Alshaya launches Festival of Lights campaign in the UAE with Aura rewards

Alshaya Group has launched its ‘Festival of Lights — Gifting. Gathering. Glowing’ campaign in the UAE, bringing together festive products and experiences across several of its brands with tiered rewards for Aura loyalty programme members. According to a report published on the Franchise UAE website on 26 October 2026, the campaign runs until 8 November and features brands including H&M, Starbucks, Shake Shack and Ulta Beauty.

One campaign, multiple brand experiences

Alshaya describes the campaign as the group’s first of its kind in the UAE. It connects shopping, dining and beauty experiences rather than focusing on an offer from a single brand. Participating brands are offering seasonal products, gift collections and workshops, alongside rewards linked to repeat purchases through Aura’s ‘X10’ campaign.

For the UAE’s franchise community, the campaign is relevant as an example of managing marketing across multiple brands. This is a joint campaign and loyalty experience bringing together different names, rather than an announcement of a new franchise agreement or store openings. That collaborative approach also extends to the food offering, with Shake Shack and Asha’s joining forces on a special menu for the occasion.

Aura allows members to earn and redeem points at more than 30 of the group’s brands, as well as access shopping, dining and lifestyle experiences. The programme also provides advance notifications of promotions and sales, extending the member relationship beyond immediate rewards to keeping customers informed about upcoming offers.

From a butter chicken menu to beauty workshops

The food and drink offering includes Shake Shack’s special butter chicken menu in collaboration with Asha’s, and a cinnamon latte from Starbucks. Products from these offerings also feature among the gifts available at purchase milestones in the rewards programme, linking the seasonal experience to the accompanying loyalty scheme.

In fashion, H&M is offering a womenswear collection with Diwali-inspired designs. In beauty, Ulta Beauty is hosting Bollywood-inspired workshops with Indian make-up artist Vimi Joshi. Gift sets are also available from beauty and fragrance brands, including Jo Malone and Bath & Body Works.

The campaign therefore spans products to buy, experiences to attend and gifts linked to purchases. This distinction matters when interpreting the announcement: participation does not mean every brand is offering the same type of activity. Instead, each contributes specific products or experiences to the shared occasion.

How do Aura rewards build up?

The ‘X10’ campaign increases Aura points multipliers as members make successive purchases. Members earn double points on their second purchase, rising to ten times the points on their tenth. Alongside this, they can receive up to five gifts at specified milestones.

The announced gifts are:

• After two purchases: a cinnamon latte from Starbucks.
• After four purchases: a small Pinkberry cup to celebrate the Festival of Lights.
• After six purchases: a butter chicken burger from Shake Shack.
• After eight purchases: a body mist from Bath & Body Works.
• After ten purchases: Aura points worth AED 100.

It is important to distinguish between points multipliers and gifts. The announcement combines both reward mechanisms; it does not offer all five gifts immediately after the first purchase. Likewise, the AED 100 value refers to Aura points at the tenth-purchase milestone, not a cash payment to the shopper.

A regional programme and a UAE-specific campaign

Since its launch in 2022, Aura has grown to more than eight million members, according to the announcement. This figure covers the programme across the region. It is not a disclosed total for UAE members or for participants in the Festival of Lights campaign specifically.

Brands available through the programme include American Eagle, Foot Locker, Victoria’s Secret, H&M, Bath & Body Works and Charlotte Tilbury, alongside Raising Cane’s, Shake Shack, Chipotle, Primark and Ulta Beauty. For the festive products and experiences, however, the announcement identifies specific examples from brands taking part in the occasion.

For the franchise community, the campaign illustrates how a seasonal occasion, selected products and tiered rewards can be brought together under one programme. The announcement does not include sales results or participant numbers, so any assessment of the initiative remains focused on its stated design rather than proven commercial impact.

Practical takeaway: When assessing a multi-brand loyalty campaign, distinguish between the wider programme and the occasion-specific offers, and check the qualifying milestones for gifts and points before calculating their value.