It is always amusing to read and hear about wrong western perceptions about Saudi women, their abayas and their clothing trends.
In the latest “gee whiz” article in a major American newspaper, it was reported that a famous company opened its first freestanding beauty and lingerie store in Riyadh. The store, which has been operating in Saudi Arabia for longer than I remember, has apparently surfaced as a mega retailer that discovered that there is a consumer base in the Kingdom willing to buy lingerie and is willing to sacrifice its business principles to sell to Saudis
The article published in the Wall Street Journal contains all the boilerplate language steeped in stereotyping about the Kingdom with women dressed head-to-toe in black abayas and can’t leave home without male guardians blah blah blah. It then examines how various western retailers are somehow breaking new ground by tapping into Saudis’ fashion and home decorating sense by “bending” to the strict religious rules of the country.
By adhering to those strict rules, these retailers are hiring only women for their lingerie shops and take special care in their advertising and marketing campaigns. Special care in the retail-advertising world means using less sexually provocative photographs to sell clothes and lingerie.
As every Saudi knows major foreign retails and restaurant chains have been operating in Saudi Arabia for decades. And for these many years, western companies have tailored their business according to Saudi sensibilities.
One major steakhouse opened recently in Jeddah has a policy that its staff does not dance while singing “Happy Birthday” to its diners and does not allow peanut shells thrown on the floor, as is the custom in its US restaurants. No restaurant offers pork or alcohol on its menu, although alcohol sales are usually restaurants’ biggest profit-maker in the West. Even ingredients in food preparations are adjusted to Saudi tastes. Restaurants are willing to implement costlier policies to attract the Saudi consumer.
What western economic experts fail to consider is that foreign retailers adjust their business model not only to the country they are operating in, but also the region within that country. How a major retailer or restaurant chain operates in Riyadh may be different from their operation in Jeddah. A retail outlet in Riyadh may mot play music in its store to conform to the values of its consumers, but its Jeddah branch will.
It’s not caving in to Saudi demands, as the media would imply, but a sophisticated approach to attracting customers. What works in Jeddah may not work in Taif, so adjustment tactics change to attract customers.
Three years ago, a major western furniture outlet encountered ridicule from western media for deleting an image of a woman in its advertising literature while the same photo in the West contained the model’s image. The company apologized for offending its western customers, but it only did what any savvy business would do and that’s not to offend its Saudi consumer base.
The Saudi middle class has a fair amount of disposable income. It certainly has enough money to spend on beauty and lingerie products. But consumers will not spend money at shops they believe is disrespecting their culture and traditions no matter how odd they seem to the rest of the world. Retailers are not stupid. They give up nothing by following strict social guidelines and have much to gain by securing a loyal customer base.
To some, however, western companies that come into Saudi Arabia and tailor their operations to Saudi standards are somehow traitorous to the western business ethic. Hardly, it is the western business ethic. It’s the art of making money.
