DED launches bilingual ‘Consumer Choice’ programme to evaluate consumers experience in retail sector

The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai has launched an innovative programme to enable customers in the emirate’s retail, hospitality and entertainment sectors to rate their experience and share reviews. The bilingual (Arabic/English) ‘Customer Choice,’ being launched by the Commercial Compliance & Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in DED, seeks to learn and document customer satisfaction levels and the challenges shoppers face, in order to bridge gaps and improve customer relations, eventually enhancing ease of doing business in Dubai, and the UAE in general.

DED will start implementing Consumer Choice, which is the first consumer empowerment initiative of its kind in the region, by December 2016. The initiative comes close on the heels of the ‘Consumer Empowerment Index,’ launched recently by DED to monitor consumer behaviour and their familiarity with consumer protection laws and regulations. The index aims to promote best practices in customer relations and take consumer awareness to a higher level of ‘consumer consciousness.’

Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said the Consumer Choice programme will provide a new experience to shopping in Dubai as consumers will be able to evaluate all outlets and shopping malls as well as entertainment and tourist attractions.

“Initially, consumers can rate their experience and share their reviews through a dedicated Consumer Choice website and soon they will have the facility on the DED mobile application too. The programme will contribute to upgrading the level of services provided by the Department of Economic Development as well as the various outlets and service points in Dubai according to the evolving needs of consumers,” Lootah said.

The programme, currently in its final testing phase, will cover the outlets across all shopping malls in the first phase, gradually extending to all retail, leisure and hospitality points in Dubai. The process and steps for rating consumer experience and sharing reviews will be published in prominent locations, including malls and social networking sites, and also through radio advertisements. Consumers can also add a store or location if it’s not listed in the system, and the quality assurance team in DED will review and approve it.

“The Department of Economic Development is keen to promote the use of Arabic language and encourage enterprises that use Arabic as a medium. Consumer Choice is first in the region to comprehensively assess consumer experience in Arabic and English, thus enabling a wider consumer population to document their feedback. Studies done by our team show that feedback and rating programmes available in English only was a major limitation,” Lootah explained.

Through providing feedback on key aspects of consumer experiences, the Consumer Choice programme will support the Consumer Empowerment Index, said Lootah. It will also help identify malpractices committed by consumers in purchasing, thereby helping to adopt remedial measures.

Lootah added: "It’s a five-star evaluation system that also allows consumers to review the positives and negatives spotted throughout their experience with a product or service.  Customers thus documenting the good and bad in an outlet or service point will motivate businesses to improve the experience they provide and it will eventually ensure that the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in Dubai upholds the topmost global quality standards.”

Consumer Choice is essential to building a consumer-conscious enterprise environment in Dubai. Lootah said. “The Department of Economic Development honours the most consumer-friendly outlets in Dubai every year in order to stimulate competition and further improvement of products and services available in the emirate. The retail trade being one of the engines of the local economy and a major attraction for visitors to the emirate, maintaining best practices in this sector is critical to reinforcing Dubai as a global destination of choice.”