More than 70 percent of people said they have cut back their spending across the board in light of the global financial crisis, the latest Arabian Business poll has found.
Some 74.4 percent of respondents said they had reduced spending on food, clothes and going out this year in a bid to save money.
Just 16.2 percent of people said they were spending the same amounts as previous years, while only 3.3 percent said they were splashing out even more.
The online poll follows reports that the growth of mass grocery sales in the UAE has slowed dramatically this year as consumers feel the pinch of the downturn on their pockets.
Following years of double-digit growth to 2008, Business Monitor International’s UAE Food and Drink Report for Q1 2010 said it saw growth this year at just 3.3 percent.
The report called the results “humbling” for some of the country’s retailers.
According to the AB poll results, 6.2 percent of people said they had cut back specifically on grocery shopping by swapping to non-brand items and choosing items on special offer.
Hypermarket and supermarket retailers like EMKE Group and Spinneys Dubai responded to consumer wishes by placing a greater emphasis on value, the report said.
But, both firms are well placed to capitalise on a forecast 33 percent increase in headline mass grocery sales to AED7.28bn ($1.98bn) through to 2014, BMI said.
“While consumers have undoubtedly lost some of their appetite for premium products, the downturn has not curbed the structural development of the mass grocery sales industry, which is still less developed than most comparably high income states,” the research company added.
