Snapchat says its Gulf users start holiday shopping early.
Snapchat's UAE head, Antoine Challita, has shared research on how Snapchatters in the UAE and Saudi Arabia shop around big sales seasons. He says most daily users act on what they see there, and many plan year-end buying before December.
In an interview with Communicate published on 21 October, Challita gave UAE figures for daily Snapchatters: 68% say the app helps them discover new brands or products, 71% say content there led them to buy or plan to buy, 72% say seeing ads early helps them shop ahead, 63% have bought on impulse after an ad or piece of content, and 91% took at least one shopping action after seeing holiday content. For Saudi Arabia, he said 80% of daily users chatted about gift ideas on Snapchat during year-end shopping and 41% start planning before December. Snap says it reaches more than 26 million people a month in the Kingdom, and in the UAE more than half the addressable population, including three in four 18 to 34-year-olds.
He also cited two campaigns. Apparel Group's AIVI shopping app ran creator-led Snap Ads and Sponsored Snaps in Saudi Arabia, reaching more than six million people, with app installs up 58% year on year, new customer purchases up 40% and brand awareness up four points. Level Shoes paired First Story placements with always-on performance ads; against direct-response-only audiences, install conversion rose 103% and purchase conversion 433% in the UAE, and 40% and 55% in Kuwait. Snap says Creator Ads deliver 1.8 times the ad awareness and 2.5 times the action intent of campaigns without them.
Challita referred to "our research" but the interview does not name the survey firm, sample or fieldwork dates, and the campaign results are Snap's own figures. The agencies behind the AIVI and Level Shoes work are not named.
With White Friday, Dubai Shopping Festival and Ramadan all ahead, the practical point for Gulf marketers is timing. If four in ten Saudi users start planning before December, budgets that switch on in the final week are arriving after many decisions have been made.
Why it matters
Platform data says Gulf shoppers plan early and act on social content, which argues for starting White Friday and year-end budgets weeks earlier than many brands do.
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