Enhancing Access to Physical Retail for UAE Small Businesses Through AI- Based Matching Platforms

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Impacts of Capstone Projects for Future Ready Graduates Design Implementation and Evaluation

Publication Date

6-18-2026

Abstract

This study investigates how AI-based matching platforms could improve UAE small businesses’ access to affordable short-t erm physical retail spaces. Using a mixed-methods design, the research combines an online survey (n = 83) with semi-structured interviews (n = 10) to examine barriers to offline expansion and entrepreneurs’ perceptions of AI-enabled retail matching. Findings show strong interest in physical presence for credibility, visibility, and customer trust, but entry is constrained by high rental costs, complex licensing requirements, limited flexible lease options, and fragmented information about available spaces. Participants expressed high willingness to use an AI matching platform and prioritized features such as budget-based recommendations, smart location suggestions using customer data, lease-flexibility filters, licensing support, and predictive foot-traffic analytics.

ISBN

[9798337353128, 9798337353142]

Publisher

IGI Global Scientific Publishing

First Page

227

Last Page

248

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

Matching (statistics) (0.69) | Business (0.67) | Lease (0.62) | Renting (0.6) | Marketing (0.55) | Perception (0.4) | Customer relationship management (0.36) | Clothing (0.35) | Product (mathematics) (0.31) | Computer science (0.3) | E-commerce (0.3) | Key (lock) (0.29) | Survey data collection (0.28) | Market segmentation (0.27) | Knowledge management (0.27) | Online and offline (0.27) | Real estate (0.26) | Data collection (0.26) | Consumer behaviour (0.26) | Advertising (0.26) | Data access (0.25) | Customer intelligence (0.25) | Identification (biology) (0.25)

Scopus ID

105043986358

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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