E-Paper
Sign In
Thu, Jan 22, 2026 | Shaban 3, 1447 | Fajr 05:45 | DXB 
18.3°C
iPhone | iPad
Android
Could artificial intelligence do holiday gift-shopping for you?
Agentic commerce may be the answer to the growing trend of AI-assisted gift shopping, with UAE shoppers leveraging technology for a seamless experience
In a year that saw the great creative reset — when nine of the 15 largest luxury brands appointed new designers — the early winner looks to be Dior’s signing of former Loewe creative director, Jonathan Anderson. Taking the largest share of user-generated content (UGC) on social media during the Spring/Summer 2026 shows held in Paris last October, Anderson’s Dior is hotly anticipated to bring back lustre to large luxury, a sector which, almost unanimously, has wilted under the perception of rising prices and stagnant creativity.
Recommended For You
While Anderson’s creations won’t land in stores until January, a Dior box under the tree this month will show your finger’s on the fashion pulse. And the dream contents? One of Kuwaiti artist Alymamah Rashed’s two interpretations of the house’s iconic Lady Dior bag.
For the past decade Dior has invited artists to imbue the bag with their artistic vision, creating what the brand calls a ‘convergence of art and couture.’
This year, to celebrate 10 years of the initiative, Dior invited 10 artists from around the world to reinterpret the Lady Dior as part of their creative realm, among them, Rashed. Her two designs draw on Kuwait’s natural landscapes and flora, reimagining the archaeological heritage of Failaka Island’s sand, rock and sea barnacles through exquisite embroidery, while three dimensional petals edged with pearls recreate the country’s Humaith flower.
With luxury brands, including Dior, under pressure to prove their craftsmanship credentials — particularly after a 2024 court case revealed that a €2,600 (Dh11,175) bag cost just €53 (Dh228) to assemble — the highly limited Lady Dior Art editions quietly silence detractors.
Each of Rashed’s designs features a delicate eye motif and reveals a poem on the lining, visible only to the owner. To unwrap this bag represents an intimately personal, almost couture-like experience that celebrates a deep connection and respect between giver and receiver. This year, that’s more relevant than ever as, for possibly the first time, we are witnessing the beginnings of at-scale artificial intelligence (AI) shopping and, yes, gift selection.
YouGov reports that 29 per cent of UAE shoppers wish AI could do their holiday shopping for them, while 72 per cent of UAE residents plan to use AI to help them navigate mega sales such as the Dubai Shopping Festival, and 34 per cent would trust AI to find and buy gifts for family and friends. On the flipside, 69 per cent believe that AI-selected gifts are not as meaningful as those picked out personally. I agree, and, if he’s reading this, and tempted to ChatGPT my Christmas present, I’ll save my husband the bother and direct him straight to a pavé diamond Tiffany Lock bangle.
That said, AI’s role in shopping, for gifts or otherwise, is only set to grow. YouGov reports that shoppers in the UAE and KSA dedicate a very generous 35-36 per cent of their annual budget to gifts (I have to wonder whether self-gifting counts). With that level of purchasing volume and value, it makes sense to leverage AI for product and brand discovery, price comparisons and, eventually, frictionless ordering and returns.
Over half of US consumers who used generative AI for search in 2025, also used it to help them shop, while shopping-related searches on generative AI platforms grew 4,700 per cent between 2024 and 2025, a number that is only going to explode as the machines get to know our personal style, body types, lifestyle and aesthetic aspirations.
According to SimilarWeb, ChatGPT accounted for 16 per cent of Zara’s inbound referral traffic last summer. Naturally, there’s a name for this: Agentic Commerce – where your AI agent sources products, compares prices, orders and oversees returns on your behalf.
With the shopping calendar at full throttle in the UAE right now: Dubai Shopping Festival running until January 11 next year and encompassing Christmas and New Year, with Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr following in quick succession, canny retailers and brands should be ensuring that large language models (LLMs) are primed to offer up their collections to an increasingly AI-literate consumer base.
For now, though, a gift that defies algorithms, reflects regional artistry, and contains words never to be seen by AI crawlers, is the true masterpiece.
Don’t just scroll. Know it all. Sign up for your daily UAE news fix.
Get the top stories of the day right in your inbox.
