Many consumers reported changes in prices for natural and consumer goods at major retail outlets, having branches in several emirates for short periods, not exceeding a week, without promotional activities. They noted that many of these goods are perceived as scarce by consumers, considering that this is seen as a form of consumer exploitation, which makes them lose trust in such retail outlets.
In response to this, retailers stated that price differences in such cases, as a rule, are not significant, and explained this by the collected prices on certain operations related to goods, such as supply chains, internal transport operations, storage, as well as competition, the desire to increase sales, and mistakes by employees of retail outlets.
One of the consumers, Hasan Ismail, noted that he observed changes in the initial prices of popular natural goods for short periods without promotions. He pointed out that at one of the major retail outlets, a product of the well-known brand of salt was sold for 15.90 dirhams, without discounts. The following week, the same brand and volume were sold for 16.95 dirhams. He characterized this as "unfair" and consumer exploitation, even if the price difference between them was minimal.
Consumer Habba Kasem also expressed observations of price changes for consumer goods in major retail outlets. She saw that a dish set was sold for 350 dirhams, and the following week the same set of this brand with the same quantity of items cost already 363 dirhams. Also, in the retail outlet, headphones were presented at a price of 300 dirhams, but the price for them was reduced to 290 dirhams the following week.
Sib Yahia noted that he observed price collectives for natural and consumer goods in major retail outlets for very short periods. He mentioned that at one of the retail outlets, shampoo was sold for 22 dirhams, without discounts, but a few days later the same brand was already sold for 24.50 dirhams. He also noted the collective prices for fruits and vegetables, with most of them being represented with a trend towards price increases.
The expert in retail, Dibi Najbal, stated that such practices make consumers gradually lose trust in retail outlets, especially considering the numerous alternatives in the emirates due to a large number of retail outlets and fierce competition among them. He called for retail outlets to reconsider some additional costs arising from temporary circumstances, such as transportation and others, and not shift them to the consumer, especially if this is seen as something urgent and short-term, explaining that the larger profits of retail outlets allow them to do this.
