<img src="https://m2p-website-file.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/marketing-cms/m2p-blog/2025/12/gift-cards-use-case-for-the-retail-industry_main_banner_2000x1000-copy.webp" alt="The Middle East Gift Card Boom: What Retailers Need to Know" title="" id="na6z8iagk" width="100%" height="253">From USD 2,120 billion in 2024 to USD 3,028 billion by 2033 (4.04% CAGR), the Middle East retail sector is entering a period of accelerated digital expansion driven by rising consumer spending, rapid e-commerce growth, and sustained omnichannel investments. This momentum is intensifying competitive pressures, pushing retailers to differentiate faster, deepen engagement across channels, and unlock scalable, recurring revenue streams that can withstand market volatility.&nbsp;Within this environment, gift cards have shifted from being a transactional add-on to a high-ROI growth lever, driving acquisition, lifting average ticket sizes, increasing purchase frequency, and strengthening retention across both physical and digital touchpoints.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2 class="heading-node" id="b12l0rcqw" style="text-align: left">Why Gift Cards are Retail's Revenue Engine?&nbsp;</h2>Retailers still running legacy closed-loop cards are leaving tens of millions on the table every quarter while sophisticated competitors dominate with instant issuance, seamless omnichannel redemption, and analytics that convert every gift card into a high-value customer insight.&nbsp; They extend their programs far beyond traditional use cases, leveraging corporate gift cards for employee recognition to build loyalty, running customer campaigns that drive repeat purchases, powering seasonal promotions to boost engagement, enabling controlled expense allocation with full transparency, and delivering personalized, co-branded gifts to strengthen client relationships.&nbsp;This evolution is increasingly evident across the region through:&nbsp;<ul class="list-node" id="a6ljr3tz3"><li>Mobile gifting and online redemption for millennial and Gen Z audiences&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="bv8yiuh3s"><li>Cross-brand, mall-wide card programs for unified retail ecosystems&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="xspjudruv"><li>Seamless integration with loyalty platforms, driving repeat purchases&nbsp;</li></ul>Forward-thinking retailers are turning this vision into reality.&nbsp;<h2 class="heading-node" id="gngvj4du5" style="text-align: left">How Leading Retailers Turn Gift Cards into Growth&nbsp;</h2>Top retailers are setting examples by building comprehensive gift card programs:&nbsp;<ul class="list-node" id="9hb0g5rmt"><li>Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) offers Mall Gift Cards integrated with the SHARE loyalty program, powering incentives and cross-brand redemptions.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="cqxzqk33l"><li>Metro Market is leading supermarket chain in Egypt, with extensive store network and digital incentive programs.&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="1ecggsdqm"><li>AZADEA Group is a premier lifestyle retail company that owns and operates more than 40 leading international franchise concepts across the Middle East and Africa.&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="4znqif4l7"><li>Al-Futtaim Group (AFG) provides Blue Rewards cards that allow seamless redemption at more than 500 outlets across fashion, dining, and lifestyle.&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="55uzs1rnm"><li>ALDAR’s prepaid Mastercard gift cards, linked with Darna points, unlock access to all their locations in Abu Dhabi, offering luxury-tier rewards.&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="mq4lhukyu"><li>CENOMI in Saudi Arabia operates 22 malls with over 4,300 stores, using gift cards for wide-ranging customer and employee incentives.&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="12rjb82iq"><li>Alshaya Group offers branded eGift cards for retailers like Victoria’s Secret and Bath &amp; Body Works, providing instant, multi-country delivery across the UAE, KSA, and Kuwait.&nbsp;</li></ul>These are not isolated campaigns but fully integrated platforms featuring:&nbsp;<ul class="list-node" id="05e9n7ai0"><li>Real-time employee recognition (instant morale boosts)&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="1wei8p5si"><li>Data-driven personalization &amp; breakage forecasting&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="x7d5r5ipy"><li>Bulk digital issuance via WhatsApp/SMS&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="1nzqcgb9v"><li>API-first POS integration and AI fraud protection&nbsp;</li></ul>The result? Global benchmarks show 80% higher perceived employee value and 75% stronger customer loyalty. To enable these experiences at scale, retailers need to overcome the complexities that businesses face today.&nbsp;<h2 class="heading-node" id="jnf4uaj12" style="text-align: left">The Hidden Hurdles Holding Retailers Back&nbsp;</h2>Even established retailers and those newly launching gift card programs face these 10 critical scaling challenges, making integrated platforms non-negotiable.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="nivh4dlbe" style="text-align: left">Operational Complexity&nbsp;</h3>Setting up a gift card ecosystem requires coordination across POS systems, backend settlement, fraud controls, and issuance partners. Many retailers struggle with fragmented systems that do not talk to each other.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="15ox1jny8" style="text-align: left">Compliance &amp; Cross-border Rules&nbsp;</h3>Progress is underway within the GCC, where central banks are rolling out projects like AFAQ to boost real-time, cross-border payments. While these initiatives pave the way for better integration, each country still has its own regulations for AML, stored value, and KYC. Retailers with multi-country operations must stay agile, as achieving seamless compliance across the region remains a challenge.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="u53r4szco" style="text-align: left">Fraud Risks&nbsp;</h3>Gift cards are high-risk products for social engineering fraud, returns fraud, and synthetic card activations. Weak controls at the store level add to the exposure.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="m984rxwdb" style="text-align: left">Breakage, Liability, &amp; Visibility&nbsp;</h3>Unredeemed gift card balances sit as liabilities, yet many retailers lack tools to track breakage, forecast revenue, or see where cards are redeemed. Without real-time visibility into patterns and peaks, it’s hard to turn this liability into actionable insight.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="k58q41g0l" style="text-align: left">Integration Delays&nbsp;</h3>Connecting gift card platforms with legacy POS systems, e-commerce sites, and loyalty engines often becomes a long, costly process. Many vendors in the region still rely on manual processes.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="nps8a6mc0" style="text-align: left">Poor Customer Experience&nbsp;</h3>Issues like delayed activation, redemption errors, lack of digital card options, or long checkout times reduce customer satisfaction and slow adoption.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="f83ipm5do" style="text-align: left">Inventory &amp; Distribution Challenges&nbsp;</h3>Physical gift cards require secure printing, logistics, replenishment cycles, and theft prevention, areas where many retailers lack standard processes.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="9b2jtzlpi" style="text-align: left">Difficulty in Partner Expansion&nbsp;</h3>Building co-branded or multi-brand gift card networks requires solid settlement and reconciliation workflows. Retailers cite these as barriers due to technical and contractual complexities.&nbsp;To capitalize on market opportunities and overcome these challenges, retailers need an innovative platform delivering real-time analytics, secure transactions, and streamlined user experiences. M2P’s platform makes that shift seamless, transforming every issued card into a measurable business impact.&nbsp;<h2 class="heading-node" id="3zigadsox" style="text-align: left">M2P’s Gift Card Platform: The Core Advantage&nbsp;</h2>M2P’s all-encompassing platform serves as the foundation of Middle East’s gifting revolution, enabling retailers to stay ahead of the competition through its cloud-native, API-first architecture, which offers:&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="jseydolmm" style="text-align: left">Faster GTM</h3>Go live fast with quick setup at corporate and sub-corporate levels, web portals for immediate rollout, and effortless issuing of digital or physical gift cards across stores, campaigns, and digital touchpoints.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="wov59wwz9" style="text-align: left">Universal Redemption Flexibility</h3>Enable gift card holders to redeem their value seamlessly across all group-owned brands, through merchant-level configuration, giving them ultimate freedom and a unified gifting experience.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="gzrat8rgt" style="text-align: left">Deep Personalization Options</h3>Customize cards with branded visuals, campaign-specific messages, and bespoke themes tailored for every occasion, enhancing the emotional connection with recipients.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="4nf8exsxg" style="text-align: left">Full Program Control</h3>Take charge by setting detailed issuance rules and customized onboarding templates, managing distribution workflows end-to-end, and leveraging M2P’s expansive business network to extend the reach to targeted audiences.&nbsp;<h3 class="heading-node" id="ttexpc675" style="text-align: left">Advanced Analytics and Insights</h3>Harness rich data and real-time analytics to measure campaign performance, optimize marketing strategies, and maximize business impact, turning gift cards into a strategic growth engine.&nbsp;M2P's cloud-native, API-driven architecture empowers retailers to scale effortlessly with the region's dynamic retail demands, delivering secure, compliant, and frictionless solutions perfectly tailored to evolving consumer behaviors and business models.&nbsp;<img src="https://m2p-website-file.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/marketing-cms/m2p-blog/2025/12/gift-cards-use-case-for-the-retail-industry_blog_1b_2000x1251-copy-4.webp" alt="The Middle East gift card use cases for retail industry" title="" id="i8oln5dlk" width="100%" height="317"><h2 class="heading-node" id="jf1gkgusp" style="text-align: left">Leading the Digital Retail Transformation in the Middle East&nbsp;</h2>In a region witnessing rapid growth in e-commerce adoption and mobile wallet usage, M2P Fintech offers the complete, end-to-end toolkit needed to capitalize on the region’s digital renaissance. We equip businesses to launch stand-out gift card programs that are fast, secure, and irresistibly appealing to the modern customer.&nbsp;With M2P’s innovative gift card platform, businesses hold the key to creating loyalty, driving growth, and delivering exceptional experiences at every touchpoint.&nbsp;<a class="link Hyperlink SCXW143820786 BCX8" href="https://m2pfintech.com/contact-us/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=Gift+cards&amp;utm_campaign=Middle+east" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Connect with us</a> today and step confidently into the future of retail.&nbsp;Follow us on&nbsp;<a class="link fui-Link ___1idfs5o f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1hu3pq6 f11qmguv f19f4twv f1tyq0we f1g0x7ka fhxju0i f1qch9an f1cnd47f fqv5qza f1vmzxwi f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh ftqa4ok f2hkw1w fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1h8hb77 f1x7u7e9 f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/m2pfintech/mycompany/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="link fui-Link ___1idfs5o f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1hu3pq6 f11qmguv f19f4twv f1tyq0we f1g0x7ka fhxju0i f1qch9an f1cnd47f fqv5qza f1vmzxwi f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh ftqa4ok f2hkw1w fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1h8hb77 f1x7u7e9 f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" href="https://twitter.com/m2pfintech" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>&nbsp;for insightful fintech bytes curated for curious minds like you.Source:&nbsp;<ul class="list-node" id="ark4e56pt"><li>Middle East Retail Market Size, Growth &amp; Forecast 2033&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="zgky09paf"><li>How Gift Cards Can Cultivate Customer Loyalty | Fiserv&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="v7vimjj0k"><li>AZADEA | RLC Global Forum&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="zo7uity20"><li>Cenomi Centers&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="rrq71ltxs"><li>Majid Al Futtaim launches loyalty programme SHARE&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="f42ymgoq1"><li>Darna Website&nbsp;</li></ul><ul class="list-node" id="py3ip6ikr"><li>Alshaya Group launches eGift card - ME Retail News&nbsp;</li></ul>

Why Middle Eastern Retailers are Investing Big in Next-Gen Gift Cards

<img src="https://m2p-website-file.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/m2p-website-file/marketing-cms/m2p-blog/2022/10/Gift-Cards-Blog-01-1.webp" alt="M2P Fintech" title="" width="100%" height="358">Gifts play an important role in creating and nurturing relationships. Right from the historic age, gifts in the form of commodities, gold, silver, and cash were welcomed with great gusto.<h2 class="heading-node" id="8hk25m6sk" style="text-align: justify">Are gift cards better than cash?</h2>Choosing the right gift is always a challenge, even for the most seasoned gifters. That’s why cash evolved as a versatile gifting option. Cash was among the most useful gifts that enabled the receivers to buy anything of their choice. However physical cash gifts were considered impersonal and indifferent, not allowing the receiver to treat the gift as a memorable souvenir. As societies progressed towards a <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/ready-to-sneak-peek-into-global-cashless-societies/">cashless</a> world, currencies began losing their fancy. Gift cards emerged as a better alternative to cash. It provided a perfect way to gift someone the flexibility and freedom to buy what they want. Today, it’s not just individuals who send gift cards to their loved ones. New-age companies &amp; growing organizations consider gift cards the best way to reward their customers and incentivize their employees. The global gift card market was valued at $619.25 billion in 2019. Experts estimate the market to grow at 16% CAGR and cross over $2,076 billion by 2027.<h2 class="heading-node" id="mc5s8l8zp" style="text-align: justify">What is a gift card?</h2>Gift card is a <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/prepaid-cards-101-a-definitive-guide-for-growth-and-profitability/">prepaid card</a> that is loaded with a specific amount of money by the issuer. Anyone can issue gift cards by partnering. A gift card works like a <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/debit-card-issuance-101-all-you-need-to-know/">debit card</a>. The issuer preloads the card with cash, in accordance with the value of the card. The purchaser can use gift cards to make both online and offline purchases. Each gift card has a unique number, a barcode, magnetic stripe, and an encoded chip. That number is "loaded" or activated with the appropriate amount of cash. This is done using the database of the gift card transaction system.<h2 class="heading-node" id="dntnq6gjj" style="text-align: justify">Types of gift cards</h2>There are two types of gift cards. Open-loop – An open-loop gift card can be used at any merchant location that accepts the issuer brand of card. For example, a gift card with the Visa logo can be used for purchases at any store that accepts Visa cards. Closed-loop - Marketed by retail or ecommerce stores, closed-loop gift cards allow the cardholder to purchase anything from the specified seller. For instance, if you buy a gift card from Starbucks or Amazon, you or the receiver would only be able to spend it at that particular store.<h2 class="heading-node" id="5spgga35z" style="text-align: justify">Why are gift cards important for businesses?</h2>Gift cards can be purchased instantly and they directly land in the recipient’s inbox within seconds. They are memorable, convenient, and give total freedom to buy whatever the recipient wants. They can be <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/payment-cards-design-made-simple-heres-what-you-need-to-know/">designed</a> with personalization to include the person's name, business logo, and even a brief note. All these help boost user experience, brand recall, and loyalty. Something cash gifts can definitely not do. Businesses can leverage gift cards to improve cross-selling opportunities, enhance employee relations and customer relationships, and boost brand equity. Gift cards today transcend marketing. They enable businesses to test products and gain more understanding of the market, and in fact, even serve as an additional revenue grosser (card sales &amp; upselling opportunity).<h2 class="heading-node" id="ugthnn82i" style="text-align: justify">How to accelerate your gift card program?</h2>To create and run a successful gift card program, you'll need a well-thought-out concept and cloud-first technology expertise. Businesses need a powerful API platform to issue scalable gift cards across brands, markets, and currencies. The <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/api-the-power-that-drives-new-age-banking-ecosystems/">API</a> platform should allow for quick deployments without contracts, with reasonable pricing, and commission rates. The ability to constantly add new retailers and leverage cutting-edge implementation technology is critical to improving the end-user experience and ensuring a return on investment (ROI) on product development. Partnering with an efficient <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/blog/why-should-apis-be-your-holy-grail-for-prepaid-card-issuance/">API</a>-led card issuer and program manager is a great way to kickstart your gift card journey. Check if your card issuance and program management partner can deliver on the game-changing pointers below.<ol class="list-node" id="hnyuzbgd3"><li>Customized, form-factor agnostic gift cards issuance</li><li>Cloud-ready services at incredible GTM speed</li><li>End-to-end card processing via own card network interfaces</li><li>Security features embedded with 3D secure technology</li><li>Ability to predefine limits and rewards flexibility</li><li>Offline and online accessibility</li></ol>Looking to issue gift cards? Write to us at&nbsp;<a class="link" href="mailto:business@m2pfintech.com">business@m2pfintech.com</a>&nbsp;to get started!&nbsp; We are happy to help. <a class="link" href="https://m2pfintech.com/newsletter/">Subscribe</a>&nbsp;to our newsletter and get the latest fintech news, views, and insights, directly to your inbox. Follow us on&nbsp;<a class="link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/m2pfintech/mycompany/">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a class="link" href="https://twitter.com/m2pfintech">Twitter</a>&nbsp;for insightful fintech tales curated for curious minds like you.

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