Despite a handful of apps, the market is far from saturated. According to Statista, user penetration is expected to reach 33% in 2023. Only Dubai’s transport network transports more than 300M passengers per year. The average revenue per user of taxi apps in the UAE is expected to reach $214 in 2024. In 2022, the number of taxi trips in the UAE reached approximately 105.2M. It was a significant increase from the previous year when the number of taxi trips in the emirate stood at 88.9M.

The market is not saturated, even according to industry experts. “I feel like there are a lot of players, but there is space for them” – said Neha Sood, the UAE Market lead at Zomato (AE) at Gulfood, the annual global food and beverage sourcing event. Naji Haddad, General Manager of Deliverect Mena, confirms this by noting many new entrants in the market.

• According to Statista data, the UAE food delivery sector is going to grow by 6.33% to $2.79 bn in 2026
• UAE’s restaurant subsector was projected to constitute more than $7 bn in 2022
• In 2020 the average order value at Deliveroo was at $22.5, Uber Eats – $18.5, Talabat – $18 and Careem Now – $17.1
• Careem NOW had the highest fee for online food delivery orders in 2022 which was equal to $1.7 per order. Deliveroo had the lowest fee ($1.2).

There were about 5K beauty salons in the UAE in October 2022, according to Valerie Reynaert, founder and managing director of VR Beauty Consulting. However, most of them are not profitable, says Reynaert. More than 20% of companies are hair salons (1,1K – according to a web scraping service company SmartScrapers).

• Key spa on the market in Dubai (according to TripAdvisor ranking 2023): Naturelife Spa Premium, Soul Senses Spa & Wellness, Timeless Spa
• Key players among ​​Hair & Nail Salons in Dubai: N.Bar, Sugar Beauty Salon, and Deluxe Beauty Women Salon.

There are also many beauty providers that offer their services at home. For example, Home Spa By Ignite Wellness, Azza Spa, Reva, Mirrors Beauty Lounge and others. Some of them have a minimum booking amount of AED 400 and require the customer to pay for the technician’s transportation like Tips and Toes Salon.

According to Ken Research’s studies, the on-demand home services sector in the UAE is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.7% from 2021 to 2026. A vast majority of consumers who need such services have an annual household income of more than AED 200K .

Their most common requests are housekeeping, plumbing, electrical work, etc. Appointments can be booked via mobile apps, phone or messengers.

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) tourism sector have a 22% rise in inbound tourist expenditures in 2023 compared to 2019, according to Mastercard’s report ’Economic Outlook 2024’. That is bigger than the global average by 26 percentage points.

Travel planning: personalized travel itineraries, visa assistance, travel tips.

High demand for real estate may lead to an increase in demand for services related to it, for example, house layout, renovation and cleaning. Currently, the top requested renovation services are modernizing kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, landscaped gardens, and a private pool, says Calvin King, Senior Sales Consultant at Betterhomes.

Among the most prominent renovation and interior design companies in Dubai are Smart Renovation, Algebra Contracting, and Yalla Renovation.

Service providers in the UAE should place more emphasis on mobile apps. Mobile’s share of Emirati web traffic accounted for 64% in 2022, according to Statista. PYMNTS and Visa Cybersource revealed that 33% of women and 27% of men in the UAE are making purchases only via their smartphones.

🔹 Google search and YouTube

• According to Google’s 2022 Retail Marketing Guide, 41% of consumers in the UAE first noticed a product they purchased via online channels. 
• Also, 84% of Emirati consumers told Google that sponsored video content on YouTube helps them increase their familiarity with emerging brands.
• Over 40% of shoppers start by searching about a prospect purchase in Google before they make it online or in-store.
• Google saw a 40% rise in searches for “product reviews” on YouTube in the UAE and Saudi Arabia

🔹 Social networks

• ​​In the UAE, men constitute a larger portion of the audience on social media. According to the Digital 2023 Global Overview Report by Meltwater and We Are Social, men accounted for 69.6%, while women comprised only 30.4%.
• On average, Emiratis spend about 2.33 hours per day on social media
• Residents of the UAE use an average of 8 social media platforms.
• The top three reasons for using social media are: communicating with family and friends (46.8%), filling spare time (33.8%), and accessing news (32.8%).
• Only 26.9% use social networks to find products to purchase and 25.2% look specifically for content from brands

Outdoor advertising is one of the most popular methods of Above-the-line Marketing (ATL). Billboards, taxi advertisements etc allow brands to overcome ad-blockers that many people use, raise brand awareness and stand out with their creativity.

BTL offline promotion may be done through event marketing and shelf banners in stores. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are one of the most popular destinations for exhibitions, conferences and summits. You may check out our posts with hashtag #save_the_date in our WhatsApp channel.

Working only in English probably won’t be enough for the local market. The UAE has a low level of English proficiency, according to the EF English Proficiency Index: the country ranks 71st out of 113. However, Dubai is at the highest level of proficiency in the UAE and shows moderate knowledge of English.

Besides Arabic and English, in the UAE, languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Tagalog, Persian, Chinese, and others are also widespread.

The first step is always choosing a legal form based on the economic activity of a company. Every license should be obtained in the emirate where the company plans to operate. There are several types of licenses:

🔹 industrial license 

• the cost is approximately AED 25K
• what for: to process natural resources or alter raw materials for manufacturing new products

🔹 trade license

There are two types of trade licenses. The first one is a commercial license:

• the cost starts from AED 10K to AED 50K.
• what for: to purchase and sell products and services

The second one is a professional license:

• The cost starts from AED 10K
• what for: a business that relies on skills and intellectual capabilities.

A professional license is more suitable for service-oriented businesses. Additionally, it permits foreign owners to hold 100% of a company’s shares, unlike a commercial license, which mandates that 51% of a company be held by an Emirati national.

🔹 crafts license

the cost starts from AED 6K to AED12.5

what for: producing homemade products

🔹 tourism license

• The cost differs depending on the type of tourism service. For example, obtaining a travel guide license starts from AED 7.5K in Dubai.
• what for: organizing a desert camp, getting a safari driver permit etc.

🔹 agricultural license

• The cost starts from AED 1.5K– AED 5K
• what for: plant nurseries, manufacturing of fertilizers and agricultural conditioners etc.

Also, the company has to get additional approvals. For instance:

• a beauty salon requires a permit from an emirate’s health authority
• auditors have to obtain approval from the Ministry of Economy
• public service companies (like taxi services) should get a permit from the Executive Council etc
• Certain renovations may require approvals from local authorities (for example, a Dubai Municipality approval) and a developer’s permission, says Calvin King. A “no objection certificate” (NOC) may also be required for reconstruction works.