Shopping for growth: How to build an urban retail destination

Learned a lot lending an editorial hand here:

PWC Strategy&, August 2024

by Makram Debbas, Ramy Sfeir, Sukalp Tipre, and Matteo Amici




As Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states pursue urban transformation and mega projects, they should seize the unrealized opportunity for growth in the retail sectors of their major cities. The region’s annual retail sales are expected to grow to US$300 billion by 2028, a 37 percent increase from 2022. With the right steps, these retail sectors can become global shopping destinations. That would allow retail to make a significant contribution to urban GDP and employment, while improving quality of life for residents and enhancing the offering to tourists.

The prospect of strong domestic retail growth, however, does not guarantee that GCC cities will become global shopping destinations. Indeed, the opposite could occur. Given the ease of foreign travel, rising GCC domestic demand could result in GCC shoppers seeking unique retail experiences outside the region. To prevent that, and to seize the growth opportunity, GCC cities should overcome two categories of challenges: supply issues, such as limited brand and assortment offerings, insufficient talent, and a lack of holistic shopping experiences; and enabling factor issues, such as fragile supply chains, underdeveloped customer and operational technologies, and cumbersome investment regulations.

Cities should create a governance entity that can articulate a compelling and differentiated retail vision and then build the required capabilities through six initiatives... read the rest here.