Eid al-Adha in the Gulf is no longer simply a seasonal retail spike powered by discounts and last-minute shopping. New data from UAE-based gifting marketplace Udora and global performance marketing company Admitad suggests that the region’s festive commerce economy is undergoing a deeper behavioural transformation — one that is changing how brands, marketplaces, and SMEs engage consumers across the GCC.
The findings, based on 400,000 GCC e-commerce orders analysed by Admitad and 100,000 UAE gifting transactions tracked by Udora, project that GCC e-commerce spending during Eid al-Adha 2026 will grow by 8–10%, while the UAE gifting segment alone is expected to expand by 40%.
Yet the most important insight is not the growth itself, but the kind of growth taking place.
Emotional Spending Shift
The data suggests that consumers across the Gulf are moving away from purely transactional, discount-driven shopping and toward more intentional and emotionally informed spending. During Eid al-Adha 2025, some of the fastest-growing categories were plane tickets, which rose by 31%, jewellery and accessories at 25%, toys and hobbies at 23%, and car-related products at 22%.
These are not impulse-buy categories. They are purchases typically associated with research, comparison, quality evaluation, and emotional significance. Analysts say this reflects a broader maturation of GCC consumer behaviour, where festive spending is increasingly shaped by meaning and perceived long-term value rather than short-term promotions alone.
For marketers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, this marks a significant shift. The traditional Eid playbook built around aggressive discounts and mass-market advertising appears to be losing some of its effectiveness. Consumers increasingly expect brands to communicate cultural relevance, authenticity, and emotional resonance — even in everyday or utility-driven categories.
Rise of Homegrown
The report’s strongest signal, however, comes from the rapid rise of homegrown commerce.
Udora recorded a 102% increase in demand for gifts created by small entrepreneurs during the Eid al-Adha 2025 period, alongside an 84% increase in the number of transactions. The most significant growth came from categories closely linked to hospitality, tradition, and personal expression. Flowers recorded a 132% increase in GMV and accounted for 85% of all gifting orders, while confectionery and pastries grew by 118%.
The numbers point to a deeper consumer preference emerging across the Gulf: shoppers increasingly associate local products with authenticity and emotional value, particularly during culturally significant moments such as Eid. In this environment, artisans, florists, and smaller gifting brands are benefiting from consumers’ desire for products that feel more personal, familiar, and rooted in regional culture.
This shift also reflects the growing commercial strength of what could be described as “heritage commerce,” where cultural familiarity itself becomes a competitive advantage. Rather than relying solely on polished global branding, smaller businesses are succeeding by offering products and experiences that resonate emotionally with local consumers.
Digital Commerce Surge
The Gulf’s advanced digital infrastructure is accelerating this transition. During Eid al-Adha 2025, marketplaces accounted for 75% of e-commerce activity, while mobile commerce generated 47% of all orders. These platforms are reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products, pushing festive marketing further away from traditional broadcast advertising and closer to community-led, social-first storytelling across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
For brands, this changes the mechanics of influence itself. Consumers increasingly trust relatable creators, local recommendations, and culturally grounded narratives more than highly polished corporate campaigns. At the same time, digital marketplaces are lowering entry barriers for SMEs, enabling smaller businesses to reach consumers across cities and countries without building expensive physical retail networks.
Diverging Markets
The data also reveals distinct differences between the Gulf’s two largest markets. In 2025, UAE e-commerce GMV rose by 23%, while Saudi Arabia recorded a stronger 29% increase. Yet the shopping patterns differed sharply. Saudi consumers placed a larger number of smaller-ticket orders, with an average order value of $59, while UAE consumers made fewer but significantly larger purchases, with average basket sizes reaching $103.
The divergence suggests that Saudi Arabia is driving transaction volume and market scale, while the UAE continues to function as a premium consumption market where shoppers are willing to spend more on curated or aspirational purchases. Consumer preferences also varied by country. UAE shoppers leaned more heavily toward car products, fashion, toys, and hobbies, while Saudi consumers prioritised car products and home goods.
For regional marketers, the takeaway is increasingly clear: the GCC cannot be treated as a single uniform consumer market, even during shared cultural moments such as Eid.
The report argues that this growing preference for local commerce also aligns with broader economic priorities across the Gulf. In the UAE, initiatives such as Operation 300bn and We the UAE 2031 position SMEs as central to long-term non-oil economic growth. Meanwhile, Saudi Vision 2030 aims to increase SME contribution to GDP to 35% by 2030.
This policy environment is creating favourable conditions for smaller regional brands. Programmes that provide access to retail space inside Majid Al Futtaim malls are helping SMEs expand their offline visibility, while digital platforms such as Udora allow them to scale beyond major urban centres and reach consumers across the country.
Taken together, these trends suggest that Eid al-Adha 2026 reflects more than just a seasonal increase in spending. The combination of government support for SMEs, rising trust in e-commerce, and a growing consumer preference for culturally relevant local businesses points to a deeper structural shift in Gulf consumer behaviour.
The future winners of GCC commerce may not necessarily be the brands with the largest advertising budgets, but those capable of combining convenience with authenticity, digital sophistication with cultural familiarity, and scale with emotional relevance. Eid al-Adha 2026, in that sense, may represent not only a strong shopping season, but the emergence of a distinctly Gulf model of modern consumer culture.
