Carrefour has emerged as the best value for money supermarket in Dubai, according to a survey by Souqalmal.com, the biggest personal finance comparison website in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
It said Carrefour’s total bill for 11 everyday essentials including milk, white bread, eggs, chicken, onions and potatoes was 11 percent lower than the average bill across all the six supermarkets surveyed.
Union Coop and Lulu Hypermarket bagged second and third spot, while Al Maya was revealed to be the most expensive grocery retail chain.
For this particular analysis, Choithram – Dubai Marina, Al Maya – Dubai Marina, Spinneys – Al Furjan, Carrefour –Discovery Pavilion, LuLu Hypermarket – Al Qusais and Union Coop – Al Barsha were put under the microscope.
Souqalmal.com said that as grocery retailers battle for market share, the average consumer gets the benefit of broad selection of groceries and lower prices.
It added that in a bid to sustain growth and strengthen their brand, supermarkets are increasingly offering their house brands alongside name brands.
The analysis revealed that while there is a smaller difference in the price of name brand items between different supermarkets, the price of house brand items varies significantly.
Ambareen Musa, founder and CEO of Souqalmal.com said: “By stocking home brands on their shelves, supermarkets are competing with premium name brands for a slice of the market share. Ultimately, this works in favour of consumers who get more economical options to choose from.”
Musa added: “While the prices that shoppers see in supermarket aisles play a big role in how they choose supermarkets and specific brands, there’s more to the story. Supermarkets also compete in terms of customer loyalty programs or ‘club cards’. This aspect needs to be factored in to better understand why consumers may prefer a certain supermarket over others.
“Loyalty programs are big in the UAE – in fact, the results of our recently concluded annual analysis showed that co-branded credit cards that offer loyalty rewards at supermarkets were the most popular credit card variant among UAE residents.”
While major UAE supermarket chains have not yet resorted to aggressive price wars and price-matching schemes as seen in other global markets, it remains to be seen if this will change in the near future, Musa said.
Follow us on
