Weekly groceries, a tablet for the kids, a new vacuum cleaner: more UAE households are now clicking to buy all of it. NielsenIQ’s Q2 2026 consumer market report calls e-commerce one of the fastest-growing retail channels in the country.
The online FMCG market grew 26.4 per cent in the second quarter, and e-commerce’s share of sales rose from 11.9 per cent to 14.1 per cent. Online sales of technology and durable goods across the UAE and Saudi Arabia grew by more than 19 per cent. Overall, the UAE FMCG market expanded 5.4 per cent in the quarter.
NielsenIQ puts the shift down to wider product choice, price transparency, customer reviews and easier access to new products. Shops are not going away. Supermarkets still matter for immediate purchases and for seeing a product in person. But online channels are taking a bigger part in discovery, comparison and repeat buying.
What is selling
Demand is bunching in particular categories. Ambient food and beverages did best in FMCG, with value growth of 8 per cent and 7 per cent and strong volume gains. Snacking, dairy, frozen food and paper products also grew. In technology, consumer electronics, media tablets, office equipment, headsets and vacuum cleaners stood out.
Spending is splitting, too. Many shoppers still hunt for bargains, while others will pay more for quality, innovation or performance. Premium brands made up 62 per cent of the UAE technology and durables market, though the value segment also edged up. In FMCG, premium products were the fastest-growing segment.
Andrey Dvoychenkov, General Manager Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan at NielsenIQ, said the UAE and Saudi consumer markets are entering “a more nuanced phase of growth.” Consumers, he said, “are becoming more digital, more selective and increasingly polarised in how they spend.” For brands, he added, the priority is “to understand where demand is moving” and build an omnichannel experience that delivers both relevance and value.
