The digital impact on the halal consumer segment

The current economic context is characterised by the growing presence of the digital world in every field, the growth of the middle class in emerging economies, and the uncertainty arising from Covid-19's impact on economies and societies. 

Given that by 2030 the world's Muslim population will account for around 25% of the global population, and that a significant share lives in major emerging economies, it is important to understand the opportunities arising from this population's new economic and consumption trends

Around 60% of the Muslim population is under 30, which drives intense patterns of digital use and consumption. Indeed, in recent years the digital world aimed at Muslim consumers has grown exponentially, and its sales and outreach strategies have become considerably more sophisticated.

Notably, a large part of this growing digital offer has developed in markets where Muslims are a minority, such as the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Canada, although cities such as Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are also very dynamic in this segment.

Digital initiatives to promote the Muslim friendly

The massive use of the internet to promote and raise the profile of Muslim friendly brands aimed at Muslim consumers is growing exponentially on several fronts.
Platforms such as halal.ad or muslimadnetwork have in recent years developed powerful specialist strategies for reaching Muslim consumers worldwide.

Along the same lines, websites for home delivery i e-commerce specialising in halal consumption have grown strongly. This trend has inevitably been reinforced in recent months by Covid-19's impact on the economy. In markets such as the UK and France, major Muslim friendly food brands have boosted safe home delivery without giving up their halal option. Companies have also emerged that have developed specialist e-markets , aggregating all kinds of value-added halal products for Muslim consumers and simplifying online shopping. Platforms such as gourmandiseshalal, halalcourses o legourmethalal in France, and others such as healthy-halal or clickhalal in the United Kingdom have substantially expanded both their halal product range and their customer base.

Digital technology also makes it easier for Muslims travelling internationally or living abroad to find halal restaurants and shops. Global pioneers such as Zabihah or Halal Dining Club have been joined by many other fast-growing ones such as Crave Halal, Halal Advisor, HalalZilla o HalalTrip. In fact, the world's leading cities already have specialist apps that locate these halal restaurants and shops, especially in Europe, North America and Asia.

A final area where digital technology is changing the ways of reaching Muslim consumers is how products and brands are exhibited internationally. As in the rest of the trade fair and exhibition sector, digital innovation has reached this consumer segment with the emergence of specialist digital fairs and exhibitions, such as ihalalexpo, ihalalconference or the ihalalawards. All these formats mean global visibility reaches ever more potential customers (companies and consumers), is more cost-efficient and can have a more sustained impact over time. They also allow much better segmentation of the audience each brand targets at any given moment. Even so, there is still room to improve and consolidate this new event format, and indeed to assess how fully businesses and consumers ultimately accept it.

Finally, given the globalisation of halal consumption, the young average age of Muslims and the high mobility associated with this population segment (tourism, talent mobility, migration, etc.), recent years have seen strong growth in bloggers, influencers i e-celebrities linked to food and gastronomy Muslim friendly. All kinds of food brands develop joint strategies with these digital profiles in order to reach the largest possible number of consumers Muslim friendly worldwide.

Everything suggests that in the coming years many of these dynamics in the Muslim consumer segment will be reinforced and become more sophisticated, offering great opportunities to Catalan companies and brands that decide to take advantage of them.

Javier Albarracin
Barcelona Halal Services