JEDDAH, 2 August 2006 — Marketing statistics in Saudi Arabia show that families spend an average of SR400 on back-to-school gear and SR5,000 in Ramadan-related goods and services. This year the two annual consumer spending sprees will overlap, and retailers are preparing their sales strategies to accommodate both, according to Al-Riyadh newspaper.

Stationery shops and bookstores rack up their best sales when students return to schools after the summer vacation.

School starts on Sept. 9 while Ramadan commences on Sept. 24, but consumers tend to begin their shopping a few weeks prior to the first day of the holy month of fasting.

Even though the two shopping seasons have coincided before — and will coincide for the next three years until Ramadan shifts to mid-summer — economists are expecting this year to be better than average due to the booming Saudi economy.

Saudi oil revenues will break to a record $202.7 billion, according to a mid-year report from Samba Financial Group. Annual economic growth is projected at 5.8 percent in real terms, down from 6.53 percent last year but still strong.

The Kingdom is also experiencing a wider playing field as the country seeks more integration with the global economy, as evidenced by its accession last year to the World Trade Organization.

Saudi retailers are gearing up for this perfect-storm phenomenon by instituting aggressive parallel sales and marketing schemes for both Ramadan and back-to-school. Competition to net in this windfall will likely be fierce, providing customers with a wide range of promotions and pricings.

The Saudi retail sector is estimated to be worth SR60 billion ($16 billion) of which SR50 billion consists of food and beverage purchases.

The stationery market alone in Saudi Arabia is estimated at SR1 billion a year, most of which is made during the two weeks before schools reopen after the summer holidays.

The back-to-school shopping season is an international phenomenon in consumer spending while Ramadan shopping is specifically Muslim. This will influence marketing schemes by multinationals seeking to create advertising campaigns that merge the global with Muslim-specific consumer trends.

Saudi cities come alive a couple of hours after iftar, when shoppers begin thronging stores and malls that stay open till after midnight, enticing customers with special offers on their goods.