Digital core drives increase in Saudi retail market
Ahmed Al-Faifi, Managing Director, SAP Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen presents at the Saudi Consumer Forum

Digital core drives increase in Saudi retail market

Real-Time digital core drives new levels of customer engagement in KSA

Saudi Vision 2030 will drive the Kingdom’s retail market to a record-high of USD 142 billion by 2021, industry experts announced at the Saudi Consumer Forum hosted by digital transformation enabler SAP.

Thanks to an increasingly globally-minded and brand-savvy local population and tourists, the Kingdom is the GCC’s fastest-growing retail market, growing 28% to reach USD 142 billion by 2021, according to Alpen Capital.

As a result, research firm AT Kearney says the KSA has the third-highest retail potential among emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“For Saudi retailers and consumer brands going online is not enough. SAP is committed to driving the co-innovation partnerships that can enable organisation-wide and employee-led digital transformation to support Saudi Vision 2030 economic diversification goals. A real-time digital core can deliver new levels of omni-channel customer engagement, talent development, and innovative new products and services,” said Ahmed Al-Faifi, Managing Director, SAP KSA, Bahrain and Yemen.

Showing the strong need for digital skills in the workplace, since 2014, employers in KSA have been posting double and triple digit growth for analytics, cloud, mobility, and social media skills, according to the Oxford Economics report ‘Workforce 2020’.

During the Forum, SAP showcased how cloud solutions on the SAP HANA in-memory platform, SAP S/4HANA real-time business suite, and SAP Leonardo digital innovation system, can help brands to anticipate, plan and manage consumer demand.

SAP solutions can also inter-connect with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, and the Internet of Things.

In the Middle East, SAP co-innovates with leading retail and consumer brands – including Saudi engineering and construction firm alfanar, Edita Food Industries, and SOUQ.com.

 

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