How UAE residents are shopping amid uncertainty: Bigger baskets, essentials, and comforts signal shifting trends

A little ice-cream doesn’t hurt anyone.

 Dubai-based Aayati Manchanda admits that during the first few days of crisis, she would sneak in an ice-cream along with essentials of bottled water and vegetables.  “I was trying to think practically, but also I’m human. I need to comfort myself,” she notes.

 But as the days wore on, the ice-creams reduced. “It was just water, and planning meals for our family. That was the priority,” explains Manchanda.

 She isn’t the only one. A month into the war, there has been a shift in the priorities and the psychology of consumption is becoming more revealing than ever. It’s not the urgency of crisis buying, But as UAE retailers explain, there’s also a new composure where people think a few steps ahead. And what they’re ordering offers a glimpse into what they’re really feeling beneath the surface.

 One of the clearest signals of this shift lies in how people are filling their carts.

 Ankit Manchanda, Assistant Vice President, Growth Strategy, supermall from Noon an e-commerce platform offering everything from electronics to groceries, explains that here has been a clear shift towards larger, more considered baskets. People are adding more items in their order, with a substantial increase in pantry stables, water and household essentials.  This indicates a sense of efficiency; people are consolidating purchases, opting for fewer shopping trips, while ensuring they have what they need on hand. You straddle convenience and caution and stay prepared without tipping into overconsumption.

What people are buying is just as telling as how they’re buying. Water for everyday needs, along with first-aid kits and emergency lights, offers a clear snapshot of shifting priorities.

 Manchanda adds, “Right now, the top items are bottled water, rice, and first aid kits. We’re also seeing strong demand for power banks and emergency lights.”

 Abu Dhabi-based Nisha Chaturvedi, a homemaker explains her own priorities: A stocked pantry, a charged power bank, and medical supplies. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on lately,” she says

 And yet, it’s not all strictly functional. You do need cheer to survive.

 Manchanda adds that while practical purchases such as kitchen staples and household basics trump all, people have also found a way to keep themselves entertained. “We do see a steady demand for things like board games, puzzles, often in the same basket.”

 After all, preparation doesn’t need to entirely clinical. You need some comfort too. Trying to figure out a Rubik’s cube does keep your mind busy and distracted for a while, and spending hours playing board games with your family, reminds you of a little normalcy, even if, you worry that the world isn’t.

 Moreover, apart from board games and puzzles, there’s also a demand for wellness and self-care items.  

 While uncertainty in the region may have shaped behaviour over the past month, it has also take place alongside a familiar retail cycle: Ramadan and Eid.

 “Initially, there continued to be a strong demand of abayas, sandals and clothing leading up to Eid,” says Vladislav Kashirin, Product Owner at Fortis. However, that momentum now appears to be cooling, with spending gradually shifting away from fashion categories.

 Part of this is seasonal. Eid naturally drives occasion-based shopping, new outfits, accessories, celebratory purchases. Once that moment passes, demand tapers off.

 But there’s more at play. “This reflects a typical post-Eid trend, where people move from occasion-driven shopping, outfits, accessories, to everyday indulgences and essentials,” he adds.

 This pivot is now being felt more keenly. Without the pull of events, promotions, and social occasions, spending is returning to basics with greater intent, prioritising utility over display, and function over display.

 If Ramadan and Eid are typically defined by spikes, late-night shopping, last-minute purchases, high-traffic windows, that intensity has now softened.

 Kashirin adds, “Even though the volumes are down, retail activity has become more evenly spread throughout the day, rather than concentrated in short windows seen during Ramadan.”

 In fact, transactions start earlier, from around 11 am, and continue steadily into later hours. People are now shopping at their convenience, which reflects a move towards more flexible and routine-driven purchasing behaviour, rather than urgency-led spending tied to events, he explains.

 In other words, shopping, once again, becomes part of a daily routine rather than a time-sensitive rush.

 In the earliest days of uncertainty, there were signs of reaction.

 In an email to us, Careem Quik, a rapid-delivery service explained in a statement to us that they did note a strong surge in demand for everyday staples in the early days of the situation, particularly across categories that included rice, pasta, canned goods and pulses. The demand has now been normalised.

 Yet, there now appears to be a return to balance. The broader purchasing behaviour has remained largely consistent with the traditional Ramadan trends. “There has been no significant shift in when or what customers are buying, with basket sizes gradually increasing as customers shop more deliberately for essentials.”

 In other words, after the initial adjustment, consumers didn’t spiral into panic buying.

 While consumer behaviour has evolved, the infrastructure supporting it has remained steady. As Careem maintains, as they’re aware that their communities depend on them for daily essentials, ensuring supply continuity was their immediate priority. “Our distribution network has been operating with planned buffer capacity, and we have diversified our sourcing across multiple countries to safeguard product availability, particularly for fresh produce.”

 In fact, even as logistics tend to grow complex, the  emphasis has been on continuity. The overall supply operations do remain stable.

 Careem explains: “Our network sees two distinct peaks in demand each day, between 7AM and 11AM and again from 3PM to 8PM, and our operations are structured to meet that rhythm consistently and without disruption.”

 And so, as the retailers show, the pattern point to a sense of nuance, with people adjusting enough, buying a little more, planning ahead, and choosing practicality without abandoning comfort.  Indeed, while larger baskets filled with essentials dominate, the addition of board games and wellness products point to a dual instinct: To prepare, and to preserve a sense of normal life.