Aswaaq has become the latest local food retailer to dip its toes into online retailing, seeking to eliminate the need to actually visit a supermarket for grocery shopping.
The Dubai-based retailer, owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, yesterday announced the launch of its online shopping platform and accompanying delivery service.
Deliveries will initially be available in the Dubai districts of Umm Suqeim, Umm Al Sheif, Al Manara, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village, JLT, Tecom, Dubai Marina, JBR, Palm Jumeirah, Al Sufouh, Al Safa, Al Wasl and Al Badaa.
Customers will be able to pay for deliveries via e-payment, loyalty card points, cash or credit card (both online and on delivery), with delivery options from between 9am and 9pm.
“We are eager to provide the highest-quality services to our customers and aim to abide by Dubai Smart Government’s objective to serve customers with easy and convenient services,” said Affan Al Khoori, Aswaaq’s deputy chief executive.
“Our vision is to enable our customers with complete access to a range of products that exceeds 5,000 [items] in phase one of the service, any time, anywhere.”
Online grocery delivery remains in its infancy in the UAE; Geant is the only major hypermarket chain in the country to offer an online delivery service, which it launched in mid-2013.
Other online grocery retailers include Ripe, Fresh2Me and trolley.ae.
The brainchild of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Aswaaq was founded in 2008 to foster national identity and to increase the number of Emiratis working in retail, from administration to front-line roles that were not traditionally filled by UAE nationals.
The company currently has nine stores throughout Dubai.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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