We spoke to Arbash Javed, the e-Commerce Trading Head at eXtra, about their preparations for Ramadan and the changes in their marketing strategy. Here are Mr. Javed’s thoughts on the same.
ABOUT SPEAKER
Arbash Javed has been the head of E-Commerce Trading at eXtra for the past six years. He is a results-driven leader known for achieving remarkable sales growth with expertise in data-driven decision-making, campaign management, and customer retention strategies.
Arbash has a proven track record of implementing successful initiatives that improve key performance metrics, has streamlined processes, mentored teams, and introduced innovative tools, and has consistently led to enhanced customer experiences and increased productivity.
ABOUT eXtra
eXtra is one of the leading and fastest-growing retail brands in Saudi Arabia. Established in 2003 by the United Electronics Company (UEC), eXtra offers all the leading international brand products and stocks an extensive product range, including TV, audio systems, computers, mobile phones and IT communications, cameras, home appliances, and personal care products.
The product range is supported by comprehensive after-sales services such as extended warranty, free home delivery, and installation services.
Today, with 12+ Million shoppers, eXtra is the destination for consumer goods and electronics and is one of the top destinations for electronics in the Kingdom. eXtra has grown into 47 stores across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and 3 stores in Oman, and 2 in Bahrain, which is still growing.
eXtra aims to be the region’s leading consumer electronics, appliances, and communication solutions retailer. They aim to enhance consumers’ lifestyles by providing innovative products, services, and solutions that meet or exceed customers’ expectations.
WHAT IS eXtra DOING FOR RAMADAN?
“Well, first of all, we’re focused on our consumer electronics categories and small appliances because it compliments Ramadan and because people tend to buy more cookers, microwaves, samosa makers, juicers, blenders, and air fryers because these appliances are used most during Ramadan.
This holy month, it’s all about providing the right journey to the customer. We need to understand what the customer is browsing on the website, and we want to make it very convenient for them.
We don’t want them to have multiple clicks on the website to find what they’re exactly looking for. So obviously, looking into traffic, trying to understand what the customers are searching for, and looking into the most search keywords or the families products, et cetera, is our way ahead.
Now based on this, we’ve redesigned our website to give users exactly what they need.
We sit and discuss how to provide the best journey to the customer so he doesn’t get lost on the website because we have more than 7000-8,000 products. We want them to visit the website, and within one or two clicks, they should be there at checkout and buying what he was looking for.”
WHAT FEATURES ARE YOU USING?
“We try to use a holistic approach to target our users.
This includes features like:
Moreover, we send our users newsletters and mobile push notifications to nudge them to complete purchases.”
WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE TO YOUR CAMPAIGNS?
“When Ramadan rolls around, we break our campaigns into two phases.
Phase One focuses on pre-Ramadan, a different theme and environment altogether, and Phase Two, during which we focus on the month.
Continuing till the 10th of this month, Phase Two will focus on kitchen appliances and promoting healthy living. Moreover, bringing a sense of family, togetherness, and community is important during this time, which we’re highlighting by enabling homes to enrich their equipment with eXtra.”
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN TRENDS YOU’VE SEEN AROUND RAMADAN TIME?
“We’ve seen an uplift in air fryer sales because people are more serious about healthy living. So they’re looking for air fryers, and they’re also looking for things that can reduce their cooking time, like a hot pot or an instant pot.
Moreover, trends have changed in Saudi Arabia with regard to gender.
Both men and women are in the corporate environment now, which wasn’t the case earlier. They look for appliances that make cooking and living easier, like instantpots or smart robots – the demand for which has increased consistently over traditional electronics in the past few years.
Additionally, our target audience of middle-aged men or women, who used to be more active in our retailing industry, has also been scaling back, only to be replaced by Millennials and Gen Z, with the boost in healthy & convenient products or something that is automated. This also compels us to tweak our prices accordingly for people in their early twenties just moving into their new houses or apartments and starting their careers.
We cater to private-label brands like ClassPro with eXtra’s appliances and TVs, which fit their budget. That changes the uplift in these brands as well. And that has also made us introduce more private-level brands some time ago to capture that audience.”
WHAT ARE SOME USER BEHAVIOR-BASED TRENDS YOU’VE SEEN?
“We’ve noticed a major difference in our peak shopping hours. So on any other given day, our peak hours range from 6 to 9 PM. That’s a peak hour because people are at home during post office hours and lying on the bed watching TV and browsing our website.
However, during Ramadan, people stay up for Sehri till four. We’ve seen people leaving office by 3:00 PM or so. This makes 3 to 5 PM a slow period even though most users are out of office; they just go home to relax and begin preparations for iftar.
Now, most of our users are active after 6 PM, and that’s when they start browsing the website. So now our peak hour comes from 9:00 PM, actually 10:00 PM, and it goes on to 2 to 3:00 AM.”
Download Impact Story – Learn how eXtra witnessed a 33% increase in purchases through localized user engagement campaigns
CONCLUSION
We thank Arbash for speaking with us and giving his insights into eXtra’s user engagement strategies. We wish them Ramadan Mubarak and hope to see their sales skyrocket in the near future.
And we hope our readers enjoyed our blog and learn more about online user behavior and website trends during the holy month of Ramadan.
Surya Panicker
Harshita Lal
