Features
Loyalty Programs Drive Growth in the UAE Retail Sector

Dhruv Verma, Founder and CEO of Thriwe
The retail sector in the UAE is booming, with retail sales estimated to reach USD 103.4 billion in 2024. However, the market is intensely competitive, and retaining customer loyalty is becoming increasingly crucial as well as challenging. Loyalty programs can be an invaluable tool in the strategic repertoire of brands looking to stand out in this competitive landscape, with rising consumer expectations for personalized experiences. Loyalty programs can help companies foster deeper customer engagement by offering personalized rewards, exclusive perks, and a seamless omnichannel experience.
Intensifying competition is prompting businesses to form strategic alliances and continuously innovate their offerings to retain customers in a crowded market. The rising adoption of loyalty programmes is fuelled by decreasing customer loyalty to products, compelling brands to invest in initiatives that help them stand out.
UAE’s loyalty program market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% from 2019 to 2023 and reaching USD 1.57 billion, with an annual growth rate of 10.4%, in 2024. This impressive progress is likely to continue in the coming years, with an expected CAGR of 8.9% between 2024 and 2028, reaching an estimated market value of USD 2.2 billion by 2028.
A number of factors can be attributed to the buoyant outlook of the loyalty programs market in the UAE. The country boasts a tech-savvy consumer base with high spending power and a preference for digital engagement. Consumer preference is increasingly shifting toward personalised and indulgent experiences amidst an abundance of choices, with numerous brands vying for customers’ attention. Technological advancements, especially in the fields of AI, big data, and analytics, are helping businesses engage in informed, data-driven strategies to tailor their loyalty benefits to the preferences of specific customers. The affinity of Emirati consumers for luxury and personalised care is another growth driver for the market. Also, as a global shopping hotspot, UAE’s retail market is highly saturated, and loyalty programs offer an effective avenue for brands to differentiate themselves amid intense competition.
Loyalty programs provide an essential platform for brands to achieve deeper and more engaging interactions with consumers. Personalised offers tailored to individual customers provide an essential perception of appreciation and reciprocity by brands. Multi-tiered membership programs offering incremental benefits can help customers feel more valued while encouraging higher recurring spending by consumers motivated by attractive perks at the upper tiers. Mobile and web-based applications to track loyalty points, explore deals, and redeem rewards drive regular interactions with brands, while offering additional channels for innovative marketing strategies. By incorporating gamification elements like points, levels, and challenges helps entice consumers toward active, repeat participation with these platforms. Also, integrating social media for sharing users’ loyalty status or rewards offers the potential for organic marketing and visibility.
However, businesses must be aware of certain caveats while adopting this strategy. Customers are inundated with an over-abundance of available loyalty programs, leading to cognitive overload, deterring them from engaging with certain offerings. This necessitates targeted messaging and the formulation of engaging narratives that resonate with end-users for effective outreach. Moreover, overly complex loyalty programs can hinder user engagement, which underlines the need for a simple, easily comprehensible process. Effective implementation of technological solutions with a polished user interface and seamless integration across multiple channels, including in-store, online, and mobile platforms, can be another obstacle for businesses, especially in UAE’s diverse market. This requires expertise across multiple technical domains, including front-end applications, back-end services, and data analytics. Moreover, businesses must act responsibly while handling customer data necessary for personalised and targeted offerings. Data privacy and security must be a priority and robust data protection systems as well as transparency regarding data usage are essential. In addition, the UAE has a diverse consumer base, which calls for careful consideration of local customs and cultural inclinations as well as emerging trends in user preferences for evaluating offers in terms of attractiveness and relevance.
In this era of conscious consumerism, sustainability and environmental concerns are gaining increasing prominence in the UAE, in alignment with global trends. Businesses must adopt sustainable and ethical practices in every aspect of their operation in order to appeal to today’s increasingly eco-conscious consumers. Companies can greatly benefit from sustainable loyalty strategies, like paperless points or rewards promoting environmental benefits and sustainable and ethical practices.
Technological advancements like big data, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technologies have been a transformative force in the loyalty programs sector and this is likely to continue in the years ahead. Advanced data analytics techniques are being effectively utilized to analyse consumer behaviour patterns and market trends in order to identify highly personalised and relevant offerings to individual customers to boost engagement. Automated systems leveraging machine learning and big data are helping prevent fraudulent activities. Seamless integration of technological solutions across offline, online, and mobile channels has been a crucial factor for customer participation and engagement.
Fuelled by technological innovations, the thriving loyalty programs market in the UAE is expected to continue to evolve. In the crowded retail landscape, businesses must remain customer-focused, respond quickly to shifting consumer behaviour, and adopt innovative strategies to foster long-term, loyalty-driven connections with consumers.
Features
2025 Hospitality Tech Trends

By Prince Thampi, Founder and CEO, Hudini
As we approach 2025, the hospitality industry is poised for transformational growth, driven by evolving traveller preferences and advancements in technology. The future of hospitality promises enhanced convenience, personalisation and sustainability, with a significant focus on creating memorable experiences for guests. Let’s dive into five key trends that will shape the hospitality tech landscape in 2025 and beyond.
- The Continued Rise of Frictionless Technology
The increased demand for frictionless experiences is set to dominate the industry, with more and more travellers preferring hotels that offer touch-free check-in, check-out, and room access via mobile apps. This trend reflects a broader shift towards easy interactions powered by seamless digital integration. Mobile apps have been an essential tool for a few years now, enabling guests to manage their stays, order room service, and access hotel information effortlessly. With the introduction of Gen AI, those apps have become more powerful than ever and are now able to provide highly personalised recommendations and speak in different languages.
Hotels embracing this trend will gain a competitive edge, as tech-savvy travellers prioritise convenience and efficiency during their stay. According to a recent survey by Deloitte, around 72% of travellers are more likely to choose a hotel that offers mobile check-in and check-out services over those that don’t.
- Hyper Personalised Guest Experiences
In 2025, personalisation will continue to be at the core of hospitality services but will finally be taken to the next level thanks to Gen AI. Guests expect hotels to anticipate their needs and offer tailored experiences, from customised room settings to personalised dining recommendations. Apps powered by AI are now able to predict guest needs based on a wealth of data, ingested from the hotel systems or fed externally.
Leveraging guest data and insights, hotels can create unique offerings that cater to individual preferences. This level of personalisation not only enhances guest satisfaction but also fosters loyalty and repeat bookings. According to Oracle’s findings, biometrics and AI are set to play pivotal roles, with 62% of guests valuing automated recognition for personalised interactions. Biometrics will experience a breakthrough into mainstream hospitality in 2025. Facial recognition technology has matured significantly and is ready to be weaved into the guest experience. It will enable better security and guest recognition while protecting their privacy at the same time.
- AI-Enabled Customer Service
Artificial intelligence is revolutionising every aspect of the hospitality industry, but will be by itself a new way of providing customer service. Chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming standard tools for handling common queries, offering instant support, and streamlining operations at any time and in any language.
AI-driven solutions not only enhance efficiency but also provide guests with 24/7 assistance, ensuring a smoother and more satisfying experience. By integrating AI technologies, hotels can free up staff to focus on delivering exceptional in-person service.
- Sustainability and Eco-Friendly Practices
Sustainability is no longer optional, it’s a necessity often enforced by regulation. Travellers are increasingly favouring hotels that adopt eco-friendly practices, such as using locally sourced food, implementing energy-efficient operations, and reducing waste.
By prioritising sustainability, hotels not only meet guest expectations but also contribute positively to the environment. This commitment to green initiatives enhances brand reputation and attracts environmentally conscious travellers. A recent survey by Booking.com found that 83% of global respondents believe more sustainable travel is vital, with 49% believing there aren’t enough sustainable travel options and 53% saying they get annoyed when a hotel prevents them from being sustainable.
Smart use of technology is key in the sustainability journey of hotels. Technology can accurately measure the reduction in carbon footprint, it will help reduce energy and adopt renewable energy sources, and will enable the effective management of food waste. Many hospitality apps allow guests to apply green energy settings to a room, some will even exchange your energy savings to loyalty points.
- The return of ‘real’
With Gen Z – the first generation grown up with everything digital – becoming the next large group to travel, the craving for ‘real’ experiences is bigger than it ever was. Hotels focusing on truly unique and hyper local experiences; a great meal, cultural outing, or wellness treatment will win the hearts of this generation.
Fortunately hotel apps, AI, automation of processes, sustainability tech and the removal of cumbersome processes like checking-in and studying paper manuals will free up hotel staff to allow them to do what they do best: providing unforgettable, personalised and sustainable experiences.
Features
With DMTT into effect from Jan 1st, 2025, a tax expert explains everything businesses in Bahrain need to know!

Last September, the Kingdom of Bahrain introduced a new law to implement a Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (DMTT) at a rate of 15% on businesses operating in the Kingdom that meet certain criteria.
With the new tax into effect in time for the new year, Mr. Nilesh Ashar, an international tax specialist with more than 25 years of experience, serving as Senior Managing Director & Head of Tax Middle East at FTI Consulting, provided a comprehensive overview of the new law and its implications for businesses in Bahrain.
Mr. Ashar stated that the Kingdom’s decision is a significant milestone in the Middle East, with Bahrain emerging as a front runner to implement the DMTT on large multinational enterprises (MNEs) having presence in the Kingdom.
“The new law underscores Bahrain’s international commitment as part of the inclusive framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to address base erosion and profit shifting by MNEs,” stated Mr. Ashar.
“Effect from January 1st, 2025, onwards, the law is largely based on the OECD Model Rules on global minimum tax (GMT) in terms of calculation of the tax, exclusions, and reliefs. Additionally, the new law contains specific provisions on procedures, enforcement, and anti-avoidance measures applicable in the Kingdom.”
While explaining who will be affected by this tax, and what the law actually entails, he added that the new law applies a 15% tax on the income of Bahrain entities (including permanent establishment, joint venture, and JV subsidiaries) that are part of an MNE group with annual consolidated revenue exceeding €750 million, for at least two out of four preceding fiscal years. However, the tax does not apply to foreign subsidiaries of a Bahraini-headquartered group or other foreign group companies that are part of the same MNE group. The DMTT is also not applicable to certain excluded entities as specified in the law, including government bodies, international organizations, non-profit organizations, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and certain investment funds.
Mr. Ashar explained that the law lists specific transitional and permanent reliefs from the levy of DMTT, including transitional country-by-country safe harbor relief, exclusion for the initial phase of international activity, de-minimis exclusion, and simplified computation safe harbor relief.
Describing key considerations for businesses, Mr. Ashar said that, detailed rules (Executive Regulations) are expected to be published in the coming months, it is now imperative for businesses to assess the impact of the DMTT on their Bahrain presence, evaluate the availability of any reliefs, and prepare for the compliances to be undertaken based on the law read in conjunction with the OECD Model Rules.
Mr. Ashar described, “In terms of taxable income, this is defined in the law as the financial accounting net income or loss for the fiscal year, before making any consolidation adjustments eliminating intra-group transactions, in accordance with the local accounting standards. Detailed rules on calculation of taxable income will be prescribed in line with the OECD Model Rules. Several compliance obligations are specified in the law including obtaining a registration, filing of annual tax returns, and paying taxes in advance over the relevant fiscal year. These compliances are expected to be in addition to the notifications and filings as required by the MNE Group under the OECD Model Rules.”
In addition, the law also provides specific provisions on enforcement via conduct of tax audits, assessments and procedures in relation to litigation and appeals. Mr. Ashar noted that a Tax Objection Committee will be formed for this purpose. Also, penal consequences are laid out in case of defaults, like failure to obtain registration, file tax returns, or submitting incorrect data. Such defaults may trigger stringent administrative fines, without prejudice to criminal liability.
Mr. Ashar further explained that a general anti-avoidance rule empowers the National Bureau of Revenue to disregard any transaction if it is not genuine or its primary purpose is to obtain a tax advantage against the objective of the law. Furthermore, the law specifies certain acts to qualify as ‘tax evasion,’ resulting in onerous consequences including criminal liability for legal persons, if held responsible for such evasion. Dispute resolution through a settlement process is acknowledged.
Mr. Ashar concluded that the Executive Regulations to the law are yet to be issued and are expected to prescribe detailed rules, controls and manner of calculation and application of DMTT in a manner consistent with the Model Rules. He also noted that since the law is published in the Arabic language, his views are based on an unofficial translation of the law.
Cover Story
Trump’s Deregulation Bets, AI Shakeups, and Digital Assets: 2025 in Focus

By Koen Ripping, CEO, Affor Analytics
It is that time of the year again when your mailbox gets filled with outlooks for 2025 from all sides. And it’s no surprise that, again, the year’s outlook comes with a high degree of uncertainty. I’ll refrain from actually giving targets this time, as you can read them from any Wall Street’s bank outlook. And mostly, because it’s hard to get them right. In the past eight years, actual market returns were outside the range of all forecasts compiled seven times, of which the market outperformed five times (source: Bloomberg).
Still, a good case can be made for uncertainty this year. If Trump actually holds up to some of his statements, we could see deregulation on multiple aspects, lower corporate taxes, and of course, tariffs. This will obviously not only impact the US, but could affect economies globally through tit-for-tat tariffs or, for longer term effects, geopolitical actions. Our expectation is that deregulation will happen, and this will feed into a more accommodative and friendly environment for small-to-midsize companies.
This does, however, not mean an end to the Magnificent Seven’s dominance for the coming year. The driver of the outperformance has been a superior earnings growth compared to the rest, which was 33% for Mag7 in 2024 compared to 3% for the rest resulting in an outperformance of around 24% (depending on when you read this). Consensus earnings growth for next year for Mag7 and the rest are respectively 18% versus 12%, resulting in an expected outperformance of 8% for the megacaps from our equity team.
Lower corporate tax could be a potential bull case for the US market, but given the wider pro-growth strategy from the new Trump administration, we don’t see much room for this. Then tariffs are the most significant risk on the otherwise good growth outlook, but we are not expecting an outright tariff war. The tactic will probably be precisely targeted tariffs, where we see an increase in China tariffs and possibly auto tariffs on the EU and Mexico, so retaliatory tariffs will also be the answer. This would add a one-time premium on price levels, as we’ve seen in the first Trump administration, but doesn’t feed through to sustained inflation.
In general, both in the US and EU, continued easing is expected, with falling policy rates supporting economic growth in both areas. This, together with policymakers poised on enhancing growth, and with companies having, like we say in Dutch, cash that is splashing against the baseboards (flush with cash), builds towards a bull case for 2025. Amongst other trends, this will also flow towards three trends I am most familiar with: Digital Assets, Artificial Intelligence, and M&A.
Digital assets – A serious asset in 2025

2024 has been a good year for digital assets. Especially for Bitcoin, where the new BTC spot ETF cleared the way for institutional investors and others that were bound from trading on less conventional exchanges. This inflow of capital made the BTC ETFs surpass the Gold ETFs in AUM within a year, which has been around for over a decade.
Another important factor for digital asset performance is Trump’s election. Since its arrival, the risky asset class has been met with suspicion and disbelief, mainly because of regulatory unclarity and negative publicity. With Trump pledging support to the industry and even mentioning a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the US, markets have been rallying.
A strategic reserve would drastically improve the legitimacy of the asset class as a whole. Though this is still far-fetched, our view is that the new US government will definitely be accommodative in this area. They seem to have gathered a team of experts around him that looks suited to walk the thin line of implementing new regulations while not restricting market participants and early adopting businesses.
After a very dominant Bitcoin in 2024, our digital assets team expects this dominance to decline, while still growing in value, leaving room for alternative tokens to outperform. The first signs of this shift are visible in the pick-up in Ethereum spot prices. This shift correlates with previous cycles of the market, where Bitcoin initially leads, followed by other assets higher on the risk curve. We identified two trends to gain more traction in 2025.
The first trend is tokenization as part of the Real-World Assets sector. This is one of the areas we are also exploring for our funds, like institutions such as BlackRock and JP Morgan already explored for traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, or real estate. By tokenizing these assets on a blockchain, they become more liquid and can be fractalized. The assets become tradable 24/7, and the transaction settlement is fast, cheap, and transparent, allowing for more financial opportunities.
The other one is Artificial Intelligence. Many of the current platforms, such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini are centralized, coming with risks such as privacy issues, potential biases, and single points of failure. Decentralized solutions could be a solution for those who are unwilling to be exposed to those kinds of risks.
If the US takes the lead in accommodative regulation, other nations will follow. Because of this, 2025 could be the year general adoption is accelerated, leaving the digital asset market positioned to do very well.
Artificial Intelligence – Show me the customers
It almost feels like a must mentioning AI as a 2025 trend. Obviously, it has been one of the most traded and talked about trends in past years, but it feels like there is a shift coming. Spending on AI will likely increase, as overall corporate capital investment has been at an annual 2.5%, whereas the average peak capex in the last three trends (energy, housing, and dot-com) was around 8%. So there seems to be enough room there, but valuations in AI are even higher both in public and private markets. Investors will start to look more for ROI and proof-of-concept through a growing customer base.
This will feed into the trend that the focus of investment within the AI sector will change. Where in the past years we’ve seen companies in the infrastructure part of the ecosystem do very well. Our expectation is that emphasis in 2025 will shift more towards the mid- and downstream of AI, focussing on the products and services, and especially to companies where revenues actually get enhanced by the use of AI. That being said, also energy supply for these solutions will become a more important topic.
As a sub-trend, we expect identity to be a hot topic going forward. AI-generated news, images, text, and speech are spreading more and more around the internet. The need for an actual confirmation of real human output (or conversation) will increase. Ironically, this can only be solved by AI.
We have seen adaptation of multiple tools like ChatGPT, but more in a ‘getting-to-know-the-product’ kind of way. More structured solutions built on these LLMs are getting traction now that models are improving at such a fast pace, with an accuracy increase from 10% to 90% from 2021 to 2024 for competition-level math questions (source: Jensen, G., Narayan, A., Greene, A., & Simon, L. (2024). Is an AI Bubble Ahead of Us or Behind Us? Bridgewater.). Beneficiaries will be sectors where the share of tasks that can be handled by AI can reduce labor costs and increase revenue by incorporating this into their business.
All of this does not mean replacing employees, as you have probably read before, but increasing the share of value-added hours. For example, we now utilise AI-ensembles to provide our fundamental team with trading signals. This allows us to react faster to investment opportunities, and also signal more opportunities that are overlooked by humans in the first place.
In general, capital will continue to flow towards AI as a sector, but with a more stricter view on market adoption and value-addition. Ultimately adoption and ability to incorporate these tools efficiently will lead to productivity gains, but in my opinion, this will be a much longer-term trend and won’t crystallize in 2025.
M&A – Consolidation on all fronts
Last but not least, falling interest rates, cash-rich companies, and a less restrictive regulatory environment from a new Trump administration is a fertile ground for a lot more M&A activity, which has already seen a pick-up in 2024. Beneficiaries would be banks that are big in M&A, private equity and credit firms, and private business owners.
In my experience, consolidation, if rightly managed, not only leads to a better market position but can also help companies let their teams focus on their strong suits. To give a personal example, our core strength is creating AI solutions which we apply in fund management. Now, with our partnership with Dutchyard, we can outsource fund management and fundraising, leaving more time to focus on our expertise.
With the upcoming US administration giving a boost to entrepreneur confidence through a less restrictive environment, this is a trend that we expect to continue in 2025.
In conclusion, 2025 shapes up to be generally a decent year for equities globally, but with a bit more unknowns. On the digital assets front, the outlook is good, as Trump might legitimize the asset class as a whole. While AI spending will increase, the focus will shift to actual use cases as users are past the discovery phase.
2025 will belong to those with the muscle to flex less traditional assets and the foresight to leverage innovation, driving value in an evolving financial landscape.
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