The Business of Supporting Small Retailers in the UAE

At the market level, the UAE retail sector continues to expand. Estimates place its size between $44 billion and $145 billion, depending on how retail is defined, and most forecasts point to annual growth of around 5–6% over the coming years. Tourism continues to support demand, population growth adds volume, and consumer spending remains relatively resilient.

As the market has grown, however, the competitive landscape has shifted. Retailers of all sizes are now expected to operate with consistency, pricing discipline, and professional execution. These expectations apply equally to large brands and small independents, even though their access to capital, data, and operational support differs significantly. To address this, Victoria Myers established the Small Retailers Network.

From shared systems to individual exposure

Victoria Myers spent more than 20 years working inside large UK retail organisations, including Radley London, Karen Millen, Arcadia Group, John Lewis and Selfridges. In these businesses, risk was shared by design. Teams reviewed buying decisions; data and forecasts guided pricing decisions; and when mistakes occurred, their impact was absorbed by the organisation rather than borne by one person.

When Myers relocated to Dubai and began working with independent retailers, she encountered a very different structure.

“I discovered a vibrant landscape of small, independent retail businesses,” she says. “Many were owned and operated by people from non-retail backgrounds. They were creative and passionate, but often unsure how to grow sales consistently.”

In these businesses, decisions were personal rather than institutional. Inventory was often funded from personal savings; marketing spend came directly from cash flow, and a pricing or buying mistake had immediate consequences for the founder’s ability to continue trading.

“As newcomers to the industry, their owners often felt isolated, overwhelmed, and unsure how to grow sales consistently,” Myers explains.

A market that no longer allows slow learning

As the UAE retail sector has matured, it has become less forgiving of trial and error. International brands arrive with established supply chains and access to consumer data. Regional retail groups dominate prime locations and benefit from purchasing power and scale. Experiential retail continues to grow, but the capital required to participate keeps it out of reach for most independent operators.

Digital channels have not reduced this pressure. Instead, they have added new layers of complexity. Visibility increasingly depends on sustained marketing spend, customer acquisition costs continue to rise, and platforms reward volume and consistency. Independent retailers are expected to operate across physical stores, social platforms, marketplaces, and direct-to-consumer channels while managing inventory risk on their own balance sheets.

Larger retailers respond to these conditions with dedicated research teams, forecasting tools, and structured planning processes. Independent founders face the same market dynamics without access to those systems.

Where other support organisations fit

Before many founders find the Small Retailer Network, they typically engage with other forms of business support. Startup hubs such as in5 and AstroLabs provide workspace, mentorship, and access to networks, and they play an essential role in the early stages of business formation. Their programmes, however, are primarily designed for technology startups and service businesses, where growth is not constrained by inventory risk or cash tied up in stock.

Government-backed organisations such as Dubai SME operate at a different level within the ecosystem. They offer guidance on licensing, funding, and compliance, which is valuable for navigating regulations. What they do not provide is sustained, retail-specific operational support for founders making commercial decisions week after week.

At the platform level, companies such as Shopify offer tools, education, and global best practices. These platforms enable access to technology, but they are designed to scale across markets rather than reflect local cost structures, mall economics, or the realities of selling limited volumes in a competitive environment.

Founders also encounter global online courses, paid communities, and coaching programmes. These typically deliver advice efficiently, but at a distance. Content is consumed, but decisions are still made in isolation, without peer comparison or continuity.

How the Small Retailer Network fills the gap

The Small Retailer Network positions itself between these structures. It focuses on product-based retail businesses operating in the UAE and the wider GCC and is built around regular participation rather than short-term intervention.

Weekly online sessions create a steady rhythm. Monthly in-person events build familiarity and trust. Shared tools and templates reduce the burden of repeated decision-making. Over time, members encounter the same challenges across different businesses, including pricing uncertainty, overbuying, discount dependence, and inconsistent marketing.

As these issues recur, they become easier to recognise and address.

“The shift was from simply sharing knowledge to becoming a supportive ecosystem,” Myers says. “Members can implement proven tools and strategies, get feedback, and see real results.”

Learning happens gradually, reinforced through discussion and observation rather than instruction alone. This mirrors how knowledge accumulates inside larger retail organisations, but at a scale that independent founders can sustain.

Competing with size rather than with peers

The network’s main challenge is the absence of other communities or programmes. It is the advantage that size gives to larger retailers. In a market growing at around 5% a year, small businesses compete with organisations that can absorb mistakes. A single poor buying decision can disrupt an independent retailer’s cash flow for months, while the same error is diluted across volume for a larger player.

The Small Retailer Network does not remove this imbalance. It reduces its impact by helping founders see problems earlier and understand them more clearly.

Why this model exists now

Independent retail is not disappearing from the UAE, but the conditions under which it operates have become more demanding. Costs continue to rise faster than margins, platforms capture a growing share of value, and consumers expect professional execution regardless of business size.

In this environment, operating alone becomes expensive.

The Small Retailer Network exists because the market has reached a point at which isolation incurs real costs. It does not promise disruption or rapid scale. It offers continuity, shared understanding, and steady support in a retail environment that increasingly rewards structure and punishes guesswork.