Majid Al Futtaim announces strategic partnership with start-up Mr Usta

Majid Al Futtaim has formed a strategic partnership with Mr Usta that will see the home service marketplace become the preferred after-sale solution provider for Majid Al Futtaim brands in the UAE. The partnership will provide customers at Carrefour, Crate & Barrel and Maison du Monde with the option to access licensed, reliable, and skilled professionals to complete after sale services. Customers of SHARE, Majid Al Futtaim’s lifestyle rewards programme, will also have the option to earn and redeem points on Mr Usta services through the SHARE app. This agreement comes at a critical time when UAE residents have been advised to remain at home to curb the spread of Covid-19, and remain dependent on services such as home maintenance, fitting and fixing, cleaning, sanitisation, painting, and landscaping.

Joe Abi Akl, Chief Corporate Development Officer at Majid Al Futtaim commented: “We continue to evolve our business ecosystem to ensure that our customers have access to the best end-to-end experience. To do this, it is important for Majid Al Futtaim to add complementary and adjacent business services to our core businesses through partnerships with innovative solution providers. In many cases, this means working with start-ups and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), such as Mr Usta. These companies are the backbone of the UAE economy and vital to the country’s efforts to rebound from the economic implications of Covid-19.

“Given the financial pressure on smaller businesses at present, we believe that large conglomerates like Majid Al Futtaim can have a positive influence on the SME sector through similar partnerships. While this agreement will provide new revenue streams for Mr Usta, it will improve our offering and provide our customers with safe and reliable home services.”

According to the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, the SME sector represents more than 94 per cent of the total number of companies operating in the country, contributing towards 52 per cent of the non-oil GDP and more than 86 per cent of the private sector’s workforce. Due to Covid-19, SMEs have been negatively impacted by cash flow issues, access to credit and import costs. Majid Al Futtaim’s efforts to partner with relevant local and regional SMEs aim to bring stability during challenging times and contribute towards the nation’s economic rebound.

Majid Al Futtaim has also already committed to other partnerships to support the UAE’s local economy. Recently, it collaborated with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) to increase the availability of locally grown produce across its Carrefour stores in the UAE, opening new distribution channels for more than 6,000 small and medium-sized local farmers who have experienced disruption to their distribution routes. Additionally, Majid Al Futtaim launched an online marketplace through carrefouruae.com to provide the company’s shopping mall tenants and other businesses across the UAE with a new e-commerce channel to reach their customers.