Customer loyalty leads to long term benefits for the firm. In addition to this organizations are now considering loyalty marketing as it gives an advantage to organizations over their competitors.  There are some customers that are known as truly loyal customers since they always prefer buying from one store rather than the competitor. With all such benefits in view organizations are always working to figure out more ways through which customer loyalty can be achieved. A way of gaining this customer loyalty is by understanding the needs and wants of customers and then working towards achieving those. Companies usually use relationship marketing that means creating strong relationships with customers as this also gives them a competitive edge (Szydlowska, 2018)

           The retail sector in Oman has made great success over the years that have brought benefits in economic terms as well. If we look at the economic figures we can see that the in the years 2015-2017 the retail sector made a contribution of 8% to the GDP of Oman that means that yearly the sector contributed to the GDP more than 2 billion. Many people hold an optimistic view about the future of the retail sector in Oman; they predict that by 2021 GCC will become more development of around $300 billion. This project will create more jobs directly and indirectly. The real question is how the retail sector of Oman can maximize customer loyalty. A very simple definition of the retail sector is that it is the one involved in selling goods and services through supply chains to customers in order to gain profits.  This procedure of retail sector firms includes production, warehousing and finally distributing the prepared products to the customers. The most prominent example of the increase in the retail sector in Oman is that how rapidly huge shopping malls are being constructed.  Shopping malls are considered as a one-stop place where the sellers can meet the people willing to buy their products (Kindi, 2019).

            Even though the retail sector of Oman contributes so much to the country’s GDP very little research has been conducted hence, the information available is not sufficient. Retail sector contribution in Oman’s GDP is near to what the secondary sector contribution is i.e around 9% of GDP.  Research conducted in 2017, showed that the number of people employed in the retail sector of Oman has increased to 36000. However, it is important to keep in mind that these researches do not differentiate between the retail sector and the automotive sector. So basically the 13% ratios of organizations that have been found include both the sectors. In order to achieve 65% of the ratio entirely in the retail sector, there need to be some reforms. One example of such changes is that "educational infrastructure" should be established in order to benefit the youth of Oman. The important issue that policymakers face is how to make sure that the educational reforms then produce results that will meet the requirement of the labor market. This issue can be resolved by doing a detailed study on what career, skills, and knowledge will aid the development of the retail sector in Oman. This will prepare individuals for middle and top positions in the organizations (Kindi, 2019).

            By tradition retails businesses were owned and run a small scale level. In Arabic, such markets are known as souk that is still present in towns of Oman. Over 90% of the retailers were based on a small scale. The products that were to be sold were purchased by the owner and there were not set prices rather the price was charged by figuring out what the consumer will be willing to pay. The price at which the products were bought by the sellers was determined by the producers. The popular Jumma bazaars used to take place weekly where all sorts of products were sold like livestock. Today too Jumma bazaars are quite an attraction but now there are usually done for the sale of a second-hand product. Homemade products and handcrafts were sold in souks. Livestock's are also sold in some souks, for instance, Sinaw and Nizwa.  This has increased the number of people employed that has increased the spending in the economy, especially in the retail sector. This has led to an increase in the number of big shopping malls. International chains like Carrefour, Spinney's and Sultan Center have also opened their doors in Oman. All this has led to a boom in the tertiary sector of the economy (Kindi, 2019).

References of  Most Beneficial Ways to Build Customer Loyalty in Retail Industry in Oman

Kindi, A. A., 2019. A roadmap for the retail sector in Oman. [Online]
Available at: http://www.omanobserver.om/a-roadmap-for-the-retail-sector-in-oman/

Szydlowska, K., 2018. Factors impacting on customers’ loyalty in retail sector. Case study of Waitrose. s.l.:GRIN Verlag.