Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset - EY
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Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset
2 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset
Foreword
The consumer product and retail (CPR) industry in the Reinvent the business model
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is on the cusp of a new
era of growth, and EY teams have identified seven drivers • Stakeholder ecosystem: collaborate to compete better
of change that need to be considered when evaluating • C
hannels: omni-accessibility is the key to consumer
approaches to disruptive market forces that can potentially loyalty
put you ahead of the competition.
• R
egulation: know the regulatory boundaries to seize
The economic recovery that began in 2018 looks set to opportunities
continue, and with it, the demand for consumer goods. The
big question for CPR companies is how they take advantage
of the upturn. If they continue to make incremental Technology at speed
improvements, they risk falling behind. They must, instead, • Consumer engagement: embrace personalization
seize the opportunity and make bolder decisions to invest in and stay agile
technology that enables data-backed insights, and embrace
• Data: unearth, refine and deploy the new oil
digital capabilities as much as possible across the value
chain. This will not only improve decision-making but also
enable them to stay agile and anticipate changes in the Humans at the center
market, keeping in step with the ever-demanding consumer.
• People: treasure, train and trust your
Above all, the new era demands a transformative mindset most important asset
that not only questions long-standing business models but
• Trust: proactively manage risks to embrace disruption
also encourages empowerment across the hierarchy in CPR
companies, so that the risks and opportunities are acted
EY teams endeavor to help companies explore, identify
upon with equal measure. Consumers are demanding a more
and implement the right balance of bold strategic
personalized shopping experience and have the technology
choices. We do this by asking better questions to
to make better-informed and individualized decisions about
reveal better responses to disruptive market change
what they buy, where they shop and when. It is time for CPR
and innovative strategies that help put you ahead of
companies to respond to this imperative and create a future
the competition. The findings of this abridged report
that will strengthen and build new sources of competitive
combine market-sizing estimates and interviews with
advantage.
senior executives at 12 CPR companies in the region.
Developing an omni-channel model requires every aspect of A more in-depth report incorporating the results of a
the business to be ready to satisfy the consumer. This means survey of 1,129 consumers in 20 cities covering three
reducing any friction when producing, sourcing, purchasing countries is available from the EY organisation.
or delivering, especially if third parties are involved.
This report identifies the drivers of change and examines
responses to the disruptive market forces that can put you
ahead of the competition.
Ahmed Reda Ravi Kapoor
EY MENA Consumer Leader EY MENA Consumer Advisory Leader
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 3
The region’s consumer markets are poised to
grow faster
Our market size estimates predict that the combined consumer new fees and taxes, have also lowered discretionary spending; and
market of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which totaled there have been reforms to subsidies.
US$197b in 2018, will grow by 21% to US$238b by 2021.¹
Looking at current trends, however, 2019–20 could be a turning
The MENA region has come through challenging economic times. point. The new economic EY estimates put the combined annual
Sluggish growth had depressed consumer spending; shifts in labor spending of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt at US$197b in 2018.
markets, such as fewer employment benefits and the imposition of
CPR market size (2018)
99.7 97.0
48.0
42.2 40.7
33.2
23.6
10.4
2.6
Saudi Arabia Egypt UAE
CPR market (US$b) Population (m) GDP per capita (US$k)
Source: World Economic Outlook, April 2019: Growth Slowdown, Precarious Recovery, IMF; EY analysis.
¹ The estimates of the CPR market size are based on analysis of household spending data collected and extrapolated by Fitch Solutions. EY analysis by spending item suggests that
the share of household spending allocated to the CPR sector ranges from about 30% in the UAE to 50% in Egypt, the difference being due to high spending on basic items in Egypt.
4 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset
CPR spending 2018 (US$b, % of country total)
Food and groceries
UAE 60% 7% 26% 7%
Consumer durables
Apparel
Egypt 69% 9% 10% 12%
Other
Saudi 60% 22% 12% 6%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Source: BMI household spending estimates; EY analysis.
Given the potential for an economic lift, the collective size of these • Egypt will grow more rapidly, by around 14% a year, as it recovers
three countries suggests ample scope for expansion in the industry: from the 2016–17 contraction, not surpassing its 2015 peak
until 2021, when we forecast it will be worth around US$70b.
• According to our forecast, the CPR market will grow by around 6%
a year in the period 2019–21, reaching US$50b in the UAE and
US$118b in Saudi Arabia.
CPR market (US$b) CPR market (% GDP)
22%
20%
120 118 19.2%
18%
100
16%
80
70 14%
60 12.9%
12%
40 50
10%
20 8% 9.8%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Egypt Saudi Arabia UAE Egypt Saudi Arabia UAE
Source: BMI household spending historic data, estimates and forecasts; IMF GDP; EY analysis.
Based on this encouraging forecast, CPR companies are faced with an opportunity to grow and transform themselves. What will they need
to do to make the most of this moment?
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 5
The levers of competitive advantage are changing
Historical mindset
Scope
Scale
Sustainable Transformative
competitive
advantage
mindset
Stakeholder
ecosystem Channels
Reinvent
the business
model
Regulation
Technology Humans at
at speed the center
Consumer
engagement People
Data
Trust
Dynamic
competitive advantage
6 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset
Reinvent the business model
The levers of competitive advantage
Stakeholder
Channels Regulation
ecosystem
Collaborate to compete better Omni-accessibility is the key to Know the regulatory boundaries to
consumer loyalty seize opportunities
Creating a successful competitive
advantage depends on understanding To strengthen loyalty, companies must Government rules offer CPR
which parts of an organization’s value design their business to be accessible companies a host of opportunities if
chain can be strengthened through to consumers at all times and across the regulations are clear and designed
collaboration. To achieve this, CPR all channels. to provide a framework in which
companies must work with their companies can grow.
stakeholders, especially suppliers, to
build an ecosystem that is responsive
to the rapidly evolving imperatives for
the business.
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 7
and Riyadh. Today, however, they recognize the need to seek out
Stakeholder ecosystem smaller cities and rural areas in search of new consumers, despite
obstacles such as deficient infrastructure, a lack of residential and
Collaborate to compete better commercial address systems, and higher transport costs.
Developing a successful stakeholder ecosystem requires not only The third-party logistics market is expected to grow in line with the
an understanding of which parts of your organization’s value chain CPR sector, owing to the rise in sub-contracting of logistic activities
are ready for collaboration but also work with stakeholders to by brand owners as they focus more on their core business.
build an ecosystem that is responsive to the needs of consumers. Logistics providers typically offer services that include packaging,
Retailers must closely collaborate with suppliers and consumer inventory, warehousing and last-mile delivery.
products companies to ensure they meet consumers’ needs and to Furthermore, brands are working with emerging content creators
anticipate changes in the market. who are also social media influencers that endorse products,
In a time of disruptive innovation, companies will rely more and an increasingly important new dimension in the advertising
more on ecosystems in which stakeholders bring different skills ecosystem. These marketing innovations are only valuable if
and marketing attributes to the creation of value. Companies they have a favorable impact on consumers. But one thing is
will form partnerships for this purpose with a broader range of clear: working across the ecosystem while scaling up creates
stakeholders, such as start-ups, accelerators, venture capital firms, the conditions for disruptive innovation. Companies should take
academic researchers, Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advantage of the “network effects” of the new ecosystems by
and other companies. For this to be successful, business leaders leveraging partnerships with stakeholders to deliver new value
must take a strongly collaborative approach to research, ideation, propositions and business models.
design and product development. Open innovation, involving close
participation among stakeholders, is the order of the day.
Mindsets need to be aligned across organizational boundaries
through the creation of a synergistic ecosystem — and, as the
complexity increases, there needs to be a culture shift in which
transparency is embraced. This means an intensive degree of Questions
change management, in which stakeholders must overcome their
fear of disruption if they are to stay ahead of the competition. Do you know which capabilities must be kept
Achieving a dramatically higher level of agility requires companies in-house, what should be outsourced and
to take a more human-centric approach that emphasizes simplicity, where, and with whom you should partner to
enablement, inclusion and intuition among the stakeholders in create competitive advantage?
the ecosystem, while outsourcing or automating repetitive and
Can the competitors of today become the
complex tasks. Everybody involved in this collaboration has a collaborators of tomorrow?
chance to benefit.
How will you balance a long-term view with the
Many retailers in the MENA region are struggling to pull together
shorter-term strategies often prioritized by
a rich store of consumer data. Sector leaders are turning to
your stakeholders?
partnerships with telecommunications and financial service
companies to fill this gap, as well as investing in technology. In
a survey of senior executives, 53% in MENA say that artificial
intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) are
the most prominent technologies on their boardroom agenda,
compared with 46% worldwide.²
The development of such an ecosystem begins with a vision of
the future and works backward to drive strategic choices in real
time. To achieve long-term business objectives, companies will
have to reinvent their business models, which entails redefining
the ecosystem based on digital transformation. This can only be
achieved if the company has a flexible, future-oriented mindset and
culture. It must identify and change the ecosystem dynamics and
reposition its place accordingly.
Geographic expansion requires stakeholders to cooperate closely
with each other. Many CPR brands have previously focused their
attention on cities, from the high-income, global-shopper markets
of Abu Dhabi and Dubai to the densely populated cities of Cairo
2 Source: Global Capital Confidence Barometer, EY, 2018; The power of intelligent automation: making customer interaction smarter in the GCC, EY, 2018.
8 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset
Channels
Omni-accessibility is the key to consumer
loyalty
Consumers are constantly shifting the focus of their attention both
online and offline, so CPR companies need to stay at the center
of their universe with an effective and dynamic omni-channel
strategy. They must take a highly intuitive and proactive approach,
providing consumers with moments of truth when they can interact
with companies’ platforms, both online and offline.
Increasingly, the industry’s focus will shift to tremendous
e-commerce opportunities, given the fact that the MENA region's
online sales, as a percentage of GDP, lag far behind those of
developed economies. E-commerce accounted for 0.9% of GDP
in Saudi Arabia³ in 2018 and 0.4% of GDP in the UAE4 in 2015,
compared with 3.5% in the UK, 2.3% in Singapore and 1.9% in the
US.5
Some companies expect a rapid growth of online transactions as
the region catches up with more developed consumer markets.
An early indication of this is Amazon's acquisition of ecommerce
site souq.com in 2017, heralding the emergence of several new
online players in the market. UAE start-up Namshi, for instance,
has created a fashion marketplace across the Gulf, as has Sprii,
founded in Dubai to sell baby items, toys and household goods.
Meanwhile, leading brands in the apparel category, including Zara
and Gap, have recently launched online services in the region.
Furthermore, Dubai-based fresh food retailer Kibsons has grown
exponentially since launching home deliveries last year and
Boutiqaat, a women-only ecommerce platform based in Kuwait,
has made a significant impact on consumers through an active
marketing campaign on social media and elsewhere. The changes
are a clear sign that the CPR industry faces disruption and needs
to seize the opportunity to expand quickly in e-commerce and to
develop a proactive omni-channel strategy.
Questions
This requires a multidimensional approach, from a more responsive
supply chain strategy to a carefully integrated combination of Is your growth paradigm still constrained by
online and offline sales. Brick-and-mortar operations will continue your physical go-to-market channels?
to be a vital component of the CPR market, but companies will Is your business model ready to serve
increasingly assume that consumers will do their research online consumers anywhere, anytime with your full
before they go out to shop. A major challenge is to prevent conflict portfolio of products?
among e-commerce channels, as some companies have decided to
establish their own rather than form alliances with other platforms. Will personalization and smart pricing deliver
price transparency or opacity to consumers?
Consumers in the MENA region are unlikely to shift all their
spending to online activities but, instead, will use it for specific
purposes.
3
" Saudi Arabia eCommerce Insights: 19.28 Million Online Shoppers By 2020," eshopworld website, https://www.eshopworld.com/blog/saudi-arabia-ecommerce-
insights-2018/, accessed 10 January 2018.
4
"United Arab Emirates Commercial Guide," International Trade Administration website, https://www.trade.gov/knowledge-product/united-arab-emirates-ecommerce,
accessed 13 October 2019.
5
https://gulfnews.com/business/retail/gcc-ecommerce-market-to-reach-20b-by-2020-at-kearney-1.1887936, accessed 30 August 2016.
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 9
of Saudi nationals in the private sector.6 Among the aims of the
Regulation policy is the creation of one million jobs for Saudi nationals in
the retail industry by 2030; this can only be achieved by building
Know the regulatory boundaries to seize ecosystems that help to nurture homegrown skills in collaboration
with key partners. Companies that develop strong relationships
opportunities
with leading universities in the region will be in a good position to
CPR companies need to understand and anticipate the regulatory comply with localization regulations.
landscape of the region, not only to ensure compliance but also
to take advantage of the opportunities that emerge as a result
of new or changed regulations. Governments have a key role to
play in ensuring that regulations help foster the development
of the consumer industry and minimize the risk of harm to the
Questions
public by the actions of some companies. The Government of
Does your organization take a structured
Saudi Arabia, for example, changed an important regulation when
approach to assessing the impact of
women were granted the right to drive motor vehicles in 2018,
regulatory changes in your industry?
opening up opportunities for companies to sell more automotive
products. Greater mobility of the population will create business How robust is your internal mechanism to
opportunities for CPR companies, such as roadside services and respond to external stimuli and constraints in
digital mapping. a timely fashion?
The UAE passed a product safety law in July 2019 that calls for Is your compliance process fully aligned with
suppliers to ensure that their products comply with applicable the operating model and vice versa?
standards issued by the Emirates Authority for Standardization
& Metrology. The move brings the UAE more in line with policies
and practices in Europe and the US, and may therefore present
challenges for CPR companies with international operations. Other
companies may need time to raise their product-safety standards
but, in the end, the regulations are likely to enhance the trust of
consumers in the CPR industry, which will ultimately benefit both
producers and consumers.
The Saudi Food & Drug Authority is currently setting new priorities
for localized product manufacturing. This too will create new
opportunities for domestic producers to cater to consumers. The
Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority is furthering the
goals of Vision 2030 by allowing fully foreign-owned entities to
obtain licenses to invest in the country. As foreign CPR companies
take advantage of this liberalization, standards of product quality
are likely to rise, and there will be downward pressure on prices.
Proactive, agile companies will regard this trend as an opportunity
to improve efficiency and increase profits.
These regulatory enhancements need to be seen within the
context of a challenging microeconomic policy environment in
which companies must navigate complex business rules and
bureaucratic structures. Ideally, a straightforward business
environment with minimal bureaucracy can encourage a highly
competitive industry to focus on product development and
consumer service, and allow investments to be made without
fear of fiscal changes. Governments in the region recognize this
imperative and are undertaking reforms to improve the regulatory
climate for business in ways that can assist CPR companies.
Another very important area of regulation concerns long-standing
policies to localize jobs and reduce unemployment while lowering
labor costs. Some countries in the MENA region have redoubled
their efforts to reach these objectives: for example, in Saudi
Arabia, the Government's Vision 2030 prioritizes the employment
6
"Working Toward Vision 2030: Key Employment Considerations in Saudi Arabia,” SHRM website, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/
employment-law/pages/global-vision-2030-saudi-arabia.aspx, accessed 20 April 2018.
10 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindsetTechnology at speed
The levers of competitive advantage
Consumer
Data
engagement
Embrace personalization and Unearth, refine and deploy
stay agile the new oil
CPR companies must embrace Information must be unearthed,
personalization and stay agile if they refined and deployed if companies
are to hold the attention of their are to compete. Companies must
increasingly demanding consumers. therefore develop the ability to
capture data and generate actionable
insights that will give them an edge
over their rivals.
Consumer engagement
Embrace personalization and stay agile Thanks to the new advanced analytics technologies available,
Today’s consumer is more informed and empowered than ever retailers and brands can stay one step ahead of the consumer, by
before, demanding more personalized attention and better service. anticipating what consumers will want next and planning to provide
It is up to CPR companies to meet the challenge by delivering a a cost-efficient level of personal service that is the best in its class.
more nuanced, individualized shopping experience.
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 11Brands are working harder to engage consumers by developing
more relevant, tailored product ranges and enhancing their
services to reflect the changing demographics of the region. With
the help of applications such as Google Analytics, companies can
Questions
track consumers’ online shopping experience, as well as their How well do you map your existing consumers’
interactions with Flash video and networking sites. CPR companies interaction with your categories of play?
can create a personalized profile of the consumer to tailor their
How responsive is your innovation process to
offerings, enhance brand loyalty and reduce value-seeking enable you to anticipate and fulfil consumers’
behavior. evolving needs?
Consumers are now more careful before embarking on
Are you investing the optimal amount in
expenditure, creating an opportunity for companies to provide
technologies that will help your organization
relevant information about their products and services. This is
make faster, better decisions about how to
helping to reshape the structure of the industry, as well as placing
anticipate individual consumer impulses?
the onus on companies to differentiate themselves.
However, high levels of personalization require large investments
in technology, making it difficult for new entrants to break into the
market.
Data
Unearth, refine and deploy the new oil
Data is a key resource for every company, and successful analytics and cloud-based platforms can all help optimize
companies must harness it effectively, driven by the aim of inventory maintenance, allowing in-store pick-ups and same-day
developing crucial business insights that will create a competitive delivery, on which the shift to omni-channel offerings depends.7
edge. For the consumer segment, advanced technologies and
The challenge for companies is aligning their data-gathering
methodologies such as machine learning, deep learning and AI will
policies with emerging regulatory frameworks designed to protect
deliver insights into every step of the value chain, from product
the privacy of consumer information. CPR brands must also find
design and consumer interactions to logistics management and
mutually advantageous ways to share data across the supply
back-office functions.
chain, but this involves building trust among stakeholders in the
The MENA region's CPR companies have a long way to go to ecosystem. Collecting rich, collaborative and privacy-protected
overcome significant data shortages, even on basic consumer data will be crucial if companies are to reap the benefits of this
spending trends. In Europe and the US, providers such as Nielsen precious resource.
gather consumer intelligence, drawing from point-of-sale data and
viewership statistics, but data for the MENA region is often more
limited.
Companies must therefore develop the ability to capture data
in ways that are usable, seizing every opportunity to gather Questions
information from new sources that may give them a competitive Which technologies can help you create a
edge. Start-ups can leapfrog incumbents by building data analytics 360-degree view of your consumers’ buying
into their business models from the very beginning. behavior and influences?
Brick-and-mortar companies, however, are not standing back; How are you harnessing the power of data and
instead, they are advancing their own data analytics agenda to technology?
beat off competitors, with some using the latest technology to
deepen consumer intelligence, including QR codes on receipts. Does your data strategy help you to increase
performance while protecting against outside
Companies are also crunching datasets at store, consumer and
risks?
product levels to see what is resonating with consumers, then
feeding this information back into the manufacturing and sales
cycle to develop predictive models of consumer trends. Other
approaches can be garnered through loyalty card data mining and
the use of predictive analytics tools, which can be fed into product
and service plans to cover consumer needs. Data lakes, advanced
7
ttps://www.arabianbusiness.com/technology/417996-ai-can-help-gulf-retailers-usher-in-new-era-of-brand-loyalty-through-personalised-customer-experiences,
h
accessed 26 May 2019.
12 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindsetHumans at the center
The levers of competitive advantage
People Trust
Proactively manage risks to embrace
Treasure, train and trust your most
disruption
important asset
To deliver value, CPR companies must
CPR companies must focus on recruiting
focus on building in trust by design to
the best skills and developing the know-how
understand the risk portfolio and capitalize
of workers so that they can flourish in an
on disruptive forces.
innovative and productive environment.
People
Treasure, train and trust your most important
asset
judgment and enabling the organization to allocate more money to
In the contest to attract and retain talent, CPR companies must
hire skilled people.
focus on recruiting the best skills and developing the know-
how of workers so that they can flourish in an innovative and E-commerce players, including Amazon and Alibaba, are
productive environment. Ironically, automation is an important investing in everything from robotic packaging to drone delivery.
driver of talent acquisition and retention. RPA, when successfully Automation can help companies increase output and productivity
implemented, reduces the amount of resources devoted to routine without expanding the headcount, an important consideration
tasks, freeing existing staff to engage in activities needing human given tough economic conditions and labor market rigidities in
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 13some key countries. The push by Gulf countries to indigenize their the low levels of investment, and hence protection from cyber
workforces is another factor driving automation and a focus on attacks. Companies must embed and integrate cybersecurity into
hiring skilled, local workers. any digital strategy, generally through leveraged or outsourcing
models to keep costs low with the optimal level of protection
afforded. There have been too many CPR companies that
Questions overlooked this aspect and suffered irreversible brand damage,
How will you future-proof your talent pool to consumer data privacy breaches, major outages, significant
be agile enough for exponential change? fines by regulators, direct financial loss or fraud, or destruction
of their digital footprint. Getting the right advice and support is
Have you assessed your long-term HR needs
key and, once architected into the digital strategy, it is a low-cost
and developed a strategy to meet your
investment compared with a cyber incident.
objectives over the next five years?
Risks arising from outside the organization can either help or
Have you put the consumer at the center of
harm the enterprise, and include the actions of existing and
focus in your training programs?
emerging competitors. Their ventures may lead the way to new
sources of revenue or expose pitfalls to avoid. Geopolitical and
economic megatrends in the MENA region and beyond may seem
daunting, but they pose both risks to avoid and opportunities to
capture. Similarly, demographic and environmental trends can
Trust become obstacles or launchpads.
The latest digital technologies are proving effective in enhancing
Proactively manage risks to embrace capabilities in risk intelligence. To thrive in the Transformative
Age, companies need to embrace disruption and build in trust by
disruption
design across their value chain and ecosystem (e.g., strive to build
CPR companies need to shift their focus from simply a transparent supply chain and third-party dealings). The days of
mitigating risk to embracing new opportunities in a time of monitoring and reacting to threats after they occur are gone. Real-
market disruption. There is, of course, a risk in venturing into time risk intelligence now enables companies to enhance their
unfamiliar territory, whether it be a new product or service, or a strategic decision-making and build more sophisticated models to
geographical region. The new strategy may end up losing money. help predict the future.
However, there is also a risk in doing nothing and missing out on
On the upside, there is the potential for innovations to help expand
opportunities that would benefit the company.
the consumer base and increase market share. New business
Relying on the old, tried and true recipe of products and services opportunities offer the chance for companies to acquire, manage
is likely to lead to an erosion of market share, as tastes and and derive value from new assets and pools of talent. On the
demographics change. Consumers can begin to lose trust in a downside, companies must continue to work to mitigate risks by
brand that doesn’t move with the times. anticipating where the next threat might come from.
Many CPR companies in the MENA region have been burdened by Companies embedding risk in product and service design and
high employee costs. They did not expect the economic downturn ecosystem partners will be able to accelerate speed to market,
to last so long and, therefore, did not proactively reshape their and manage increasing regulatory and compliance requirements
business model to manage the risk of a protracted period of slow proactively while sustaining trust to gain a competitive edge.
growth.
Trust is the new currency from which to derive value and
consumer loyalty. It is critical if companies are to differentiate Questions
the brand from its competitors. As companies take on more and
How are you and your partners engaging
more personal data (desires, behaviors and preferences) and
with the risk function to build trust, drive
share it with a complex web of partners, service providers and
confidence and transformation within the
AI platforms, consumers expect these companies to use tighter
organization?
measures to protect their data. As a result, a company's ability to
embed digital trust by embracing a comprehensive cybersecurity How frequently do you assess third-party risk,
strategy becomes key. Where competitors may be struggling to and which parts of your supply chain do you
foster trust, being a trusted and secure organization will be a lack information about?
market differentiator.
Do you have a long-term strategy to ensure
Cybersecurity and data privacy are now on the top five board your consumers continue to trust your brand?
risks8 for any organization, particularly those in the CPR industry.
This is partly due to CPR’s rapid adoption of digital technology
that is widening the aperture of the attack surface, but also
8
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Risks_Report_2019.pdf, accessed 15 September 2019.
14 Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindsetConclusion: capitalizing on growth
If companies can harness these change agents to pursue their innovative ecosystem. This can only come about with the
strategic objectives, they will be able to take full advantage of help of careful technology investments, especially in AI and
the opportunities that arise as the consumer market develops. machine learning, so that companies can anticipate changes
The task ahead is arduous, entailing a re-examination of in the regulatory environment and make the most of huge
the organization’s operating model and an even firmer troves of market data. These changes, however, won’t take
understanding of the consumer journey. place unless there is a transformational change in mindset
among employees and executives; ultimately, the future of
Companies will have to provide consumers with a seamless
the company rests on the aptitude and enthusiasm of the
omni-channel buying experience and rely more on their
workforce, from top to bottom.
business partners, including competitors, to create an
Contacts
Ahmed Reda Ravi Kapoor
EY MENA Consumer Leader EY MENA Consumer Advisory Leader
ahmed.reda@sa.ey.com ravi.kapoor@ae.ey.com
Marie Schwob
EY MENA Consumer Director
marie.schwob@ae.ey.com
Learn how
EY teams help
CPR professionals Visit ey.com/transformativemindset.
thrive in the
Transformative
Age
Consumer products and retail industry: the need for a transformative mindset 15EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory About EY EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com. The MENA practice of EY has been operating in the region since 1923. For more than 90 years, we have grown to more than 7,500 people united across 21 offices and 16 countries, sharing the same values and an unwavering commitment to quality. As an organization, we continue to develop outstanding leaders who deliver exceptional services to our clients and who contribute to our communities. We are proud of our accomplishments over the years, reaffirming our position as the largest and most established professional services organization in the region. © 2020 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. EYG no. 000825-20Gbl ED None This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax or other professional advice. Please refer to your advisors for specific advice. ey.com
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