Microsoft and InMobi reveal holiday retail trends across META markets

Microsoft Advertising and InMobi Advertising released comprehensive holiday season marketing data on November 14, 2025, analyzing consumer search and click behavior across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa during the 2024 holiday shopping period. The report examines retail trends in five markets—Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates—providing strategic insights for marketers preparing for the 2025 season.

The collaboration between the two advertising platforms produced "The ultimate guide to holiday season marketing, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa 2025," a detailed analysis of year-over-year retail performance across six product categories. The research tracked search volumes, click-through rates, device usage patterns, and ad format effectiveness throughout the September through December 2024 period.

Search activity and consumer engagement displayed significant regional variation across the META markets during the 2024 holiday season. Beauty and personal care led growth in Saudi Arabia with searches increasing 20% and clicks climbing 38% year-over-year, according to Microsoft Internal Data. Food and groceries dominated South Africa, where searches rose 19% while clicks surged 48% compared to 2023.

Nigerian consumers demonstrated strong interest in apparel, with searches jumping 32% and clicks advancing 10% annually. The computers and consumer electronics category saw the greatest demand in Turkey, where clicks increased 64% despite searches rising only 5%. Occasions and gifts gained traction in the UAE, registering 37% higher click volumes year-over-year.

The timing of peak consumer activity varied by market and product vertical. Clicks in Saudi Arabia and the UAE concentrated around White Friday, the regional equivalent of Black Friday. South African engagement peaked during the traditional Black Friday shopping window in late November. Nigerian search volumes remained elevated throughout November and early December rather than clustering around specific sale events.

Month-over-month data revealed distinct seasonal patterns in different markets. Nigerian consumers showed steady search growth from September through November before tapering in December. Saudi Arabian shoppers demonstrated more pronounced spikes corresponding to promotional periods, with dramatic increases in October and November across multiple categories.

South African search and click patterns exhibited volatility throughout the fourth quarter, with apparel experiencing a 30% monthly surge in March 2024 followed by periods of decline before recovering during peak season. Turkish consumers displayed strong November engagement across beauty, apparel, and occasions categories, aligning with local shopping festivals.

Device usage patterns demonstrated PC dominance across all five markets, though mobile captured meaningful share in specific categories. In Nigeria, mobile accounted for over 25% of searches and clicks in apparel, beauty and personal care, and occasions and gifts. Saudi Arabia showed similar mobile penetration in beauty and apparel, while maintaining stronger PC preference in other categories.

UAE consumers engaged with mobile devices for approximately one-third of searches across most verticals. This mobile usage exceeded levels observed in Turkey, where PC searches commanded roughly 75-85% share depending on category. South Africa fell between these extremes, with mobile contributing about 25-30% of activity in apparel and beauty segments.

Ad format performance varied substantially by market and product type. Search ads generated the highest click volumes across all five markets, though their dominance varied by category. Dynamic search ads and product ads drove significant engagement in specific verticals, particularly in Nigeria where they combined to represent 20-36% of clicks depending on category.

Saudi Arabian consumers responded well to diversified ad approaches, with product ads capturing 31% of clicks in beauty and personal care. Food and groceries saw particularly strong product ad performance at 23% of clicks. South Africa demonstrated similar patterns, with product ads reaching 31% share in beauty and 24% in both home and garden and occasions categories.

Audience ad engagement exhibited distinct temporal patterns across markets. Nigerian retail audience ads peaked in September before declining through December. Saudi Arabia saw strongest audience ad response in December, coinciding with year-end shopping intensity. South Africa maintained relatively consistent audience ad engagement through October and November before December softening.

The report emphasized three strategic recommendations for marketers. Establishing fundamental elements including holiday-themed creative, comprehensive keyword coverage, and feed-based advertising provides the foundation for seasonal campaigns. Microsoft's Performance Max campaigns enable automation across search and shopping ad formats.

Diversifying tactical approaches across ad types helps brands reach consumers on platforms they use daily. The combination of search ads, audience ads, dynamic search ads, multimedia ads, and dynamic remarketing creates multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey. Microsoft's research showed multimedia ads can deliver up to 200% return on ad spend improvement compared to text-only formats.

Leveraging automation technology through seasonality adjustments and auto-bidding strategies allows campaigns to respond to traffic fluctuations during peak periods. The data revealed substantial month-over-month volatility, with some categories experiencing 40-50% swings in search volume between promotional windows.

Jacob Joseph, Director of Sales for Middle East, Turkey and Africa at InMobi Advertising, highlighted cultural nuance as critical for campaign success. Understanding how shopper behavior differs across META countries while deploying artificial intelligence for personalization determines advertising effectiveness during competitive holiday periods.

Mike Luscombe, Director of Partner Sales for EMEA and LATAM at Microsoft Advertising, emphasized AI's transformative role in connecting brands with shoppers during micro-moments. Combining automation capabilities with platform intelligence enables real-time optimization, message tailoring to intent, and scaled performance across channels.

The timing of the report's November 14, 2025 release provides marketers several weeks to implement recommendations before peak season begins. Holiday retail sales in the United States are forecast to exceed $1 trillion, with similar growth trajectories expected in international markets.

The META region's holiday shopping calendar differs from Western markets due to regional events and cultural considerations. White Friday serves as the primary promotional event in Gulf countries, typically occurring in late November. This regional variation creates both challenges and opportunities for international brands adapting campaigns across markets.

Search term insights and performance reporting capabilities have expanded across Microsoft Advertising's campaign types. The platform recently introduced search themes for Performance Max campaigns, allowing advertisers to provide contextual signals that accelerate the AI learning period during campaign initialization.

Budget allocation requires strategic planning given the compressed nature of peak shopping windows. The data showed traffic concentrating around specific promotional events rather than distributing evenly across the quarter. Black Friday falls on November 28, 2025, with Cyber Monday on December 1, creating traditional Western calendar peaks that influence global retail patterns.

The report arrives as retail media networks are projected to capture approximately 20% of total global advertising revenue by 2030, exceeding $300 billion. This growth trajectory underscores the importance of understanding regional consumer behavior patterns and optimizing campaigns for specific market dynamics.

Kay Giza, Partner Marketing Lead for EMEA, META and LATAM at Microsoft Advertising, noted that marketers who strategically plan for seasonal spikes by anticipating consumer intent and timing campaigns appropriately drive meaningful results during critical moments. The concentration of annual revenue during holiday periods makes fourth-quarter planning essential for retail success.

Timeline

• September 2024: Microsoft released Holiday Marketing Playbook for advertisers emphasizing early campaign launches
• September 2024: Microsoft introduced Fall and Holiday Seasonal Moments advertising packages with MSN homepage takeovers
• September-December 2024: Microsoft and InMobi collected holiday season performance data across META markets
• November 28, 2024: Black Friday 2024 generated significant online sales across global markets
• December 1, 2024: Cyber Monday 2024 reached $13.3 billion in U.S. spending
• August 2025: Microsoft enhanced Performance Max with SA360 support and search insights
• November 14, 2025: Microsoft Advertising and InMobi released META holiday season marketing report

Summary

Who: Microsoft Advertising and InMobi Advertising analyzed consumer behavior across Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, targeting marketing professionals preparing for the 2025 holiday season.

What: The comprehensive holiday marketing report examined year-over-year search and click trends across six retail verticals (apparel, beauty and personal care, computers and consumer electronics, food and groceries, home and garden, occasions and gifts), device usage patterns, ad format performance, and month-over-month engagement fluctuations during the September-December 2024 period.

When: The research analyzed data from the 2024 holiday season (September through December), with the report released on November 14, 2025, providing strategic insights for marketers planning 2025 campaigns ahead of peak shopping periods.

Where: The study covered five markets in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa region, with distinct patterns emerging in each geography based on local shopping calendars, cultural events, and consumer preferences across digital and mobile platforms.

Why: The collaboration addresses the need for region-specific insights in META markets where holiday shopping behavior differs from Western patterns, enabling advertisers to optimize campaign timing, budget allocation, ad format selection, and targeting strategies during the year's most critical revenue period.