Middle East retailers gear up for the RetailME Tech and Marcom Summit & ICONS Awards

The leading retailers in the Middle East are getting ready for the biggest annual summit and awards gala, RetailME Tech & Marcoms Summit and ICONS Awards, that chronicles the changing retail landscape in the region. The event is scheduled to take place on June 28th, 2022, at Conrad Dubai Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road.

RetailME Tech and Marcom Summit will see the CIOs, Tech, Digitisation, Marcom and E-commerce Heads of the industry share their success mantras, predict trends, exchange thoughts on the winning and losing technologies in retail, and discuss actionable strategies for the growing MENA retail industry that generates an estimated US$1.02 trillion (Dh3.74 trillion) in sales per year.

“As the retail industry’s leading media, we at Images Group felt it was critical to bring together the key stakeholders driving the swift transformations and growth in the retail firms in the region. It is incredible how the adoption of smart technologies has helped several brands serve their customers better, manage their people and processes efficiently and increase their bottom line. The retail leaders joining the summit will share their valuable insights, their unique learnings and discuss the big retail evolution reshaping the retail industry,” says, Justina Eitzinger, Chief Operating Officer of Images RetailME,

Industry thought leaders such as Nisreen Shocair, CEO- Middle East, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, Ahmad AR BinDawood, CEO at Bin Dawood Holding, Dharmin Ved CEO 6th Street.com, Mark Thomson, Retail Industry Director at Zebra, Sunil Nair, Group CIO GMG, Kamran Abbassi, Group CIO Chalhoub, Leena Khalil, Co-founder at Mumzworld, Anna Germanos, Head of Retail and Luxury at Meta, Mark Tesseyman, CEO of Liwa Trading, and many others will share their path-breaking insights during the panel discussions and roundtables at the forum.

A report released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has projected the UAE’s retail sales to reach $70.5 billion (Dh259 billion) by 2025 — an annual growth of 6.6 percent.

UAE retailers are optimistic for growth for 2022. More than three-quarters (84%) of retailers expect to grow by 20% or more in 2022 and with so many planning to invest further, that number could be even higher. Last year, 73% of UAE businesses grew in revenue by 20% or more, across the retail, food and beverage, and hospitality sectors, which is more than the 67% growth witnessed at a global scale, says research released by Adyen, a global financial technology platform for leading businesses. The statistics show how focusing on digital transformation helps accelerate retailers’ growth.

In 2021, the global retail market generated sales of over US$26 trillion, with a forecast to reach over US$30 trillion by 2024 – which is equivalent to a third of the global economy.

E-commerce growth occurred as a result of the high internet usage by the Middle East populace. The UAE’s e-commerce market is forecast to increase 60 percent to more than US$8 billion by 2025 from 2021, as consumers across the region continue to shift towards online retail, according to a new report.

E-commerce in the MENA region is fast catching up with global powerhouses such as China. The total e-commerce market size in the region is expected to reach US$49 billion in 2025, surging from US$31.7 billion last year.

The Covid-19 pandemic hastened the move to digital services as consumers switched to cashless payments and online shopping. Globally, digital payments are expected to grow to US$8.26 trillion by 2024, from US$4.4 trillion in 2020, a report by Statista said.

“The retail industry has witnessed digital transformation at an unprecedented pace in the past two years. As the sector transforms and becomes more tech dependent, we take this opportunity to get together the most powerful retail tech and marcom icons in order to discuss the pressing matters and future challenges of the retail industry and create benchmarks that would inspire other retailers to up their game. We expect this event to become a great learning platform for the stakeholders, especially at a time when digitization dictates the success of the retailers.” says Justina Eitzinger.

A new study from Majed Al Futtaim showed that consumer spending in the UAE grew 14 percent in the first quarter of 2022 boosted by government initiatives launched to streamline the nation’s economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organised by Images RetailME, a 17-year-old retail intelligence media brand in the Middle East with 45,000+ print readership and over 100,000 digital reach across the MENA region, the prestigious RetailME Tech and Marcoms Summit and the RetailME Tech and Marcom ICONS will celebrate the success of an industry that serves 411 million people across 22 countries in the MENA region.

The summit will be followed by an awards gala, where the RetailME Tech and Marcom ICONS from the region will be felicitated for their achievements and contributions to the industry.

The Images RetailME editorial team, along with a jury comprising of tech giants and solutions game changers, such as Mark Pilkington, Retail Chief Executive and Bloomsbury Author, Tarek Yafi, Head of Retail & E-Commerce, Google, Anna Germanos, Head of FMCG, Retail & E-Commerce (MENA), META, Hozefa Saylawala, Director of Sales Middle East, Zebra, Aref Yehia, Head of Business partnership for Retail & E-Commerce, TikTok, have put together a power list of the top tech and marketing stars that have successfully led the transformation and digitization journeys within their organizations.

The list will be revealed and the ICONS featured will be felicitated with a memento on stage in the presence of their colleagues and peers from the industry during the cocktail dinner.

The panel discussion of the summit will include ‘In-store technologies that make omnichannel a reality’, ‘Demystifying The Metaverse’, ‘Wearable Technologies’, ‘Digitising Supply Chains’, Data and Personalization to Enhance Customer Engagement’ and more.

Last year, Images Group launched RetailME ICONS, a list that recognised the 100 most powerful Icons of the retail industry. The list, last year, was divided into four overarching categories – Legends, Pioneers and Visionaries, Disruptors, and Trailblazers.

The event is sponsored by Zebra Technologies as Retail tech Partner, TikTok as Community Commerce partner, LuLu Group International, Altavant, Aruba and Ithra as Gold Partners. Other partners include Geidea, SkyEx and CIO Klub.