Retail Re:Mix | Dubai Chapter | June 2026

Your best customers are already yours: Driving growth through smarter engagement

Retail Re:Mix returned to Dubai for its largest chapter yet, bringing together 60 senior leaders from retail, e-commerce, technology and customer experience to discuss one of retail's biggest opportunities: creating sustainable growth by investing in existing customers.

The evening began with an interactive networking quiz before moving into two operator-led panel discussions featuring some of the region's leading retail voices.

Panel 1: From transactions to relationships: Rethinking customer engagement in the GCC

Moderator:

• Arjun Kumar, Digital Growth Manager – Enterprise, Insider One

Speakers:

• Gaurav Midha, Chief Marketing Officer, Damas Jewellery

• Stanislas Brunais, Executive Marketing Director, Ounass

• Jatin Kalra, Vice President UAE, Apparel Group

The discussion explored why customer loyalty is evolving beyond points and promotions, how brands should rethink traditional retention metrics, and why relevance, trust and localisation have become the true drivers of long-term customer engagement across the GCC.

Panel 2: The growth that was already there: One brand's shift from acquisition to engagement

Moderator:

• Dharmendra Mehta, Managing Director MEA, Fynd

Speakers:

• Bappaditya Banerjee, Director of Technology, BFL Group

• Jennifer Cohen Solal, CEO & Co-founder, Hushday

• Sabrina Würfel, Head of Direct to Consumer Business, Samsung Gulf Electronics

The conversation focused on how leading brands are shifting from acquisition-first strategies to maximising customer lifetime value through CRM, community building, referrals, responsible AI adoption, and personalised customer experiences.

Key Discussion Themes

• Beyond loyalty programmes: Building meaningful customer relationships through relevance, trust, and personalised experiences.

• Customer signals: Why early behavioural indicators reveal more than traditional retention metrics.

• Community-led growth: Turning referrals and advocacy into sustainable growth engines.

• CRM & personalisation: Leveraging first-party data to increase customer lifetime value.

• AI with Purpose: Balancing innovation with responsible data practices.

• Localisation: Creating engagement strategies tailored to GCC customer behaviour.

Key Takeaways

• Customer engagement is the new growth engine.

• Loyalty is earned through trust, relevance, and experience.

• Early customer signals matter more than traditional retention metrics.

• Community and advocacy outperform purely transactional marketing.

• CRM and first-party data maximise customer lifetime value.

• AI creates the greatest impact when paired with responsible personalisation.

• The future belongs to brands that grow by understanding existing customers better.