Dubai residents are taking advantage of Dubai Shopping Festival deals, timing their purchases to enjoy savings of up to Dh1,600 across a wide range of products and shopping destinations.
Dubai: Residents cash in on DSF discounts, saving up to Dh1,600 on purchases.
Even before the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) reaches its peak, many residents say they are already mapping out what to buy, delaying major purchases until the expected price drops take effect.
At a perfume shop in Deira City Centre, shopper Ahmed El Sayed shared that he has avoided purchasing fragrances since September. “I’ve been holding off for nearly three months,” he said. “The staff told me the DSF offers are about to begin, so I’m confident I’ll get a much better deal now.”
The Egyptian sales executive is set to travel on December 12 and wants to finish all his shopping before leaving the country. He intends to purchase around 12 perfume bottles as gifts for family members in Cairo. “If I buy them at full price, the total would be close to Dh3,600,” he explained. “With the DSF deals, it should drop to about Dh2,000, meaning I’ll save more than Dh1,500.”
At the same time, Asif Sheikh was browsing winter jackets and children’s items at Deira City Centre — products he had purposely avoided buying since early autumn.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on the prices since September,” said the Indian accountant. “The staff already told me the promotions are about to start. Jackets that used to cost Dh260 should now be priced at roughly Dh140.”
A resident of Al Qusais, who is preparing to fly to Kazakhstan on December 21, said he has been deliberately postponing several purchases to make the most of Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) promotions. He plans to buy winter clothing, school bags and small gifts for children before heading out of the country. “By waiting for the offers to begin, I know I can save at least Dh400,” he explained, noting that this was the main reason he avoided picking up these items earlier, even though he needed them for the trip.
His approach is not unusual. Many Dubai residents have adopted similar strategies as DSF draws closer, holding off on shopping for weeks—sometimes months—in hopes of securing the biggest price drops. The anticipation of discounts has become a long-standing tradition among shoppers who plan their spending around this season.
Businessman Shaver Hussain is one of them. He shared that he has postponed buying running shoes and sports apparel ever since late summer. For him, purchasing these items just before DSF would make little financial sense. “The pair of shoes I want costs around Dh480 at the moment,” he said while browsing at a mall. “As soon as the festival offers kick in, I expect the price to drop to roughly Dh240. That’s a fifty per cent saving on just one product.”
Hussain added that his shopping list doesn’t end there. He intends to take advantage of the seasonal deals to buy additional activewear for himself and his brothers back home. According to his calculations, he expects to spend around Dh500 on the entire set during DSF. Without the expected discounts, that same selection would likely cost him between Dh800 and Dh1,000. “The difference is too big to ignore,” he said. “That’s why I wait every year until DSF. It just makes more sense financially.”
Although footfall at malls has only started to rise gradually, retail staff noted that a growing number of customers are already looking ahead to the official start of the festival’s major promotions. Many shoppers are asking sales associates when the discounts will be released, while others are going a step further by reserving items or checking stock availability in advance.
According to employees at several retail outlets, this early interest is consistent with patterns seen in previous years, when residents delayed their purchases until the DSF rush. For many families, the festival marks the best time to buy everything from clothing and electronics to home décor and seasonal gifts.
One salesperson commented that traffic in the mall typically increases once the first wave of DSF offers becomes visible. “People don’t want to miss out,” she said. “Some customers even take photos of items they like and come back later once the discount tags are up.”
This year, the trend is amplified by the timing of winter vacations. With many residents travelling abroad in December or hosting relatives during the holiday season, shoppers are spreading their purchases over the weeks leading up to the new year. Essentials such as jackets, travel accessories, children’s clothing and gifts for relatives abroad remain among the most commonly postponed items.
Several shoppers explained that although they might need things earlier, the savings they can secure during DSF outweigh the inconvenience of waiting. Many said they track prices for months, comparing different stores and keeping notes on expected reductions based on previous years’ festival patterns.
Retailers have responded to the growing anticipation by preparing early. Some have started previewing their upcoming offers or releasing teaser discounts to attract customers even before the festival reaches full swing. Others reported that their inventory teams increase stock levels ahead of DSF to accommodate the surge in demand.
According to mall staff, the behaviour of shoppers in the days leading up to DSF reveals how seriously residents view the event. “People walk in with a clear plan,” said an employee at a children’s clothing shop. “They know what they want, they know what the usual price is, and they wait specifically for this period to buy in bulk.”
Families travelling during the winter break are especially keen on DSF deals. Many pick up gifts for relatives back home, winter essentials for colder climates, and discounted accessories that are harder to find or more expensive in their home countries. Others plan to stock up on school supplies and clothing for the new term.
As DSF spans all the way into January, residents expect to spread out their purchase timelines rather than making everything in one go. This allows them to monitor ongoing promotions, compare prices between malls, and take advantage of weekly or category-specific deals that pop up throughout the festival.
In essence, while December marks the beginning of the retail rush, it is also the start of a highly strategic period for many shoppers. With the promise of significant price cuts across major stores, residents are approaching DSF not just as a shopping festival, but as a carefully planned opportunity to maximise savings—and for many, the waiting pays off.
