Convenience Culture Becomes a Loyalty Engine in MENA

High Dining-Out Rates and Delivery Habits Turn Ease Into Retention Currency.

Everyday Behaviors Create Retention

PwC’s Voice of the Consumer 2025 found that 53% of people in the Middle East order takeaway at least weekly, compared with 34% globally.

Another 40% dine out one to three times a week, well above the global 25%. These are not occasional behaviors, they are embedded routines.

In this context, engagement is not about campaigns or promotions; it is about the daily actions that cement habit. Convenience culture is not a supplement to loyalty, it is the infrastructure of repeat behavior.

Convenience Becomes a Competitive Currency

Consumers in MENA face the same cost-of-living pressure as elsewhere, but the data shows they are unwilling to surrender convenience. They will cut waste, trade down on brands, or bulk-buy essential, but they will not give up delivery and dining out.

This makes convenience a competitive currency in its own right. Brands that can provide ease (whether through speed, access, or reliability) hold share. Those that cannot, regardless of quality, are discarded.

Platforms Redraw the Loyalty Map

Meal kits, used by 28% of regional consumers versus 15% globally, are one sign of the shift. The wider delivery market is projected to hit $1.73 billion by 2030, growing 14% a year. These platforms are not simply channels, they are now the primary interface for consumer engagement.

Restaurants and FMCG brands no longer own direct loyalty; they borrow it from Talabat, Careem Food, Jahez, or the meal-kit providers. Engagement runs through the platform, which means brands must prove relevance in ecosystems they do not control.

Engagement Rules for Brands

For food producers, the engagement rule is immediate availability across delivery and retail. For restaurants, it is frictionless access: order, payment, fulfillment. For platforms, it is curation and reliability.

Engagement is not abstract here, it is operational.

A single delay, outage, or unavailable product breaks the engagement loop. Recovery is not guaranteed, because switching is easy and options are abundant.

Bottom Line

Engagement Is the New Loyalty

In MENA, convenience-driven actions, ordering, dining out, subscribing to meal kits, have redefined engagement.

They are no longer auxiliary touchpoints; they are the behavior that locks in or erases loyalty.

For brands, the imperative is blunt: engineer every point of engagement for ease, or risk being bypassed.

Loyalty is not a feeling in this market. It is the residue of repeated, convenient action.