25 May 2017

By Saffiya Ansari

DUBAI: The most popular shopping malls in Riyadh and Jeddah were revealed Tuesday at the Arab Luxury World forum in Dubai.

The data was gathered by GCC Mall Mapping, a syndicated research initiative designed by consultant Nadine Touma Gammage, managed and executed by Sapience Consultancy and endorsed by the Arab Luxury World forum.

Gammage revealed the Q1 2017 findings during a presentation at the forum and explained to the audience that the results were based on interviews with 600 people in each city from a mix of nationalities and age groups.

She stressed that the results were based on interviews with residents, rather than tourists, and persons from households with a total income of SR10,000 at least per month.

According to the findings, Riyadh malls in the “favorites” category include Marina Mall, Granada Mall, Nakheel Mall and Panorama Mall as 40-60 percent of responders in the city say they have visited in the past three months. Marina Mall comes out on top with 15-20 percent of interviewees rating it their “preferred mall.”

Meanwhile, 10-15 percent of interviewees rated Granada, Nakheel and Panorama their “preferred mall.”

In Jeddah, five malls were placed in the “favorites” category — Mall of Arabia, Red Sea Mall, Aziz Mall, Salaam Mall and Andalus Mall.

Here, 45-60 percent of interviewees said they visited the malls in the past three months, with Red Sea Mall and Andalus Mall coming out on top as 15-20 percent of respondents called it their “preferred mall.”

Geared toward providing much-needed insight into the shopping habits of consumers, the Mall Mapping initiative was launched at last year’s Arab Luxury World forum.

Organized by Dubai-based publisher Mediaquest Corp., the two-day luxury business conference featured an agenda of speeches and panel discussions by more than 70 speakers under the theme “Digital Disruption and Emotional Engagement.”

The event, which wrapped up Tuesday, served as a platform for professionals from the premium goods and services market to discuss and debate the latest trends in the industry.

© Arab News 2017