Why they Buy? The Retailers Guide to Ramadan

Shopping during Ramadan

One of the most common purchases made during Ramadan are clothing items, which can be as high as 54% in the demographic of Females 18+. It is due to the celebration at the end of Ramadan, Eid, where family and friends gather to celebrate and exchange gifts.

Retail consultant, Natalia Skaloud, shares her thoughts on the changing habits during Ramadan. “With shorter working hours and time often spent resting indoors while fasting, an increased pace of life occurs after Iftar. As a result, mobile, online and social media usage is also at its highest during the night, with Facebook usage growing by an extra 57 million hours and a peak usage time of 3 am. This provides a unique environment for online shopping and engagement opportunities – with an estimated 35% increase on e-commerce platforms during Ramadan.” Marketing during this period is different to the rest of the year. For example, social posts promoted during the late evening would be much more effective than in the mid-day, and content must be tailored specifically to the changed routine of their day-to-day life. The peak period for sales for this period is week 3, in the middle of Ramadan.

Celebratory Gifts for Eid

Ramadan concludes with the celebration of Eid; a gathering together where Muslims can spend time with their families and friends, it involves a similar theme of Christmas in the western calendar. The participants take part in giving gifts and eating meals together as well as praying.

The buying behaviour for Eid is a culmination of progressive purchases with a view to share gifts after the final day of Ramadan. Across e-commerce sites, there is a clear rise in traffic in the run-up to Ramadan. In the week before Ramadan, Fridays and Saturday's experience large increases against the average for the year. Over the past four years, Fridays have seen an average increase of 15.8% in traffic, Thursdays at 13% and Saturdays at 15.6% during that week prior to the start of Ramadan. During Ramadan, spending increases 53%. Purchases for this event include luxury designer goods, perfumes, indulgent food products, and apparel.

 

Aramex’s Commitment to Ramadan

As a MENA native, we have distribution centres based in key locations. Therefore, we have a large number of team members with deep insight into the key workings of Ramadan and the social changes that happen on this holiday. This helps us understand the key processes and the best method of operation for UK retailers targeting the MENA region during Ramadan.

In addition to our Dubai office, we have rigid infrastructure in place for this region to cope with the high demand of traffic expected to flow through due to the celebration. We understand the nuances that the local population of the MENA region are subject to, such as the late operating times during Ramadan. With our guidance, your retail logistic business will prosperous during Ramadan.

To partner with a logistic carrier with a considerable understanding of Ramadan and to set your retail business up for success, get in touch with our team.