The GCC consumer is becoming harder to define — and that may be the most important insight for brands operating in the region. The traditional image of the Gulf shopper as affluent, brand-conscious and highly receptive to premium products is being replaced by a more complex consumer: digitally sophisticated but value-conscious, interested in wellness but mindful of prices, attracted to global brands while increasingly valuing local relevance, and willing to experiment with artificial intelligence while becoming more concerned about privacy and trust.
Recent research from PwC Middle East captures this transition. Its 2025 Voice of the Consumer survey covered 2,624 Middle Eastern respondents, including 1,014 from Saudi Arabia, 1,002 from the UAE and 300 from Qatar. The sample was particularly young and urban: 81% were aged between 18 and 44, while 82% lived in large cities.
For marketers, the implications are significant. The GCC consumer is no longer simply asking, “What does this brand offer?” Increasingly, the questions are: “Is it worth the price? Is it convenient? Can I trust it? Is it relevant to my lifestyle? And can technology make the experience better?”
Value is back at the centre
Affluence has not disappeared from the Gulf, but value has become much more important. PwC found that 49% of consumers across its Middle East sample identified the cost of living as one of the most pressing national concerns. At the same time, 57% described themselves as financially secure — suggesting that financial confidence and price sensitivity can coexist.
This creates a more nuanced consumer mindset. Shoppers may still spend on premium products and experiences, but they increasingly expect a clear justification for the premium.
Saudi Arabia illustrates the trend particularly well. According to PwC’s Saudi Arabia findings, 47% of respondents ranked cost of living among the three issues most likely to affect the Kingdom over the following year. Yet 92% described themselves as financially secure.
For brands, this means discounting alone is not the answer. The opportunity is to communicate value — quality, durability, convenience, health benefits, service or experience — rather than simply competing on price.
The smartphone has become the storefront
The GCC consumer journey is increasingly mobile-first. Deloitte’s Digital Consumer Trends 2025 research, based on 2,000 consumers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, found that 96% use smartphones daily.
But the more important change is what consumers are doing on those devices. Seventy-three percent said they had made a purchase through social media during the previous year. Social platforms are therefore moving beyond awareness and engagement to become genuine commerce environments.
That has major consequences for advertisers. The traditional funnel — awareness, consideration, purchase — is becoming compressed. A consumer can discover a product through a creator, watch a review, click a product link, compare prices and complete a purchase without leaving the social environment.
Influencers, creators, reviews and user-generated content consequently become part of the retail experience, not merely marketing communications.
AI is entering the shopping journey
The next transformation could be even more profound. Deloitte found that 58% of consumers surveyed in Saudi Arabia and the UAE had used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini.
The trend is accelerating. Deloitte’s 2026 Saudi Arabia Digital Consumer Trends report found that 66% of surveyed Saudi consumers aged 18–50 were actively using AI tools.
This potentially changes how consumers discover brands. Search engines and social feeds have traditionally controlled discovery. AI assistants may increasingly become another layer between consumers and brands — recommending products, comparing alternatives, explaining features and potentially influencing final purchase decisions.
For marketers, visibility may therefore increasingly depend not only on traditional search optimisation but also on whether a brand’s information is accurate, structured, credible and discoverable by AI systems.
Physical retail is not dead
Yet digitalisation does not mean the end of physical retail in the GCC. In fact, the region demonstrates how online and offline behaviour can coexist.
PwC’s latest Middle East consumer research found that 38% of consumers regularly shop at local retailers, above the global average of 34%. Meanwhile, Mastercard’s 2025 Consumer Shopper Snapshot found that 90% of surveyed UAE consumers used physical stores for holiday shopping, while 87% bought gifts through e-commerce marketplaces.
The lesson is clear: GCC consumers are not choosing between physical and digital retail. They are moving between them.
A mall visit may begin with social-media discovery. A product may be examined in-store and purchased online. Alternatively, an online search may lead to a physical store visit. The winning retailers will be those that make these transitions seamless.
Local relevance matters
Globalisation has not erased local identity. In Saudi Arabia, more than a third of PwC respondents preferred locally produced food. The reasons were revealing: 51% cited higher quality, 43% support for the local economy and 41% health benefits.
But values still have to meet economics. PwC found that 56% of Saudi consumers would choose a cheaper imported product over a more expensive local equivalent.
This is an important lesson for GCC marketers. “Local” is increasingly powerful as a brand proposition, but it cannot substitute for competitiveness. Local relevance has to be accompanied by quality, accessibility and value.
Trust may become the ultimate differentiator
As consumers become more dependent on digital platforms, creators and AI, trust is becoming more valuable — and more fragile.
Deloitte found that 56% of consumers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE believe companies often overstate their environmental credentials. Its research also highlighted concerns around privacy and misinformation.
The GCC consumer of the future is therefore unlikely to be simply “digital-first”. The better description is trust-first and digitally empowered.
For brands, that means the winning strategy is not merely more personalisation, more influencers or more AI. It is a combination of value, convenience, relevance, credibility and experience.
The GCC remains one of the world’s most dynamic consumer markets, with PwC estimating the region’s retail market at approximately US$309.6 billion in 2023 and projecting it to reach US$386.9 billion by 2028.
The opportunity for brands is enormous. But the consumer is changing faster than the old stereotypes. In the new GCC marketplace, winning consumers will require brands to understand not just what people buy, but why, where, how and whom they trust before they buy.
