Black Friday in the Middle East has matured into a peak season where consumers move quickly, compare aggressively, and expect brands to match their intent with precision. Brands that treat Black Friday only as an acquisition sprint leave long-term value on the table. The real advantage lies in how efficiently brands turn seasonal demand into repeat behaviour.
Preparation must start weeks earlier
The best-performing e-commerce teams in the region begin preparations long before the sale window. Their starting point is data hygiene – clean segments, refreshed product feeds, and attributes that reflect real demand signals. Inventory, pricing, and expected availability feed directly into the marketing stack. Predictive models help forecast high-intent cohorts so communication is staggered.
A well-prepared brand knows which SKUs will move fastest, which customers are likely to lapsing, and which categories require stronger visibility. This groundwork reduces the chaos of the final week and ensures that messages reach the right customer at the right moment.
Real-time personalisation drives gains
When traffic surges, most brands focus on ensuring their infrastructure can handle the load. But the real differentiator lies in real-time personalisation. On-site experiences that adjust – automatically based on browsing history, product affinity, or recent price interactions – convert undecided shoppers faster.
Industry trends show that hyper-personalised recommendations can raise AOV by 25-40 per cent during Black Friday. This lift comes from relevance rather than deeper discounting. A customer looking for skincare products will respond better to a curated set of bundles than a generic storewide promotion. Similarly, a returning customer who usually shops athleisure will engage more with recommendations based on past sizes, preferences, and replenishment cycles.
Recover abandoned carts in minutes
Cart abandonment peaks during Black Friday because shoppers move through multiple platforms before committing. Modern recovery strategies rely on intent scoring like measuring how close a user is to purchase, how often they visit, and which payment methods they prefer. When combined with behavioural branching, brands can send nudges within minutes, not hours.
WhatsApp recovery, in particular, performs well in the UAE due to its ubiquity and immediacy. A simple reminder, backed by relevant alternatives or limited-time options, brings customers back into the funnel without overusing discounts.
Mobile-first consumers need instant context
Dubai’s shoppers browse products in transit, during work breaks, or late at night. They expect communication that fits into this rhythm, and WhatsApp often becomes the most efficient tool for both discovery and service.
This consumer also experiences fatigue quickly. They unsubscribe or mute channels if brands push repetitive messages across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and push notifications. The most successful teams build a clear logic: if a shopper reacts on one channel, the others adjust automatically. Avoid duplication and respect the consumer’s time.
Manage promotional fatigue
Promotional fatigue is common during Black Friday. Consumers receive dozens of alerts within a short window, making it easy for even strong offers to get lost. Frequency caps based on behaviour help maintain relevance. A shopper who clicks but does not convert may receive product-focused nudges, while a dormant customer might see broader category messaging instead. The discipline lies in resisting the urge to send more in the hope of capturing attention. Precise messaging keeps customers engaged without overwhelming them.
Black Friday often multiplies traffic by ten, and no team can manually optimise campaigns at that scale. AI-powered orchestration systems have become essential for maintaining stability. They can recommend actions, adjust journeys, and pick optimal send times without human intervention.
AI also plays a role in measuring when customers are likely to return, which offers they are likely to respond to, and how communication should be sequenced across channels. This reduces operational pressure on marketing teams and ensures consistency even during the busiest hours of the year.
Post-Black Friday retention is the real prize
The biggest opportunity of Black Friday appears after the sale ends. First-time shoppers who entered through heavy discounts often vanish unless re-engaged with purpose. Brands that design structured post-purchase journeys focused on education, replenishment cycles, and complementary products see much higher repeat behaviour.
Brands using hyper-personalised post-purchase engagement achieve three times higher repeat purchases within 90 days. Retention begins the moment the first order is confirmed. When customers understand value, service quality, and long-term relevance, they continue shopping long after the season ends.
Black Friday success now depends on how well brands unify their customer journeys. Email may introduce an offer, WhatsApp may answer a query, push notifications may share stock updates, and SMS may confirm delivery timelines. When these channels operate in lockstep, customers feel guided.
This year will reward brands that invest in connected experiences, strong data foundations, and AI-led decision systems. Hyper-personalisation determines who captures value and who fades into the noise. The winners of Black Friday 2025 will be the brands that treat seasonal peaks as long-term retention engines.
By Hetarth Patel, VP – Growth Markets (MEA, Americas, APAC), WebEngage.
