Sharing its shores with the Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea, Oman enjoys a favourable geographical position in the world map for overseas trading and re-exporting, agriculture, and fishing. And on the land frontier, Oman’s neighbouring countries are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Oman’s strategic coastal location and proximity to two other GCC giants further boost its role in the growth of trade, commerce, and manufacturing in the region. In terms of economic growth, the country is expected to perform better than the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Oman - Brick & Mortar/Physical Stores Business Consulting
Economy and Retail Sector
With a population of about 5 million, Oman offers a considerable retail market for both online and offline retailers. Along with three other GCC members namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, it is expected that the retail sales in Oman will also experience a strong growth rate. An overwhelmingly major share of the country’s retail market is dominated by the conventional retail store business model in the backdrop of a fast-growing eCommerce market. However, retail consulting companies around the world may not deny that the COVID-19 pandemic did slow down the retail industry – something that was witnessed in every part of the world.
Challenges Now and Ahead
Innovation will be the key
Compared to the retail markets of the UAE and KSA, Oman has a relatively smaller market size. There will not be sufficient space for too many retail giants. Small and medium retailers will have to focus on the local and nearby market areas. Personalization will be a game-changer. Adoption of digital transformation will help retail stores in delivering better personalization features, quicker operations, and even target new market areas.
Omanization
Oman was one of the first GCC countries to introduce a policy to reduce expat workforce dependency. Expats make up about 40% of Oman’s population. And this number is consistently decreasing. There was even a ban on hiring expat workers across 87 positions. To hire foreign workers, employers need to obtain a permit from the concerned authorities in Oman. In essence, the intention is to encourage domestic employment of Omani nationals.
Rise of Online Shopping
ECommerce retail in Oman is expected to grow at beyond 65% from 2018 to 2023. With about 80% of internet penetration and sweeping smartphone usage across the population, the stage is all set for swift eCommerce acceleration. For now, the online-offline battle is at its infancy as physical retail dominates but we know what eCommerce is capable of. Physical retailers have a vantage point here for they have time to go digital.
Mall Presence
Malls in Oman like the Muscat City Center or the Palm Mall has raised the bar of mall experience for retail customers and retail brands. With a growing population, high spending power, rise in consumerism, and the growing presence of well-known global and domestic brands, malls have become an attractive shopping destination for retail customers. But buying or renting a space in such malls is an expensive affair for small and medium retail businesses.
How YRC can help
If you are a small business with limited space, you will have to make the best use of the available space. And also, the store is the most important physical touchpoint for customers in retail. The store layout begins to speak even before your staff, merchandising, or attractive price tags. Retail design consultants call for optimizing store design elements and to be adept with floor planning layout for delivering delightful customer experience. Keeping your marketing strategies and brand goals in mind, our team will help you in areas like planogram, visual merchandising, zone classification, time and motion study, merchandise planning, store security, and much more.
In competing with eCommerce and retail giants, MSME retail businesses will have to be super-efficient with their operations. Riding on the power of digital technologies, eCommerce and capital-rich retail brands are more efficient than conventional retail businesses. To be competitive, MSME retailers need to define and streamline their operations and workflows with the help of SOPs. Maintaining consistency in the internal operations and the delivery of services across the stores is a vital requirement of the retail chain business model. Our team will help your business become a process-driven enterprise with retail SOPs for various operations in retail.
An undesirable situation in a retail store is rejecting a customer because of an out-of-stock situation arising from poor inventory planning. The next blooper is resorting to presenting alternatives to customers. A good retailer knows this irrespective of the size and scale of his business. The effectiveness of your inventory planning impacts the impression you leave on your customers. Our inventory planning solutions are aimed at ensuring a smooth attendance of your inventory requirements striking the desired trade-off between high service levels and high inventory costs. We help with policy settings for the review period, replenishment cycles, safety stock, and back-order ratio.
The fundamentals of managing human resources often evade the attention of retail consulting firms. Be an organization where people will take pride in to be a part of. The moment you talk about HR, you should refrain from calling it a business or company; it should be called an organization because HR is an integral part of what we call externally business. We will help you build a robust people-organization. Our service areas include organization design, staff analysis and succession planning, performance and risk management system, change management, and policies and procedures.
We are a boutique retail consulting firm. Our core team comprises retail management consultants with expertise in diversified areas of retail and eCommerce. To know more about our services, drop us a message or any questions you might have and we will get back to you.