Consumers reported that major retail outlets in the country have raised prices on offers for essential and non-essential goods after prices remained stable for many months.

They told “Emarat Al Youm” that the price increases affected brands of chilled meat, frozen chicken pieces, rice, tea, legumes, juices, soap, shampoo, and others.

On the other hand, two officials at retail outlets said several factors contributed to the price hikes, mainly increased transportation costs, changes in prices of goods in the country of origin, higher demand for some brands, and reduced competition. They also noted that offer prices tend to rise during the summer to compensate for decreased sales due to summer vacations outside the country.

Stable Levels

Consumer Fadwa Irfan said, “Retail outlets with branches across the emirates raised prices on product offers after they had remained stable for many months without change.”

She explained that one outlet raised the price per kilogram of a type of beef in the offer from 31 AED to 39 AED, an increase of 25.8%. Another outlet raised the price of a popular soap offer to 24.80 AED for four pieces, after the offer price had been fixed for over a year at 18.30 AED, a rise of 35.5%.

Consumer Mona Yaseen agreed, noting that retail outlets with branches across the emirates raised offer prices after long stability.

She explained that one outlet raised the offer price of a popular imported basmati rice from 52 AED per kilogram to 60 AED, a 15.4% increase. The same outlet raised the offer price of a type of shampoo from 20 AED to 27.50 AED, a 37.5% increase, after the offer price had remained stable for many months.

Consumer Hashem Al-Sayed wondered about the reasons behind the price increases at major retail outlets after prices had remained low and stable for many months, which encouraged him to buy regularly, especially as the products are of good quality.

He explained that one outlet raised the offer price of a type of tea from 20 AED to 25.95 AED, an increase of about 30%. Another outlet raised the price of frozen chicken pieces from a certain brand from 22.25 AED to 26 AED, an increase of about 17%. The price of a type of juice offer was also raised from 9.75 AED to 12.25 AED, a 25.6% increase.

Offer Prices

Hassan Rizk, an official at a major retail outlet, said, “Many offer prices are naturally variable, and raising some offer prices after a long period of stability is mainly due to increased prices of goods in the country of origin or sudden increases in their costs, such as higher production costs due to raw material price increases or higher transportation and shipping costs.”

Rajeev Tamara, an official at another retail outlet, agreed with Rizk, explaining that additional factors behind the price increases include higher demand for the product, less market competition, and producers’ desire to increase offer prices during the summer to compensate for decreased sales due to summer vacations outside the country.

He added that offer prices are naturally variable and may return to previous levels if the conditions that caused the increase change, noting that any change is made upon request or in full coordination with suppliers and producers.