12 min read
By BPG Strategy & Data Team
The Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, is undergoing an accelerated digital transformation. With mobile-first consumers and a rapidly expanding food delivery economy, QSRs are redefining customer experience, operational strategy, and competitive differentiation.
The GCC’s online food delivery market was valued at approximately USD 9.8 billion in 2025, up from USD 3.9 billion in 2023, and is forecast to reach nearly USD 25 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual rate of around 14–15%. This surge reflects a profound shift toward digital convenience: mobile and online channels are becoming primary transaction modes, with customers expecting seamless personalisation, faster delivery, and real-time engagement.
Cloud kitchens, AI-powered marketing, loyalty ecosystems, and brand-owned ordering platforms are no longer optional; they are essential to remaining competitive. Regional leaders such as Americana Restaurants, KFC Arabia, and Kitopi are investing in digital infrastructure that enables data-driven insights, agile menu innovation, and cross-market scalability. Meanwhile, aggregators such as Talabat, Careem Food, and Jahez continue to shape consumer expectations while intensifying competition and compressing brand margins.
This whitepaper offers a data-backed overview of these shifts. It maps the evolving QSR landscape through technology, competition, customer behaviour, and operational innovation, offering strategic guidance for leaders preparing for a digital-first future.
This report is part of BPG’s quarterly industry insight series on identifying transformation trends across high-growth GCC sectors. This edition analyses how digital transformation is redefining the QSR model - from loyalty to logistics, customer acquisition to content.
A notable example of this transformation is Americana Restaurants, whose sustained investments in digital ordering platforms and loyalty ecosystems have driven measurable gains in customer retention, operational efficiency, and cross-market scalability. Similarly, Mordor Intelligence forecasts a 30% increase in online food delivery volumes across the GCC by 2029, reinforcing the urgency for QSR operators to adopt agile, technology-driven operating models to stay competitive.
Together, these inputs form a comprehensive, data-driven understanding of how GCC QSRs are navigating the next wave of digital disruption and the strategic imperatives required to stay ahead.
The GCC Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector has evolved from a convenience-driven niche into a digitally powered growth engine. The GCC foodservice market is valued at USD 61.55 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 109.9 billion by 2030 at a ~12.3% CAGR. In the UAE, the QSR market was USD 5.25 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to USD 25.36 billion by 2033.
Digitally enabled ordering now accounts for most sales in many UAE QSR formats, with mobile-first journeys setting the benchmark for discovery, ordering, and loyalty engagement. The infrastructure to support this is among the world’s strongest: as of 2024, the UAE recorded mobile connections ≈of 219% of the population, alongside an ICT Development Index score of 97.5/100, 100% household internet access, and universal mobile-phone ownership.
Operators are also re-wiring cost structures. While specific savings vary by brand and model, studies indicate cloud kitchens can operate ~30–50% cheaper than traditional formats by reducing front-of-house and prime real-estate costs, accelerating footprint-light scaling across GCC cities.
Consumer expectations have shifted from speed and price to personalisation, transparency, and digital convenience. In this environment, success is no longer a margin game - it is a contest of digital agility.
Franchise-led expansion remains the cornerstone of QSR scalability in the GCC, but franchising models are quietly being rewired for digital. Global systems (McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks) increasingly mandate unified tech stacks across franchisees, covering CRM/CDP integration, first-party ordering apps, loyalty back-ends, and standardised analytics to deliver consistent experiences and data visibility. McDonald’s, for example, has set explicit global targets to reach 250 million 90-day active loyalty users and $45 billion in annual loyalty sales by 2027, underscoring the centrality of owned digital platforms in franchise operations.
In MENA/GCC, leading master franchise operators are rolling out these standards at scale. Americana Restaurants has launched a group-wide loyalty program across brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hardee’s, and deployed a customer data platform (CDP) to unify first-party data and activation. Starbucks UAE (operated by Alshaya) has live Rewards and mobile order-ahead, evidencing franchisor-mandated digital journeys in the market. KFC in Saudi Arabia and the UAE similarly runs fully featured first-party apps for ordering, offers, and account management.
Digital compliance is now as critical as brand standards. Modern franchise agreements and ops playbooks typically require real-time sales dashboards, menu/pricing sync from a central source of truth, and campaign-level performance reporting, supported by integrated POS, accounting, and ops analytics tools. This shift is redefining roles: from back-of-house forecasting and inventory to front-end personalisation and loyalty lifecycle management.
For smaller/local operators, the bar for initial CapEx and digital readiness is higher. But early movers that standardise on cloud-based POS, CDP/CRM, and owned apps typically gain higher retention, faster campaign roll-out, and more granular performance analytics - advantages that compound as networks scale.
Loyalty in the GCC QSR market is evolving from stamp cards to intelligent ecosystems. Traditional earn-and-redeem programs are no longer sufficient to engage digitally savvy consumers who expect real-time value, seamless experiences, and hyper-relevant offers. Regional operators are now deploying AI-driven loyalty platforms that analyse behavioural data, order frequency, and geolocation to deliver curated rewards. This reflects a wider regional trend, where mobile app engagement drives over 60% of food-ordering activity in leading markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
In the UAE, Starbucks Rewards has seen rapid adoption since its 2022 launch. According to the global loyalty-insights platform Let’s Talk Loyalty, the program surpassed three million members across MENA within its first 18 months, achieving transactional penetration comparable to mature markets such as the U.S. and Canada.
The next wave of loyalty innovation centres on predictive customisation, recommending menu items based on individual behaviour patterns, order history, time of day, or even weather conditions.
Aggregator platforms are now deeply embedded in the GCC’s QSR delivery ecosystem. As of H1 2025, aggregators such as Talabat, Deliveroo, Careem Food, and Jahez account for roughly 75% of all mobile food-delivery orders in key markets, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with the remaining 25% processed through brand apps, websites, and call centres.
These platforms provide unmatched reach, logistics integration, and digital visibility, but they also come with steep costs. Commission fees typically range from 15% to 35% per order, depending on category and exclusivity, directly compressing restaurant margins, particularly for operators with high fixed costs or limited scale.
As a result, QSR brands are accelerating a dual-channel strategy: maintaining aggregator partnerships for discovery and reach, while migrating loyal and high-frequency customers to brand-owned platforms that enable cost control, richer data, and direct customer relationships.
To support this shift, market leaders are reallocating marketing budgets and customer incentives toward owned channels. In the UAE, average incentive rates on online food and grocery orders stood near 23% in Q3 2024, highlighting how promotional intensity is eroding aggregator profitability. In Saudi Arabia, several local chains have introduced exclusive loyalty points and discounts via proprietary apps—a signal of a broader regional pivot to reduce aggregator dependence and reclaim customer ownership.
In the evolving GCC QSR landscape, the future is not aggregator versus brand, but rather aggregation plus autonomy, balancing marketplace exposure with data sovereignty and sustainable unit economics.
Owning the digital experience is becoming a critical advantage.
Brands are investing in proprietary ordering platforms, both web and app-based, to regain control of customer relationships. This shift goes beyond margin protection; it strengthens data ownership, experience design, and long-term brand equity. Fully integrated platforms now connect ordering, digital payments, CRM, and loyalty modules, creating seamless customer journeys.
Yum! Brands MENA, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut, reports that digital channels now contribute more than 50% of total system sales, driven by mobile ordering and localised app features. These proprietary channels increasingly use chatbots, one-click reordering, and push-notification upselling to boost convenience and frequency.
Beyond profitability, brand-owned ecosystems deliver first-party data unavailable through aggregators, covering order frequency, basket size, and location behaviour to enable personalisation and dynamic pricing. In Saudi Arabia, Shawarmer and Kudu have launched branded apps with Arabic-first UX, localised rewards, and live delivery tracking, reflecting how regional players are blending cultural relevance with digital sophistication.
As digital maturity deepens across GCC QSRs, pricing and product development are increasingly guided by analytics and real-time customer feedback. In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where more than 70% of QSR transactions are now digital (via apps, web, and aggregators), the ability to test, iterate, and tailor-made, customised prices and offers has become a core competitive capability.
Aggregator platforms such as Talabat and HungerStation now support algorithmic pricing and time-based promotions, helping operators influence order frequency during off-peak periods. While Talabat has not disclosed detailed figures, Deliveroo UAE reported a double-digit increase in basket size among restaurants adopting dynamic combo offers, particularly during weekday lulls.
These digital levers are increasingly mirrored in brand-owned platforms. Burger King MENA, through its partnership with Gulf First Fast-Food Company, piloted digital-only menus promoted via app notifications - yielding measurable growth in app engagement and repeat visits. Domino’s Saudi Arabia uses heat maps and price-elasticity tests to optimise pricing for family pizzas by geography and time of day.
Beyond pricing, digital ordering and CRM tools allow QSRs to capture live sentiment and SKU-level performance. Kitopi’s virtual brand innovation cycle integrates customer reviews and product-level data from multiple geographies before launching new dishes, creating a continuous feedback loop between kitchen and consumer that accelerates innovation and minimises waste.
The GCC’s QSR landscape is witnessing intensifying competition as global franchises expand and digital-native regional players scale rapidly. This dual disruption is compelling incumbents to innovate faster and adopt agile, tech-enabled business models.
Global entrants such as Shake Shack, Five Guys, Popeyes, and Wingstop are deepening their presence in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait through strategic franchise partnerships. According to Knight Frank’s Saudi Retail Market Review 2024, international F&B brands accounted for over 65% of new leasing activity in Saudi malls, driven by strong consumer appetite for premium-casual dining and QSR hybrids. These brands typically launch with integrated digital platforms from day one—mobile apps, in-store kiosks, order tracking, and loyalty schemes—setting new benchmarks for service design and convenience.
Simultaneously, regional disruptors are scaling aggressively. Kitopi, the Dubai-based cloud kitchen unicorn, operates across the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, and Bahrain, managing 200+ virtual F&B brands and fulfilling over 4 million orders monthly, according to its 2024 update. Similarly, KLC Virtual Restaurants, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is expanding its modular brand-creation and analytics-driven kitchen network, enabling regional brands to scale without physical footprint constraints.
The convergence of digitally mature global entrants and tech-native local players is redefining customer expectations around convenience, customisation, and brand storytelling. For legacy QSRs, survival increasingly depends on accelerating digital investments, modernising brand platforms, and transforming operations to deliver differentiated value at scale.
In today’s GCC QSR environment, customer experience extends far beyond dine-in or delivery. Consumers expect consistency, personalisation, and innovation across every touchpoint—mobile, web, app, aggregator, in-store, and increasingly, voice and augmented reality (AR).
Pizza Hut GCC provides a leading example, having introduced AI-powered chatbots for online ordering across multiple markets. According to Yum! Brands MENA, this innovation reduced order times by 30% while cutting errors and improving user satisfaction. Similarly, Starbucks MENA, operated by Alshaya Group, piloted AR-enabled menus in UAE stores during seasonal campaigns to enhance product discovery and brand engagement.
Features such as real-time order tracking, loyalty gamification, and individualised push offers are now standard for retaining app users and driving repeat behaviour. In Saudi Arabia, 85% of urban consumers aged 18–35 prefer digital ordering over phone or counter service, according to YouGov MENA Retail Trends 2024.
Innovation continues to expand into voice-enabled ordering and AI-driven menu personalisation. Kitopi’s smart kitchens dynamically adjust menu availability based on location-specific demand patterns, optimising production and reducing drop-off rates. These digital capabilities not only streamline operations but also elevate satisfaction and basket value, transforming QSRs into data-driven experience engines.
While the GCC QSR market continues to expand at a pace, global benchmarks provide actionable models for digital transformation, operational efficiency, and customer-centric innovation. Brands that localise these strategies to the Gulf’s unique consumer base and operating environment will build more resilient, scalable, and data-driven businesses.
McDonald’s has invested heavily in AI-powered drive-thru systems, piloted across the U.S. and select international markets. These systems leverage natural language processing (NLP) to take orders faster and more accurately, delivering up to a 20-second improvement in throughput and reducing labour needs by around nine hours per day in 2024 field tests. While not yet implemented in the GCC, the region’s high car ownership and drive-thru penetration make this innovation highly transferable, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Similarly, Chipotle has deployed AI-enabled forecasting tools to optimise labour scheduling and reduce food waste. According to its 2024 earnings call, integration of predictive analytics and new efficiency equipment improved throughput to the equivalent of two additional entrées per 15-minute peak interval. GCC operators, especially cloud kitchens and mall-based QSRs, stand to gain by adopting similar predictive systems to manage surges during Ramadan and high-traffic periods.
A further benchmark is Domino’s, which continues to lead globally in digital loyalty and omnichannel integration. Its U.S. app now handles over 75% of orders, integrating live order tracking, one-click reordering, and personalised promotions. Domino’s MENA, operated by Alamar Foods, has replicated many of these features, though opportunities remain in AI-based personalisation and real-time feedback loops.
In essence, GCC QSR brands that adapt proven international playbooks while aligning them to local regulation, culture, and tech maturity can future-proof their digital edge and define the next era of QSR innovation.
Generative AI (GenAI) is shifting from a frontier concept to operational reality within the GCC’s QSR ecosystem, particularly among digitally advanced brands. While global use cases, ranging from AI-powered content creation and voice ordering to automated menu design, are gaining traction, the GCC’s investment in sovereign AI infrastructure is accelerating adoption and localisation.
In 2024, the UAE launched Falcon 180B, a large-language model developed by the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), recognised as one of the most powerful open-source LLMs globally. Meanwhile, the Stargate AI Supercomputer Project in Abu Dhabi, built in collaboration with Cerebras Systems, is set to deliver one exaflop of computing capacity, enabling enterprise-scale model training within the region.
These initiatives are paving the way for commercial sectors such as QSR to deploy GenAI with greater speed, sovereignty, and regulatory alignment.
Practical adoption has already begun. Kitopi is leveraging GenAI to generate localised campaign content and multilingual ad variations, while McDonald’s MENA is testing automated customer support and menu-copywriting tools across English and Arabic, reflecting learnings from its global pilots.
With the rise of GCC-native cloud infrastructure and AI compliance frameworks, QSR operators can now deploy GenAI solutions without cross-border data transfers, a major advantage in highly regulated markets such as Saudi Arabia.
As QSR operations in the GCC expand across malls, high streets, and cloud kitchens, supply chain efficiency has become a defining lever for both margin protection and customer satisfaction. AI-powered forecasting systems are emerging as essential tools for optimising procurement, labour, and inventory in this fast-scaling sector.
Globally, predictive supply chains are already proving their value. Juici Patties, a regional fast-food chain, integrated point-of-sale data with external demand signals such as weather patterns and local events, improving order accuracy and stock continuity. These models demonstrate how real-time analytics can cut waste, anticipate surges, and refine procurement—directly applicable to GCC operators during Ramadan, Eid, and national holidays.
In the GCC, brands such as Kudu (Saudi Arabia) and Americana Group have begun piloting AI-based procurement and inventory systems across their restaurant portfolios. While performance data remains proprietary, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 supply chain digitisation agenda is pushing the wider foodservice sector toward smart inventory management, supporting national goals to reduce food waste - currently estimated at ~33%.
Meanwhile, predictive labour forecasting is gaining traction among UAE-based QSR chains. By correlating historical footfall, order size, and delivery volume with shift planning, operators have reduced idle staffing and improved utilisation, especially in cloud kitchen models, where flexibility is critical.
Beyond cost optimisation, predictive analytics enhances sustainability and scalability. As ESG reporting and food waste regulation tighten across the GCC, QSRs leveraging AI-powered forecasting will be best positioned to combine operational agility with environmental accountability.
With more than 55% of the GCC population under 35, short-form video has evolved from a brand-awareness medium into a core sales and conversion channel. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts now sit at the heart of QSR campaign strategies, featuring in-app ordering, geo-targeted coupons, and viral menu drops that directly influence order volumes.
In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, TikTok ranks among the top three most-used apps by daily active users, with food-related content, especially “food hacks,” “five-minute recipes,” and “local street eats”, driving some of the region’s highest engagement. According to TikTok MENA’s 2024 Food & Beverage Playbook, QSR campaigns that combine storytelling with native calls-to-action (such as “Order Now” links to brand-owned apps) achieve up to 18% higher click-through rates than static image campaigns.
Shake Shack MENA demonstrated this with a TikTok-first campaign in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan 2024, featuring short-form storytelling around limited-time menu items. The campaign delivered a 22% increase in app downloads within two weeks.
Local micro-influencers also play a pivotal role, with GCC-based creators (50K–150K followers) generating 4–5× higher engagement than macro influencers, ideal for niche targeting across demographics and food tribes.
The most advanced QSR brands are now embedding short-form video directly into their loyalty and mobile ecosystems, using snackable content for onboarding, gamified challenges, and individually curated offers based on app behaviour. This not only boosts engagement but also strengthens retention and customer lifetime value (CLTV).
As GCC QSR operators seek to scale amid rising costs and evolving consumer behaviour, hybrid cloud kitchens are emerging as a future-proof operational model. These kitchens combine delivery-first infrastructure with modular dine-in components, giving brands the flexibility to serve both digital and walk-in customers, without the overhead of full-service outlets.
According to IMARC Group (2024), the GCC cloud kitchen market was valued at USD 2.0 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7%, reaching USD 6.6 billion by 2033. While traditional cloud kitchens focus solely on delivery, hybrid formats—pioneered by KLC Virtual Restaurants, Kitch, and SaaS Kitchens incorporate pickup zones, digital kiosks, and limited dine-in counters within production hubs.
This model is gaining strong traction in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait, where dense urban clusters, high aggregator penetration, and diverse food preferences are driving demand. Operators benefit from lower capex and opex, while consumers enjoy greater convenience and shorter wait times.
Globally, hybrid and cloud kitchen models are delivering measurable efficiency gains. In 2024, AI-enabled kitchen equipment, such as smart ovens, predictive kitchen displays, and IoT sensors, helped reduce spoilage by 15% and waste by 10% across Asia and North America. Automation and robotics have also delivered labour savings of around 30% among early adopters. For GCC operators, these efficiency innovations are directly transferable to mall-based QSRs and cloud-based networks alike.
For franchise-heavy operators and regional chains, hybrid cloud kitchens offer a scalable path to enter new catchment areas, test new cuisines, and pilot limited-time menus without long-term leases. They also integrate seamlessly with mobile loyalty ecosystems, supporting app-based pickup, dine-in reordering, and localised promotions, bridging digital and physical experiences with operational agility.
The digital future of the GCC’s QSR sector will depend on how decisively and intelligently brands act today. The following five imperatives distil global best practices and regional realities into a roadmap for sustained growth and digital competitiveness.
QSR operators must evolve from siloed digital tools to connected ecosystems that unify ordering, loyalty, analytics, and delivery under one architecture. Starbucks MENA and Domino’s KSA offer mature models where data flows seamlessly across channels, powering real-time personalisation, inventory optimisation, and campaign efficiency. Investing in such end-to-end ecosystems strengthens both operational control and customer lifetime value.
Aggregators remain vital for reach, but over-reliance comes at a cost. With commission fees averaging 25–35% in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, QSRs must aggressively scale brand-owned apps, websites, and loyalty programs to protect margins and own the customer relationship. Americana Group’s proprietary app investments have already delivered tangible gains in user retention and frequency.
AI-driven pricing engines and demand forecasting tools allow QSRs to move beyond static discounting. Brands leveraging heat maps, time-based bundling, and elasticity testing are already improving campaign ROI while optimising procurement and workforce planning—particularly during high-traffic periods such as Ramadan.
The modern customer journey spans mobile, in-store, aggregator, kiosk, and voice interfaces. Features like AR menus (Starbucks UAE), AI chatbots (Pizza Hut KSA), and gamified loyalty platforms (Talabat regional partnerships) have shifted from differentiators to baseline expectations. Each interaction must be treated as both a brand experience and a data capture opportunity.
With Gen Z and millennials forming over 55% of the GCC population, preferences evolve fast. Agile marketing teams using real-time dashboards and automated A/B testing can localise offers, influencer tie-ins, or product pivots within days—not weeks. McDonald’s UAE, for instance, has localised global campaigns around Eid and back-to-school seasons, achieving measurable boosts in response rates and foot traffic.
By aligning around these five imperatives: integration, ownership, prediction, experience, and agility, GCC QSR leaders can future-proof their businesses, achieving both digital excellence and sustained profitability in one of the world’s most competitive and fast-evolving foodservice markets.
GCC QSRs are standing at a digital crossroads. Brands that embrace intelligent infrastructure, use data as a compass, and put customer experience at the centre of their strategy will lead to the next wave of growth.
Digital transformation isn’t just a response to changing behaviour; it’s the architecture of future success.
BPG is uniquely positioned to guide QSR brands across the GCC through the complexities of digital transformation, customer engagement, and brand growth. With deep regional insight and a proven track record in marketing strategy and experience design, we help future-focused brands thrive in an increasingly connected food economy.
From digital platform design to loyalty ecosystem rollouts, BPG enables QSR brands to think ahead, act smarter, and differentiate in one of the most competitive and fast-moving regions in the world.
For any and every CX please reach out to valli.lakshmanan@bpggroup.com