Watsons announces expansion into Qatar and other GCC markets

Watsons has announced its entry into the Qatari market with its new store in Doha Festival City, following the launch of outlets in Dubai Mall, Dubai Festival City, Mall of the Emirates and Al Wahda Mall in United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Mall of Dhahra in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The 3,000 sq. ft. ‘beauty-land’ with designated zones like Natural & Clean Beauty features the Sustainable Choices products, and an open makeup area for customers to try out different looks.

 “Al-Futtaim signed a franchise agreement with Watsons in early 2020 with the vision to bring fashionable and affordable beauty and lifestyle products to customers in the GCC region. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic interruption, these stores were opened in less than 24 months,” said Jonathan Watts, General Manager of Watsons GCC at Al-Futtaim.

“Qatar is a truly vibrant and unique market. While customers are getting more and more sophisticated about beauty and personal care, Watsons as the skin expert is delighted to bring our customers exclusive international brands. The excitement is overwhelming as customers have been eagerly waiting for Watsons to expand across the GCC via our O+O (Offline plus Online) retail model, allowing beauty lovers of all generations to shop offline and online.”

Watsons as a beauty authority is bringing over 200 brands from around the world, offering makeup, skincare, haircare to personal care. Close to half of its products are exclusive at Watsons, including brands from the UK, France, Japan, and Korea. Some of the top pick brands include Deweytree, Holika Holika, Leaders, Superdrug, Target Pro by Watsons, and more.