automating processes for maximum efficiency allows in-store staff to focus on delivering consistent high-quality experiences for customers, ensuring the ongoing success of your business.
A Glimpse into the Event
The one-day forum was well-attended by C-Level representatives from various retail sectors, including grocery, fashion, luxury goods, beauty, home goods, cafes, and mall owners. The event attracts an international audience, however the stories around the domestic brands and their representatives are the real stars. Companies range from the likes of Alshaya Group and Landmark Group, which manage multiple international brands, to major local brands, smaller start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Key Insights from the Forum
The quality of the presenters and panel discussions at the Saudi Retail Forum 2024 was impressive. The topics all had an overarching theme – how can we transform and grow quickly, successfully and sustainably? Influential figures such as the Co-Founder of The Roasting House, Osamah Al-awwam, and Dr. Kamran Khan of the Tarfeeh Entertainment Co., exemplified the energy and quality behind local brands. One of the highlights of our participation was demonstrating a self-checkout solution with integrated cash management at our booth. This self-service checkout solution generated significant interest among attendees, sparking conversations about how self-service can enhance customer engagement and operational efficiency. With a population where 70% are 30 or under, digital-savvy consumers in Saudi Arabia will want to see more self-service options in stores, expecting the same choice in physical stores as they have online.
Cash Management Solutions
Our booth also provided a platform to discuss cash management solutions, a topic of great relevance given the current trends in the region. During our visits to various retail stores, we observed that none of the self-service options included the ability to pay with cash. Leading retail brands recognize the need to offer full self-service for all customers, which is why they opt to include cash payments in some, if not all, of their self-service areas. While Saudi Arabia is encouraging cashless payments, it is still a reality that many people are paying in cash. In our conversations with various retailers, it was apparent that in many verticals, such as grocery, homeware, and clothing, cash payments still make up about 30% of payments at the point-of-sale.
Our Message
Manual cash handling in stores is a thing of the past. It’s unnecessary, time-consuming, and prone to error. Automate it and focus your valuable human resources on looking after your customers. The experience you deliver is where you make your profit.
Look at self-service solutions in store to deliver choice and convenience for shoppers. It will also help you manage peak time, increase customer throughput, increase your average basket size, use your human resources more productively and allow you to extend opening hours with less staff.
We know that new technology adoption can be challenging for you and your staff, but it is necessary to maintain a profitable business in a competitive retail landscape. In store technology is not necessarily about replacing staff – its about augmenting staff, to be more productive and to keep the unique human experience of physical stores that ecommerce cannot deliver.
Looking Ahead
The Saudi Retail, F&B and Hospitality sectors are booming, driven by the Saudi Vision 2030 strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, culminating in the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh. The Saudi government continues to promote digital transformation including digital payment options, to enable more visibility of payment transactions. There are significant opportunities for businesses to improve their operations now, utilizing technology to improve omnichannel integration, adopting self-service options like self-checkouts, kiosk ordering solutions, and implementing point-of-sale and back-office cash automation.
Our engagement at the Saudi Retail Forum has laid the groundwork for future collaborations and innovations in this space. As we follow up with the contacts made at the event and analyze the data from our pilot projects, we remain committed to driving change and enhancing the retail experience in Saudi Arabia. We can support business through streamlining payments and ordering, enabling better omnichannel integration and making all cash processes more efficient and secure. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to explore and innovate in this dynamic market.
Reach out to gilly.farrell@glory-global.com for any additional information on how Glory can support your retail business in Saudi Arabia.
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