In this article
Key takeaways
- Video dominates: 72% of UAE ads are video, and a discount or an offer appears in 40% of them.
- Cash on delivery is mentioned in 14% of the ads, free delivery in 11%.
- The median advertised price is AED 280; half of the priced ads sit between AED 130 and 600.
- Selling over WhatsApp without a store leads, then Shopify: the UAE is a Shopify market more than a Salla one.
What is advertised in the UAE right now?
The categories in the chart are not "best-selling" in the sense of official figures; they are the ones with the most ad spend right now, which is the most honest public signal there is: nobody keeps paying for an ad that does not sell. Fashion and shoes lead, then hair and skin care, with health and supplements, electronics and accessories close behind. Note that one ad can fall in two categories (a kids' shampoo, for example).
To compare with Saudi Arabia read Best sellers in Saudi Arabia; to tell a winner from a test, Winning products.
The ads that have run for weeks in the UAE
The chart says what is advertised; what sells is told by running time. We sorted the UAE's ads in GccFY by "longest running": an ad that has run for weeks is paid for by a merchant who sees results.
Open the same sort with the category you care about (one Arabic word: "شعر", "عطر", "ساعة") and you find the models, prices and offers that lasted. How to read running time.
How they sell: offers, payment, delivery
A discount or an offer in 40% of the ads, "limited time" or "hurry" in 21%. Cash on delivery in 14% of UAE ads, less than Oman and Qatar and more than Saudi Arabia: the Emirati market is more used to paying online, but cash on delivery is still the persuasion tool for a new product. Instalments (Tabby, Tamara) in only 4%, and they show up on the pricier goods.
The buttons: "Shop now" on 41% of the ads, "WhatsApp message" on 30%. WhatsApp ads are a big door in the UAE.
Prices in dirhams
Of 5,032 ads that stated a price in dirhams: the lower quartile up to AED 130, the median 280, the upper quartile from AED 600. That is the range of the "advertised price" in the UAE: products sold through direct ads cluster between a hundred and a few hundred dirhams; above that you need instalments or a known brand.
If your price sits in this range you are in impulse-buy territory; if it is higher, put instalments in the first line.
Who advertises most in the UAE right now?
In these few days alone, the page with the most ads targeting the UAE is "Fivfivco SA" with 226 ads, then "Mfutoy Store" (175) and "GlissyFashion" (174). The advertisers with the most ads are often stores testing dozens of products at once; to see who actually sells, open the Advertisers screen in GccFY and sort by "longest running". How to read an active ads count.
Selling over WhatsApp without a store leads, and Shopify is the second platform; Salla and Zid, dominant in Saudi Arabia, are small here. For the UAE market in detail and the ad copy that works, read Facebook ads in the UAE.
How to use these numbers in your store
- Pick a category from the first chart and open the library with one word and the UAE filter, sorted by longest running.
- Open the store pages behind the first five ads: the price, the offer, the payment method. That is the benchmark you will compete with.
- Write your ad with what the market mentions: a clear discount, free delivery or cash on delivery, and a short video. Ready templates in Arabic ad copy.
- Save the competitors and come back weekly: whoever adds ads is winning.
