One bad refund during crises can undo years of loyalty, warns major UAE retailer

Dubai: When geopolitical uncertainty rises, retailers face more pressure to get the basics right. Executives at Majid Al Futtaim and Visa say digital trust — across payments, loyalty programmes and personalisation — becomes essential, not optional.

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"When the world feels uncertain, people don’t step back from digital experiences," said Darren Taylor, Senior Vice President for SHARE Rewards and Customer Solutions at Majid Al Futtaim. "In many cases, they rely on them more. But what they need from those experiences changes significantly."

He said small failures can have a bigger impact during such periods.

"A payment that doesn't go through, an order that doesn't arrive as promised, a refund that's difficult to process — these aren't minor inconveniences… they feel like failures at exactly the moment when dependability matters most."

His comments come alongside a joint white paper by Majid Al Futtaim and Visa, which argues that future growth in Gulf e-commerce will depend less on new technology and more on consistent, reliable customer experiences.

Trust under pressure

Devendar Agarwal, Visa’s regional executive, said systems built for trust are more likely to hold up during disruption.

"What holds up consistently is infrastructure that's been built for trust from the start," he said. He said Visa has invested more than $3.3 billion in AI and data over the past decade to improve fraud prevention and payment security.

He added that core elements — secure identity, transaction approval and clear dispute handling — are key to maintaining confidence.

"When those basics are in place, customers know what to expect… and trust holds because the experience is consistent."

Where personalisation can go wrong

Taylor said personalisation must feel useful, not intrusive.

"Personalisation builds trust when it feels like understanding, not opportunity," he said.

He gave a simple example: suggesting a nearby restaurant before a booked cinema visit can be helpful. But pushing a repeat purchase — like another sofa — just because of past behaviour can feel irrelevant.

"The difference… is the difference between feeling understood and feeling processed."

Digital habits remain strong

The report shows how deeply digital shopping is embedded in the UAE. Around 80 per cent of payments are now digital, while 67 per cent of consumers used a mobile phone in their last purchase. About 37 per cent shop entirely on mobile — the highest globally.

But expectations are high. Nine out of ten shoppers say they would stop using a brand after just one bad experience.

Taylor said creating a fully seamless retail experience will take time. "We're firmly in the middle stages of this transformation… it is a multiyear journey," he said.

He added that the challenge is no longer technology, but making systems work together smoothly.

"Moving from connected systems to connected journeys is less a technology problem than an integration and discipline challenge."