Online retailing & Fashion Accessories UAE Market research and Concept proposal

101 Pages·2009·14.9 MB·English

Online retailing & Fashion Accessories U.A.E
Market research and Concept proposal
Final thesis
Amsterdam, November 2009
Jacqueline Schrama
A msterdam Fashion Institute
Online retailing & fashion Accessories U.A.E.
Market research
©2009
Final Thesis Online retailing & Fashion accessoires
Amsterdam, November 2009
Jacqueline Schrama
Supervisor: Stephen Fetherston
Amsterdam Fashion Institute Hogeschool of Amsterdam
Online retailing & Fashion accessories UAE, Market research and Concept proposal 4
Foreword

The last four years I followed the course Fashion and Branding at the Amsterdam Fashion
Institute. I worked for Just kidding in Dubai during my long term Internship. During this
period I started to get familiar with Dubai, her residents and the fashion market. After
talking to my friends I found out that there are little e-shops available for this region. I got
interested in this subject and decided to start researching the possibilities to launch a
innovative concept.

Outside the UAE many reacted: another accessories e-shop? And then especially for the
United Arab Emirates? Don’t we have enough e-shops already? All e-shops deliver globally
right? This sounds like a normal reaction, but this research report will prove that there is
definitely market potential and gives inside on who the intended consumer is.

During my final thesis I learned much, not only on professional area but also on personal
level I have further developed myself. Despite some difficulties I can see that writing my
thesis was one of the most instructive moments of my study. I got a better view on the
field of specialism and my own knowledge and skills. The guidance from the academy and
from my private circle I experienced as very pleasant. Therefore I would like to thank a
number of people in particular. First I would like to thank my coach Stephen Fetherston,
for his great feedback and all the support he gave to me. Secondly I want to thank Ghizlan
Aberchal, Samira Azdad, Hasna Boutahiri and Femke Doesburg for there very useful
feedback on the content and the lay-out.

Hereby I would like to present the research report and concept proposal that are part of
my final examination of the course Fashion and Branding at the Amsterdam Fashion
Institute.

Amsterdam, November 2009

Jacqueline Schrama

Online retailing & Fashion accessories UAE, Market research and Concept proposal 5
Online retailing & Fashion accessories UAE, Market research and Concept proposal 6
Summary

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is known for its rapidly growing economy and even with
the globally economic crises it is unlikely that UAE will fall into recession. The UAE is a
promising country for luxury clothes and accessories. Although online purchasing is on the
rise there are still few e-shops available for UAE residents. From the fifty brands/e-shops
only eighteen deliver to the UAE and none is specifically targeted at the UAE (or middle
east). Aside from the small offer of e-shops, the available e-shops are difficult to find.
Another disadvantage for the UAE residents is the fact that deliveries to the UAE have
much higher shipment costs and much longer shipment periods compared with deliveries
for Europe and USA.

With a growing demand for purchasing products online and the small offer of e-shops a gap
in the market is identified. To fill in this gap the idea was born to launch a online
accessories brand, targeting the local UAE women. Accessories are extremely suitable for
e-shopping because presenting the products online makes it easier to adapt to quickly
changing trends. Also the feel and touch aspect for the consumer is less compared to
apparel and accessories have higher profit margins than most other fashion products.

Fashion accessories are very important to the UAE women. Accessories are one of the few
items to show their own identity and style. Jewellery represents more than personal
decoration, it symbolizes social and economic status. The majority of the UAE population is
Muslim and are relatively young. Looking at the consumer environment women, four main
target groups come out: Traditional conservatives, Contemporary Idealists, New
conservatives and Rebels.

‘Rebels’ will be the intended target group for the concept. The ‘Rebels’ are pioneers who
exhibit a relatively low observance for religion compared to the other target groups. They
are more oriented towards friends than towards family. They are carrier focussed and seek
emotional values in a brand. This group contain young fashion minded women who are
materialistic oriented, individualistic and focused on style. ‘Rebels’ contain biggest group
that is interested in online shopping and spend more money on accessories than any of
other invested target groups. This elements together makes them a very attractive target
group for developing an online concept.

‘Rebels’ wear accessories that ‘representing their identity’. They see bags and shoes as
the two most important product groups when wearing the Abaya. Shoes determine the
complete look, for example they can present a look as ‘elegant and feminine’ or ‘sportive
and classy’. Their preferred styles are ‘luxurious fun & humour and vintage’. They miss
products from innovative young designers. The ‘Rebels’ like mixed styles: ‘east meets
west’ like Dubai. They feel more attracted to a brand if the brand makes use a mix of
English and Arabic. The ‘Rebels’ are globally oriented with the UAE traditions in mind.
They prefer brands that have a sense of humour and brands which have a cute and crazy
appearance. Their most important product values are ‘quality and design’. ‘Rebels’ love
fashion items that are ‘unique, precious and valuable’ with a ‘luxurious or authentic
appearance’.

E-shopping reminds the ‘Rebel’ of: travelling, gifts, fashion and buying exclusive items.
The ‘Rebels’ prefer to buy apparel in the store but for buying fashion accessories they have
no preference. It is of importance that the e-shop offers them a wide selection of fashion
items, for different occasions and styles. The ‘Rebels’ like to see style impressions of how
to combine items and get background information about the designers. They like e-shops
that are easy to use, have a clear category structure and have good visuals to present the
products.

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Online retailing & Fashion accessories UAE, Market research and Concept proposal 8
The visual language of the concept is inspired by different aspects of rich the middle
eastern visual culture. The visual language of the concept presents clearly its own style
with inspired by Arabic design, typography, Islamic and Arabic vernacular symbols, Islamic
geometry-art, arabesque-art, (modern) calligraphy, logos, poetry and Arabic architecture.
The visual language is very recognizable because the use of black and white combined with
several bright colours. Also the repeating brand logo (which is inspirited by traditional
Islamic art of geometry and arabesque) and the repeating brand colour green is very
recognizable.

A combination of investigating the UAE accessories market, target group research and
inspiration let to the final concept proposal. In this concept proposal a new brand is born
named GHALIYA…

The e-shop will appeal the young fashion minded local UAE women. This concept will have
a distinguishing position on the fashion accessories market because of her…

…focus on the UAE market and the wishes of the UAE consumer.
…original products from young innovative designers which are easily orderable online.
…local designed and distributed products what reduces shipment cost and shipment period.

The concept will contain an interesting mix between culture and traditions and a modern
refreshing look. East meets west, products presenting precious and valuable designs that
represent the identity of the women wearing them. The concept is called GHALIYA ﺔﻴﻟﺎﻏ)
what literally means precious or valuable in Arabic. www.ghaliya.com is easy to use and
the products are clear presented, GHALIYA gives style impressions which shows how to
wear the products in an original way. The e-shop gives background information about
products and the designers and has a gift shop that makes it easy to send gifts to friends.

GHALIYA will focus on locally designed fashion accessories. GHALIYA presents a wide range
of fashion accessories to meet up with the diverse and innovative style of the target group.
The collection consists of three product lines: ‘I Love DXB’, ‘I am a diva’ and ‘all vintage’
are inspired on the three popular styles: ‘luxurious, fun & humour and vintage’. GHALIYA
goes against the classical look and focus on the outrageous. The products are extremely
good combinable with the Abaya. It is a true brand for rebellious divas.

www.ghaliya.com is the gateway to middle east ‘chic’: a luxury website catering to the
UAE need for exclusive fashion accessories.

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