DSF Office prepares to organize region’s longest shopping promotion this summer
• DSF Office meets with leading retailers to chalk out promotion plans
The Dubai Shopping Festival Office recently held a meeting with over 125 representatives of leading retail entities in Dubai to discuss and chalk out plans for shopping promotions being organized over the summer from June 1 to September. The initiative is the first and longest single shopping promotion to be held in the region, spanning four months.
The meeting was chaired by Laila Suhail, CEO of the DSF Office, and attended by Mohammed Shael Al Saadi, Head of Retail Registration at the Department of Economic Department (DED), Mohammed Hilal Al Marshoodi, Head of Compliance and Commercial Protection Division at DED, in addition to Suhaila Gobash, Events Manager of DSF Office, and other officials.
While welcoming the attendees, Laila Suhail thanked retailers in Dubai and highlighted the fact that their continuous support to Dubai Government initiatives had positioned Dubai as the fourth most dominant retail city in the world, according to a recent survey by CB Richard Ellis.
She further said that as an agency under the Department of Economic Development, the DSF Office was in a better position to reach out to retailers and provide tailor-made initiatives such as the promotion designed for the summer.
Emphasizing that the DSF Office was keen on supporting the retail sector, Laila said that as a first step, the four-month promotion would need retailers to only pay registration charges that were, in previous years, applicable to a two-month period during DSS. She added that such measures would be extremely productive for retailers to transfer cost-benefits to consumers.
Promotions and shopping deals in the coming months would be done through Dubai Summer Surprises, the Back-to-School season, Ramadan, and ‘Eid in Dubai’ (Eid Al Fitr), said Laila, adding that this initiative would be successful in propelling Dubai’s retail sector to new heights. She also stressed that apart from organizing the region’s longest shopping deals, DSF Office was looking at a benefit system that favoured both retailers and end users.
Retailers can look forward to numerous options to be part of the promotions with the ‘Surprising Deals’ package to be organized throughout Dubai Summer Surprises from June 11 to August 14, 2009. This will be followed by the ‘Back-to-School Season’ from August 9 to September 10, 2009. The third package is titled ‘Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr Offers’, running from August 9 to September 30, 2009. Retailers also have the option to organize raffle draws during the four-month period subject to approval from DSF Office.
During the meeting, Mohammed Shaed spoke about DED’s commitment to offering a wide range of services to retailers so as to organize promotions in a smooth manner and encouraged the attending retailers to provide suggestions to enhance cooperation between government entities and the retail sector.
