Does Product Differentiation Strategy Mediate the Relationship Between Cost Leadership Strategy and Order-Winners? An Empirical Evidence from UAE Retail Industry

In the past decade, the importance of the mediating effect of cost leadership strategies on improving order winners has not been analysed. This research will provide a high level of knowledge to retail industry players. To empirically investigate the relationship between cost leadership and product differentiation in the United Arab Emirates retail industry to improve order winners. A quantitative, descriptive, and exploratory research design was used with a convenient sampling technique that helped to analyse data from 241 valid respondents through regression with ANOVA. The research results indicate the acceptance of the proposed hypothesis that there is a significant direct relationship between cost leadership strategy and product differentiation, and cost leadership significantly impacting order winners. In contrast, the indirect effect of product differentiation helped to increase firm performance by implementing a cost leadership strategy. This study was limited to examining cost leadership strategy, order winners, and product differentiation. Future research is recommended to comprehensively examine longitudinal research with a SWOT analysis of the retail industry using cost leadership strategies. High-quality products with low prices can maintain customer loyalty and competitive advantage. The retail industry needs technological adaptations that influence market trends with high customer demands.