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Sami Mualla: “We at Ramak Duty Free are very optimistic about the country’s future economic progress. We believe that Syria has great hidden and unexploited potential.” |
SYRIA. Ramak Duty Free Shops has restructured its business, introduced category management and is looking to extend its retail network. It’s all part of a positive investment in the market by a retailer that is convinced Syria – and its duty free industry – has positive days in front of it.
Ramak Duty Free Shops Managing Director Sami Mualla recently spoke to Travel Retail & Duty Free Middle East & Africa Publisher* Soraiya Qadir. Here is an edited version of the full interview that will appear in the next edition of the magazine.
What recent changes have you brought about in order to stimulate your business?
Sami Mualla: Ramak Duty Free always strives to give full satisfaction to its clients by providing them with the best product mix, global brands of the highest quality at reasonable prices, and efficient service. Last year the management underwent a major re-organisation of its managerial structure in order to meet the present and future challenges of the duty free retail sector. We are also aiming at obtaining the “˜ISO’ certificate award soon.
Can you give us some details of your new structure?
Sami Mualla: Under the new organisational structure, the Commercial Division now comprises three fully dedicated departments:
1. Purchasing: to buy quality and value products from international and local suppliers under the best commercial and competitive terms that meet our target market and potential buyers from different segments.
2. Supply Chain: to ensure that the merchandise bought by the purchasing department arrives safely to its destination on time in the best physical condition and is properly stored in our warehouses and thereafter properly distributed to our outlets.
3. Customer Care: to take the utmost care, serve and follow up with our clientele. As our sales staff interface with clients, they are trained to satisfy their needs in order to build and then maintain their loyalty.
At present Ramak Duty Free operates seven shops and our company comprises 1,300 members, supervised and trained by professional managers and directors.
What other changes have you implemented over the last year in all your seven outlets?
Sami Mualla: Ramak is continuously analysing and studying the best ways to upgrade and modernise its shops by concentrating on its product range and prices as well as on its internal comfortable, customer-friendly shopping environment.
Within the framework of its expansion plan, Ramak opened its seventh branch in May 2005 in Bab Al Hawa on the Syrian-Turkish border. So far, the shop has demonstrated excellent progress and is performing above our expectations. An eighth shop will soon be set up.
What are the major promotions that you are presently staging and which ones have you lined up for 2006?
Sami Mualla: In order to boost sales and provide our customers with sustained added value offers over and above other competing duty free shops in the region, great efforts are being presently made by the Commercial Department, which, since March 2005 has continued to implement an aggressive marketing plan. It consists of planning in advance all promotions and special events to be launched by the various departments of our shops. In this respect, many events took place last year and many others are on the way. Among those which were run last year were:
• بدل القطعة…..اتنين! : A ‘buy one get one free’ promotion run on digital Cameras in February 2005.
• The Chocolate Festival: a general promotion run in July 2005 on most of our chocolate brands. This promotion was intended to boost confectionery sales in summer, which is considered low season for this category of products. The other purpose for this promotion is to compensate the loss of sales in the Jdeideh shop on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
• قطعة عليك و قطعة علينا: A “˜buy one get one free’ promotion run by the electronic department in September 2005 on big electronic items, such as televisions and hi-fis.
• Christmas Special: This was a promotional campaign run on Champagne, liquor and perfumes for this festive occasion. It certainly brought energy to our shops and activated sales.
A close follow-up of the results of these promotions indicated a more than satisfactory impact as sales shot up by two to fourfold in some cases. Besides the positive sales results, our clients were duly impressed by these marketing activities and their reaction was very positive. All the shop managers’ reports show a high demand from our visitors for such continuous animations and promotions all year round.
More promotions already planned for 2006 are on the way, but at the moment we prefer to keep them confidential.
How has the economic outlook for Syria changed over the last two years?
Sami Mualla: We at Ramak Duty Free are very optimistic about the country’s future economic progress. We believe that Syria has great hidden and unexploited potential to be taken into consideration; these will unfold in the near future, in both the local and duty free markets.
After implementing our marketing plan, we have clearly established that more clients belonging to different segments can still be reached through focusing on different types of categories rather than concentrating every time on the same classical brands and/or categories. On the strategic level, and thanks to our experience in the trade, we are presently preparing ourselves to serve not only the duty free market but also the Syrian local market with brands we have been importing for duty free over a long time.
One more positive sign about the country’s economic future is the continuously increasing number of foreign visitors passing through our airports, seaports and land borders.
We believe that Syria’s economy grew over the past two years but this does not mean that more efforts should not be exerted in the near future on the trade and tourism levels by both private and public sectors in order to exploit the country’s hidden and undiscovered potential. Moreover, lots of tourist and industrial projects have been lately awarded to foreign companies and well known investors and entrepreneurs. These projects are expected to improve the GDP and GNP of Syria.
What new items have you added to your various categories? And what are your best-sellers?
Sami Mualla: As mentioned earlier, in order to satisfy our customers’ needs in terms of product lines, assortments, brands, quality and prices, we have implemented one of the newest tools used worldwide in retail and distribution sectors: i.e. Category Management.
This analysis aims at a close follow up and evolution of customer demands in terms of novelties, prices, assortments, quality, packages and trends. As a result, new brands are coming in while others are being discarded. The main objective of such a study is to match customers’ requests with our company’s profitability.
One of the latest trends in Europe is men’s grooming products. How are these faring in your shops?
Sami Mualla: Among the newly-introduced men’s grooming products, “˜Men Expert – by L’Oreal’ is showing tremendous success and has demonstrated that new market segments and niches are being discovered and served. In order to make male customers aware of this category and educate them about its benefits, we will soon organise a special event specifically addressed to men, a sector that was considered dormant for a long time.
We have also added a new range of confectionery products, namely chocolate and biscuits, some of them have already arrived, while others on the way.
What are your best sellers?
Sami Mualla: In perfume and cosmetics: Christian Dior, Chanel, Guerlain and Givenchy. In tobacco: Winston, Gitanes, L&M and Gauloises. In liquor: Johnnie Walker Black Label, Johnnie Walker Red, Heineken beer and Chivas Regal.
In confectionery the best-sellers are mixed minis from Masterfoods (Mars, Snickers, and Bounty), Galaxy fun size and Kit Kat. In electronics it is Sony and Panasonic.
Which international airlines touch Damascus? And which ones bring the best buyers?
Sami Mualla: All airlines carry best buyers depending on the season. In summer seaport shops such as Lattakia and Tartous await their good buyers coming mainly from Cyprus and Greece. In the Aleppo airport shop, good buyers mostly come from Russia, Rome and Cairo. In the Jdeideh border shop, they mostly come from Lebanon, Gulf and Iran.
In Daraa, they are from Jordan and the Gulf areas. In the Damascus airport shop, they simply come from everywhere but we can specify our own nationals, Syrians, as great buyers in all categories, especially perfumes and cosmetics. Europeans are great fans of tobacco and chocolate. Libyans are good buyers of tobacco, while Emirates and other Gulf locals are good buyers of liquors, spirits and fashion.
*FOOTNOTE: Travel Retail & Duty Free Markets Middle East & Africa is published by BIA Enterprises. Publisher Soraiya Qadir has a unique insight into the region and works closely with The Moodie Report to support each other’s publications.
