An eye on Ramadan Shopping behavior 

Sally El Akkad, Director of Marketing and eCommerce at Electrolux Egypt

Ramadan is finally around the corner, and now your mobile will be bombarded with “Ramadan Kareem” messages from family and friends… and while it is anticipated with usual excitement, let us not to forget that it is coming within a prolonged Pandemic, surrounded by currency devaluation and fenced by war consequences…the horizon is not smooth however our love and affection to its holy spirit, family gatherings around delicious food & Nanny secret recipe will certainly be blended with Brands emotional communication endorsing its holy values & building on the mounting demand of consumers across categories During Ramadan, for instance, while 78% of people surveyed see it as quality time with friends and family; 51% of people agree that it is the time to find the best deals “Think with Google”

My dad used to ask me few years back to send him the prices of the Ramadan box in different stores, so I used to send him screen shots of different stores offerings “the ones who have online published content even if they don’t sell online” -similar to 42% of Ramadan deal seekers who use Facebook platforms to find information on deals-  This changed this year where my dad has done his online homework & decided on where to buy, head to store accordingly “ a typical Phygital approach” for a +60 amazing man “obviously I admire him & his digital progression” and with such pace he might purchase online next year. 

Fact is in a 2021 Statista survey, 53% of respondents from the Middle East and North Africa preferred to shop in a physical store during this month. At the same time, 35% of respondents from the region prefer online shopping in Ramadan. Actually same survey showed that in the month before Ramadan, 33% of people surveyed in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt mentioned there would be an increase in grocery shopping in this period. Excitement levels were highest in Egypt, where this figure rose to 50%.4 

Fetching the best .. best Iftar place, best recipe, best Ramadan deals. 50% of Ramadan shoppers surveyed globally mentioned that they start planning purchases at least 3 weeks before the start of Ramadan. Besides 41% of Ramadan shoppers who were surveyed globally report purchasing more during the Ramadan season “Facebook IQ” , then we must agree that brands must plan their activations in advance too—so they can take advantage of this opportunity to reach their audience, and by planning you need to ensure budgeting in the Ramadan exploration & purchasing period to cover multiple consumer touchpoints

Another MENA data point to complement the above; Research from YouGov shows that 53% spend more, 40% search for offers, and 49% of consumers prefer discounts during Ramadan. In fact, searches for Ramadan are as high as those for Black Friday, which is MENA’s biggest online shopping moment. Augmenting the urge for having a holistic 360 approach to capture the rising demand, now questions? 

  1. Do you have the budget enabling you to win? 
  2. Are you thinking about seasonal packaging? 
  3. What about seasonal offerings/ discounts to increase consumer basket size? 
  4. Had you assessed your instore assets, looked into those primary shelves “planogram, levelling, shelf space…etc”, what about secondary display? 
  5. Looking into your digital strategy, had you worked on your Ramadan content? beware in a cookiless world, this is how you will win to guarantee consumer engagement & interest 
  6. Beware of consumer trends! What are they looking for.. recipe? Gathering places? Religious tips? TV shows? and try to be there  
  7. Ensure your e-commerce readiness with optimized apps and websites for the best user experience 
  8. Also please ensure availability across your B2B partners where you don’t want to miss a virtual shelf presence in such a seasonal time 

Just reflect about the answers to those questions, and honestly ask yourself are your touchpoints properly synching? Will your operational excellence be able to deliver a consistent value chain to ensure the promised excellence … Emotions can be high and consumers wont accept unfulfilled service in silence “they paid for a certain promised experience & they expect to get what they paid for”, and honestly those angry birds have the right to show their frustration of certain shopping experience if they did not get what they were promised, thus do not be surprised to get a fire back if you delivered bad iftar, or bad delivery experience 

Mobile app and Ramadan is a like a two to Tango relation, the increased download of food delivery, food making, religious apps is immense, it is a golden opportunity for those apps to increase their consumer base & build on this rising appetite of seasonal consumption & even stretch their operations muscles of catering a hungry demand “not only for food but for quality service as well”  

Worth mentioning my admiration for the clever financial facilitation services, BUY NOW PAY LATER,  specially post the latest CBE economical updates, and eventually even before that where post COVID-19 crisis; The growth is underpinned by increased consumer and merchant awareness and adoption of point-of-sale financing solutions. Growth in point-of-sale financing is a secular trend, and regardless of whether the existing players survive, the underlying consumer needs addressed by POS financing will affect consumer choice over the long run. Moving fast to have a clear strategy and some path to enter and play in this market will be critical. While this evolution of POS financing may seem slow to scale for now, it is likely to accelerate. Starting to make investments to address this trend should be on every banking player’s strategic road map “Mckinsy recommendation”

However, there are always 2 sides of story, overdoing it without proper profitability model while heavily moving towards a world in which digital wallets reign and the costs are transferred from the consumer to the merchant, might end you in a situation of BUY NOW REGRET LATER 

One more point, be honest to yourself in terms of organizational seasonal appetite & capability and please avoid EGO-DRIVEN DECISION vs business decision, look into your stock levels & service capacity before going to mass with a super promise … it is just not right! You will be wasting your budget and provoking your consumers and only harvesting anger inside & outside .. a hell of A MESS  

To enable shopping instore or shopping online … the sphere is yours, be ready with holistic communication to amplify consumer touchpoints, build a strong ecosystem of partnerships & get that rising demand “or someone else will” and most importantly enjoy your Mama/ Nanna special yummy recipe & remember getting them the new Konafa invention of the season to try it with Love.. may the Holy Ramadan month bring you blessing, peace & Joy … RAMADAN KAREEM FOLKS