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Khaleej Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
UAE spending surge anticipated heading into Dubai Summer Surprises 2025
As the UAE gears up for another season of Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), new data reveals a sharp increase in digital spending during last year's campaign, with signals pointing to even greater momentum this summer. The number of daily digital transactions in the UAE jumped by 25% year-on-year during the DSS 2024 period, while consumers also spent more per transaction, with average ticket sizes growing by 16% year-on-year, according to data from A closer look at the data uncovers deeper consumer behaviour shifts. Spending on interior furnishings rose notably last year, suggesting that many residents used the summer period and DSS sales as an opportunity to upgrade their homes. Recreation-related categories also spiked, indicating an increase in families opting for local leisure experiences during the school break. The toys and sporting goods sector saw heightened activity as parents looked to keep children engaged through the hotter months, while education spending climbed as families paid school tuition and stocked up for the academic year ahead. Notably, the automotive category also saw a summer boost, driven by seasonal promotions on vehicles and related services. own processing volumes in the UAE rose by 44% during last year's DSS, reflecting a broader shift toward online-first lifestyles and growing consumer trust in digital payments across high-intent seasonal moments. These insights are consistent with latest State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025 report, which found 62% of UAE consumers plan to increase their online shopping next year, and 44% now say that they shop for better options online even while browsing in-store. 'Dubai Summer Surprises continues to act as a key catalyst for digital commerce in the region,' said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at 'From household upgrades to family recreation and back-to-school prep, the data shows UAE consumers turning to digital channels to meet both everyday needs and high-value purchases. With the growth we've seen year over year, we expect 2025 to break even more records.' As the region continues to lead in digital commerce adoption, the summer months are proving to be peak moments for merchants to connect with digitally savvy consumers driven by speed, convenience, and seamless online experiences.
Gulf Business
03-07-2025
- Business
- Gulf Business
UAE sees 25% rise in digital transactions during Dubai's summer shopping festival: Checkout.com
Image: Supplied As Dubai gears up for its annual According to the payment solutions provider, daily digital transactions in the UAE rose by 25 per cent year-on-year during DSS 2024. Consumers also spent more per transaction, with average ticket sizes increasing by 16 per cent. own UAE processing volumes surged 44 per cent year-on-year, reflecting greater consumer trust in digital payments and a shift toward online-first retail behaviour during key seasonal campaigns. Deals A deeper look at the transaction data shows significant changes in consumer buying patterns. Categories such as interior furnishings, recreation, and education saw marked increases, as residents took advantage of DSS deals to renovate homes, invest in local family activities, and prepare for the academic year. Toys and sporting goods also spiked as parents sought ways to keep children engaged over the summer. The automotive sector benefited from summer-specific promotions, driving up digital activity for vehicle purchases and services. These findings align with State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025 report, which found that 62 per cent of UAE consumers plan to increase their online shopping in the year ahead. Furthermore, 44 per cent of shoppers said they now browse in physical stores while comparing options online. Read more: 'Dubai Summer Surprises continues to act as a key catalyst for digital commerce in the region,' said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, general manager for MENA at 'From household upgrades to family recreation and back-to-school prep, the data shows UAE consumers turning to digital channels to meet both everyday needs and high-value purchases. With the growth we've seen year over year, we expect 2025 to break even more records.' As the UAE continues to lead the region in digital commerce adoption, the summer season is emerging as a critical engagement window for merchants aiming to reach a digitally savvy, convenience-driven consumer base.
Arab News
19-06-2025
- Business
- Arab News
How AI and microtools are empowering the next generation of Saudi entrepreneurs
JEDDAH: Digitalization has reshaped how entrepreneurs get started — particularly in the early stages. Increasingly, small businesses are launching via platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, bypassing the traditional route of setting up a dedicated website. These social-first entrepreneurs are meeting customers where they already spend time, turning social media from a communication tool into a sales platform. 'Generative AI is reshaping the future of business, and when combined with digital marketing, the results are transformative,' Selina Bieber, vice president for international markets at the US-based web hosting company GoDaddy, told Arab News. According to the GoDaddy 2025 Global Entrepreneurship Survey, 22 percent of small business owners in the Middle East and North Africa now run their businesses primarily on social media. This trend highlights the rising importance of social commerce, especially for solo founders and part-time business operators. However, running a business solely on social platforms comes with risks. Visibility may be high, but ownership and control are limited. Algorithm changes or policy shifts can dramatically affect a business's ability to reach customers or generate income. Shoppers also tend to look for additional signals of trust before making a purchase. A professional website, for example, often strengthens a business's credibility. According to The State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2024 report by Checkout, 73 percent of online shoppers in the region are more confident buying from businesses that have a website, rather than relying exclusively on social media accounts. In response to this shift, new digital tools have emerged to support social-first entrepreneurs. Features such as branded microsites, product catalogues, and smart links — often packaged into accessible platforms — help founders establish a more centralized and professional presence online without needing advanced technical knowledge. Artificial intelligence is also playing a growing role in this transition, helping entrepreneurs move more quickly from concept to launch. It can assist in writing product descriptions, developing pricing strategies, and automating customer engagement. Internal data suggests AI-powered tools can save small business owners up to 10 hours a week — a meaningful benefit for entrepreneurs managing limited time and resources. Beyond time savings, AI helps to level the playing field by making it easier for people to launch and scale businesses with minimal upfront investment. Saudi Arabia has emerged as a particularly dynamic arena for these digital shifts. In 2023, GoDaddy signed a partnership agreement with the Kingdom's General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises — Monsha'at — to equip Saudi entrepreneurs with the digital tools and training needed to build their online presence. The agreement, signed during the Biban 23 entrepreneurship forum in Riyadh, aimed to empower aspiring business owners through workshops, seminars, and a planned business accelerator. It also included support for Monsha'at Academy and content initiatives to share local success stories. 'We're inspired to see Saudi entrepreneurs and small business owners feel confident in embracing technology and in their approach to entrepreneurship,' said Bieber. While social media remains a powerful tool for customer engagement, long-term growth often requires a more permanent digital footprint. A dedicated website, complemented by tools like GoDaddy's Show in Bio, can provide an added layer of credibility and security — something that social media accounts alone may not guarantee. With the rise of impersonation and questionable accounts online, many customers check whether a business has a standalone website before making a purchase. The latest generation of entrepreneurs is pragmatic and digitally fluent. While they may start on social media, many are increasingly looking for tools that offer more autonomy, control, and brand distinction. Combining a social-first approach with a professional online presence can offer the credibility and resilience needed for sustainable growth. 'GoDaddy continues to level the playing field by offering powerful, affordable tools that allow small businesses to elevate their marketing and achieve real success,' said Bieber. With the right mix of AI and easy-to-use tools, turning a side project into a long-term venture is more achievable than ever. Social media may be where the journey starts — but building lasting value depends on owning and shaping your own digital presence.
Time of India
19-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Weightless Shopping, Quite Literally: Enhancing Virtual Try-ons with Smart- Search and Style Recommendations by 'AI-Mode'.
Live Events Google heard the tired, exhausted groans of people waiting in long, seemingly never-ending lines in front of the trial rooms in clothing outlets. Google heard and understood the assignment, for the newly unveiled AI mode enhances every part of the shopping experience. From finding inspiration to buying at the right moment, plus the virtual try-on tool now works with the user's own pictures, allowing users to visualize how an outfit would look on them prior to making the AI mode offers shoppers a virtual dressing room combined with an intuitive, agent-assisted checkout experience, making it easier to purchase the right item at the right time and price. Beyond enhancing the overall shopping experience, AI mode also refines search results based on users' style, color, and pattern preferences, eliminating the need to repeatedly enter the same together Gemini capabilities with the shopping graph, AI mode can help the user browse for inspiration, think through considerations, and narrow down products. For instance, upon feeding the AI mode with a prompt such as 'I am looking for a cute travel bag,' it shall present to you a large variety of bags 'considered' cute on the internet in a way that is browsable and personalized to the user's the question is to be a bit more particular, 'I am looking for a bag suitable for Portland, Oregon, in May,' the system will begin a query fan-out, thereby running multiple searches to figure out the optimum answer to the question, further making personalized mode shall also simplify the purchasing process amidst the other features by means of the 'Agentic Checkout.' The Agentic Checkout enables the users to track the price of their desired products, deduce their preferred size, and, most importantly in this case, the budget, and receive notifications when the prices drop. Once confirmed by the user, Google shall add the item to the user's cart on the seller's site and complete the purchasing process for the user via Google these AI-powered advancements, Google positions itself on the pedestal of transformation, where it reshapes the online shopping experience as a whole. By offering customized suggestions, virtual, near-to-natural try-ons, and an assisted checkout process, Google aims to address the evolving needs of modern customers by merging the gap between online shopping and in-store shopping.
Zawya
17-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Stake transforms payout experience with Checkout.com pay to card integration
Dubai, UAE: Stake, one of the leading digital and global real estate investment platforms, has launched Pay to Card, a breakthrough withdrawal feature powered by global digital payments company, The new solution enables investors to receive their dividends and returns directly to their bank cards, often in just minutes, marking a major step forward in delivering faster, frictionless investing experiences. The rollout follows a successful pilot phase in May, during which more than 200 investors used the feature. Some users reported receiving payouts in under 10 minutes, a significant improvement over traditional multi-day withdrawal cycles. 'Speed and trust are core to everything we do at Stake. With Pay to Card, we're eliminating unnecessary delays and putting returns in our investors' hands almost instantly,' said Ricardo Brizido, CPTO and Co-Founder of Stake. 'This feature was built to directly solve one of the most common pain points in real estate investing, and it's already driving strong results.' The launch comes at a time when the MENA region is seeing unprecedented acceleration in digital finance adoption. According to latest report, 'The State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025', Account Funding Transactions (AFTs), a core enabler of Pay to Card have surged 388% year-on-year in the UAE, highlighting rising demand for real-time payout infrastructure. also recorded a 176% increase in Total Processing Volume (TPV) in the UAE from 2023 to 2024, while daily online shopping has jumped 320% since 2020. As of June 2025, Stake surpassed AED 1 billion in property transactions since its launch in 2021, with the company's mission to democratise access to real estate investment across high-growth markets. 'Stake has always been ahead of the curve in delivering customer-first financial experiences,' said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at 'Together, we're meeting the expectations of a region that's no longer just digital-first, but real-time-first. Pay to Card is a perfect example of infrastructure innovation solving real user needs.' Pay to Card is now live for all Stake investors across the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, bringing faster, simpler access to returns while reinforcing the platform's commitment to innovation and transparency. About processes payments for thousands of companies that shape the digital economy. Our global digital payments network supports over 145 currencies and delivers high-performance payment solutions across the world, processing billions of transactions annually. We help enterprise merchants boost acceptance rates, reduce processing costs, combat fraud, and turn payments into a major revenue driver. Headquartered in London and with 19 offices worldwide, is trusted by leading brands such as Alshaya Group, Botim, eBay, Dyson, Hunger Station, Instashop, Qlub, Majid Al Futtaim, Netflix, SHEIN, Sony and Tamara. About Stake Stake is a global real estate investment platform that enables anyone the ability to access unique, exclusive or premium investment opportunities from anywhere in the world. Launched in 2021, Stake has built an international base of over 1 million users from 205 nationalities and 170 countries with over 1 billion dirhams worth of transactions. While property investing typically involves large amounts of upfront capital and an antiquated buying process , investors globally can access real estate from only AED 500 (US$136). Co-founders Rami Tabbara, a veteran of the real estate industry, Manar Mahmassani, an experienced investment banker, and Ricardo Brizido, a seasoned CTO, combined their 50+ years' of expertise to democratize and digitize property investment in, to and from the MENA region.
