Sources: Logic Consulting GCC retail transformation analysis; IMARC Group Saudi Arabia retail market report; 23HubLab State of Digital Growth in the GCC (2026).

Physical retail is not dying in the Gulf, it is being rewired. Shoppers still visit malls and hypermarkets for the experience, but they research products online first, expect click-and-collect and same-day delivery as standard, and move fluidly between app, website and store within a single purchase decision. Al-Futtaim’s rollout of click-and-collect and same-day delivery for IKEA across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, alongside a virtual store experience at IKEA Dubai Mall, is a clear signal of where the region’s largest retail groups are investing.

The most common failure the region’s retail groups still make is treating online and offline as separate businesses with separate P&Ls, which creates internal competition instead of one connected customer journey. The retailers pulling ahead, Apparel Group across 2,500-plus stores in 14 countries, Jumbo Electronics moving to a full omnichannel model connecting website, app and store network, are the ones that stopped asking which channel gets credit for a sale and started asking how every channel serves the same customer.

The GCC’s next advertising battleground is inside the retailers themselves. Majid Al Futtaim has deployed Advertima’s Audience AI across Carrefour’s UAE hypermarkets through its Precision Media unit, bringing digital media planning and measurement into physical stores. ADNOC Distribution has launched Engage, the UAE’s first full-funnel retail media network run by a mobility and convenience retailer, built on first-party data from more than 2.7 million ADNOC Rewards members, nearly 700,000 daily service-station customers and over 250 million annual transactions.

In ecommerce, Noon and Amazon now function as retail media platforms in their own right in the UAE, meaning brands increasingly need paid visibility inside the marketplace, not just around it, alongside their own SEO and store data. The reason retail media is accelerating is simple: it answers the question every CMO now has to answer for the CFO, precisely how much return a marketing dollar generated. For brands, this means the retail media budget line is no longer optional, it sits alongside Meta, Google and TikTok as a channel where the retailer’s own first-party data delivers targeting and attribution a cold ad platform cannot match.

Total GCC digital ad spend is projected to reach $12.4 billion in 2026, growing 19% a year, with Saudi Arabia accounting for roughly 48% of that spend and the UAE another 35%. Within that, Meta Instagram CPMs run around $7.80 in Saudi Arabia and $9.60 in the UAE, TikTok has scaled to 28 million regional users with average daily sessions exceeding 52 minutes and CPAs 20 to 35% below Meta in categories like fashion, and Snapchat remains the lowest-cost major platform in Saudi Arabia at 22 million-plus users. AI-powered campaign optimisation is reducing customer acquisition costs by 30 to 40% for retailers that have adopted it properly.

Two disciplines separate retailers that perform well from those that burn budget. First, WhatsApp conversion tracking, since most MENA leads and a meaningful share of retail sales convert through WhatsApp chat, yet it goes untracked in most retail analytics setups, hiding a large share of true performance. Second, seasonal bid discipline, since Ramadan alone drives CPCs up 20 to 40%, and a retailer running flat, un-adjusted bids through the season is paying a premium for the same result a smarter calendar would buy more cheaply.

The 2026 Gulf consumer remains price-sensitive on everyday goods but is increasingly willing to pay for time, atmosphere and social connection, and retailers are responding by turning malls and stores into lifestyle destinations, spaces to eat, socialise, play and learn under one roof rather than simply transact. Saudi retailers in particular are deploying AI-driven personalisation and omnichannel tools in-store, from smart fitting-room mirrors to real-time loyalty offers, reducing checkout friction while raising the perceived value of the visit. This experiential push is backed by genuine macro tailwinds, with MENA GDP forecast to grow 3.6% in 2026 against a 3.1% global average, and UAE and Saudi non-oil sectors expanding at close to 5%.