Majid Al Futtaim and Lulu, the two leading retail giants of the UAE have secured a position among the world’s most powerful retailers, according to the UK-based multinational professional services Deloitte’s ‘Global Power of Retailing 2021’ report.
The list is led by the US retail behemoths with Walmart Stores at the first position, followed by Amazon, Costco Wholesale Corp, Schwarz Group, and The Kroger Co among others. Majid Al Futtaim and Lulu from the UAE are the only Middle Eastern retailers to make the list.
Lulu Group, which operates hypermarkets and superstores across 10 countries, reported $7.4 billion in revenues in the financial year ending 2019, attaining a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of five percent.
Lulu has 210 stores across the GCC, Egypt, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Since the start of the pandemic, the group opened 26 new hypermarkets and supermarkets, including four eCommerce fulfillment centers across the region.
Majid Al Futtaim Holding group revenues reached $9.57 billion, and the group posted a net retail income of $7.65 billion with a CAGR retail revenue of 6.5 percent, Deloitte’s report shows.
M. A Yusuff Ali Chairman & MD Lulu Group
“No doubt, these are very challenging times and we had to delay our expansion plans last year due to lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, but now we are fully back on track to open 30 new hypermarkets and 10 eCommerce fulfillment centers in the GCC, Egypt and the Far East by the end of this year. Expo 2020 Dubai coupled with fast-improving health and safety situation is sure to boost the market sentiments sooner than later.”
According to the report, some of the key impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on leading global retailers are essential versus non-essential retail, reduced demand, enforced store closure, and travels bans. On the other hand, online retailers have benefited from consumers’ aversion to in-store shopping due to the pandemic crisis.
However, leading retailers were able to capitalize on the new consumer opportunities presented by the pandemic, particularly online shopping and delivery and were able to continue trading from their stores. As per Deloitte, the total aggregate retail revenue generated by the top 250 retailers is $4.85 trillion with 4.4 percent composite year-over-year retail revenue growth.
