The convergence of entertainment and commerce is creating a new playbook for retailers in the Middle East, and Ugreen’s latest campaign offers a glimpse into what the strategy can achieve.
The electronics manufacturer executed a four-month live commerce initiative in Saudi Arabia during the Ramadan season, timing its launch of a new Powerbank range with one of the region’s busiest shopping periods.
The results substantially exceeded conventional marketing approaches: click-through rates jumped 2.79 times higher than standard digital campaigns, while the rate at which shoppers viewed product detail pages surged 3.37 times, according to company data.
Perhaps most tellingly, 67 percent of the campaign’s sales came from customers buying Ugreen products for the first time, compared with a typical rate of 55 percent under traditional methods. Add-to-cart conversions tripled.
The achievement reflects a broader shift in how brands are engaging consumers across the Middle East and North Africa, a region where live commerce is gaining traction faster than almost anywhere else.
McKinsey projects that live streaming sales could represent one-fifth of all e-commerce transactions globally by 2026. In the MENA region alone, the market generated $824.5 million in revenue last year and is expected to expand at an annual rate of 31.6 percent through 2030.
“Live commerce represents the next evolution in how brands connect with customers in the Middle East,” said Amy, the e-commerce lead for Ugreen MENA.
“Our recent campaign on Amazon showed us the true potential of this format as we saw engagement rates triple and new customer acquisition being 22 percent higher than traditional approaches. What’s particularly compelling is how live commerce creates authentic connections while driving immediate results.”
The appeal extends across demographic lines, though younger shoppers appear especially receptive to the format. Generation Z and Millennial consumers gravitate toward the interactive and immediate nature of live commerce, a characteristic that distinguishes it from conventional online retail.
Conversion rates for live shopping can reach 30 percent, roughly ten times higher than standard e-commerce transactions, according to industry analysis.
Ugreen’s success follows a similar campaign by L’Oréal Paris in Saudi Arabia during last year’s Ramadan period. The beauty brand orchestrated live streaming sessions with three influencers and achieved a 54 percent lift in sales, while the featured products grew 146 percent faster than the broader beauty category on Amazon’s Saudi platform. The campaign reached more than 1.2 million viewers.
The momentum comes as the U.S. live commerce market alone is projected to reach $64 billion by 2026, signaling the format’s potential as a durable retail channel rather than a passing trend. Amazon has positioned itself as the infrastructure provider for this shift, integrating shopping functionality directly into live streams and enabling brands to reach customers at moments when purchasing impulses are highest.
For retailers and consumer brands, the strategic implication is clear: live commerce is no longer an experimental marketing tactic but a core component of engagement strategy. Companies seeking to expand in the Middle East, a region where digital adoption rates are high and mobile shopping dominates, increasingly cannot afford to overlook the channel.
The question now is not whether live commerce will take root in the region, but how quickly traditional retail and e-commerce players will adapt to capture the opportunities it presents.
