In the 2022 RLC MENA Summit, Jasmina Banda, Chief Strategy Officer of Chalhoub Group exclusively presented the GCC Personal Luxury in 2021: A Story of Early Recovery and Growth report. The report that was prepared in collaboration with the Fashion Commission and the Ministry of Culture, contained many interesting facts about the region’s luxury items including attire, fragrances, and beauty products. Ms. Banda explained how consumers in the region are changing from impulsive shoppers that want to fit in, to sophisticated shoppers that wish to stand out.
Amongst the other panelists were Burak Cakmak, CEO of the Fashion Commission and Ministry of Culture, Ammar Bogari, General Manager, Strategy and Development of the Fashion Commission and Ministry of Culture and Kristina Likhovid who is Head of Intelligence at Chalhoub Group.
The luxury industry recovered from COVID very quickly and growth in the region is evident in every aspect, especially fashion. Investments in the GCC region are rising and 60% of the luxury shopping done by consumers is within the region. They expect fast delivery, innovation, sustainability and when it comes to fashion, they want the full collections to be available for them as they launch in Europe.
This presents brands with great opportunities and great responsibility as consumers are becoming more demanding. The Fashion Commission wishes to help out all brands with workshops and conversations that will help them discover their full potential and capabilities.”
The report may be about luxury brands and items, but it presents a myriad of details that anyone, small or big, can take advantage of. As Mr. Cakmak said “it’s a great start point for all of the brands that are growing to understand the demand from the consumer. We gave some examples around habits of people shopping, what they’re interested in, what are the ways of engaging, what kind of delivery they need“.
This report was one of the first times the private and public sector worked together but it proved very successful. Both sides brought their expertise to the table and produced insightful data for the region’s retailers.
As Ms. Banda said, “we feel a responsibility to serve the customers in the way they want to be served. We feel the responsibility to share with the brands the insights, what the customers want, and we feel the responsibility to actually build and develop this region. And keeping this for ourselves would be very selfish. And that’s not how we want to be”.
The Chalhoub Group often does whitepapers and reports on different issues but this time “we decided to look deeper and further” as Ms. Likhovid said, in order to fully understand the consumers and the market.
It’s a great start point for all of the brands that are growing to understand the demand from the consumer. 
Burak Cakmak
Read the full report here
