DSF for brands: a six-week plan to get your festival promotion ready
The festival opens on 4 December. A week-by-week checklist for brands and retailers who want to make the most of it.
Key points
- Pick one clear offer per wave. Three waves fit a 45-day season.
- Lock in stock and delivery dates first; everything else depends on them.
- Match your in-store and online offers so shoppers don't find a cheaper price elsewhere.
- Decide in advance how you'll measure success, before the festival starts.
The 32nd Dubai Shopping Festival runs from 4 December 2026 to 17 January 2027. For a shop or brand, that is six and a half weeks of higher footfall, more tourists and shoppers who expect a deal. This checklist works back from opening day.
Six weeks before: decide the offer
- Choose three waves, not one offer. For example: an opening offer in the first week, a gifting push before the holidays, and a January clearance. One discount repeated for 45 days stops being news.
- Make the offer simple to say. "Buy two, get the third free" works on a shop window. A tiered discount with conditions does not.
- Protect your best sellers. Discounting the products that sell anyway gives away margin. Put the offer on bundles, slower lines or a festival-only gift set.
Five weeks before: stock and suppliers
- Confirm quantities and delivery dates with suppliers in writing.
- If stock is imported, check shipping time and customs clearance. Allow extra time; December is busy for freight.
- Agree what happens if stock arrives late. A festival offer on products you don't have is worse than no offer.
Four weeks before: the malls and partners
- Ask your mall's marketing team what DSF promotions, raffles or placements are still open, and what the deadlines are.
- If you sell through a retailer or marketplace, ask which festival campaigns they are running and how to be included.
Three weeks before: creative and channels
- Brief window displays, in-store signage, social posts and website banners together, so the offer looks the same everywhere.
- Prepare content for each wave in advance. During the festival there is no time to design from scratch.
- Write the offer in English and Arabic.
Two weeks before: staff and operations
- Plan rotas around evenings, weekends and New Year's Eve.
- Brief staff on the offer, the terms and how to answer "is there a better deal?"
- Test the till and online checkout with the offer applied. A discount code that fails on day one costs sales.
One week before: measurement
- Write down what you will compare: sales per day, average basket size, online orders and footfall, against the same weeks last year if you have them.
- Set a mid-festival check (around Christmas) to decide whether wave two needs changing.
The checklist in one table
| When | Task | Done? |
|---|---|---|
| 6 weeks | Three offer waves chosen; best sellers protected | ☐ |
| 5 weeks | Stock and delivery dates confirmed in writing | ☐ |
| 4 weeks | Mall and retailer promotions booked | ☐ |
| 3 weeks | Creative ready for all three waves, in English and Arabic | ☐ |
| 2 weeks | Staff briefed; checkout tested | ☐ |
| 1 week | Success measures written down; mid-season check booked | ☐ |
Already late?
If you are reading this with less than six weeks to go, cut the plan down: one offer, one channel you do well, and stock you already have. A simple festival offer done properly beats a big plan done halfway.