RaffleTech has won Silver in the Customer Engagement and Loyalty Platforms category at the MECSR Shopping Centre & Retailer MENA Awards 2026, placing its campaign-to-retention model among the recognised retail technology entries at this year’s industry awards.The Dubai-based company received the Service Excellence Award on October 6 at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, during Retail Congress MENA 2026. Its entry, “RaffleTech & RaffleKlub: From Campaign Engagement to Customer Loyalty”, focused on converting participation in retail promotions into continuing engagement after a campaign ends.
The Middle East Council of Shopping Centres & Retailers had listed Raffle Tech Technology LLC alongside Giftify and Aldar among the finalists in the customer engagement and loyalty platforms category. The council’s awards material described the RaffleTech and RaffleKlub combination as an integrated platform intended to help malls and retailers acquire, verify, reward and re-engage shoppers through digital campaigns, loyalty journeys, customer data and measurable insights.
The award followed RaffleTech founder and managing director Baiju Kurieash Pappachan’s appearance at Retail Congress MENA on October 5 on a panel examining artificial intelligence in retail operations. Other participants included MECSR chief executive David Macadam, Esas Properties chief operating officer Nevzat Yavan and LC Moda founder and chief executive Hamdi Kulahcioglu.
Pappachan said the technology grew from operational problems encountered in large promotions spanning multiple malls and retailers, where differing receipt formats and validation processes complicated participation. He said digitisation was used to reduce customer friction and create a common process capable of operating across large retailer networks.
RaffleTech says its platform provides technology for digital campaign participation, purchase verification, campaign management and reporting, while RaffleKlub serves as the consumer-facing layer. RaffleKlub brings together offers, member benefits, experiences and promotional opportunities and allows eligible members to view their campaign entries.
The model seeks to extend engagement beyond a prize draw rather than replace conventional points-based loyalty schemes. Under the company’s approach, campaign participation can provide information about qualifying purchases, while subsequent offers can be made available through RaffleKlub. RaffleTech says personalisation is based on customer choice and that campaign participation and permission to personalise remain separate decisions.
Artificial intelligence is used in parts of the purchase-verification process. RaffleTech’s platform material says AI interprets supported receipt details, after which campaign rules determine whether conditions such as merchant, purchase date and spending level have been met. Submissions containing unclear information can be routed for review rather than automatically accepted or rejected.
Pappachan told the congress panel that receipt processing had been a significant technical problem because retailers issue documents in different formats. He said the company began applying AI in 2023 to address administrative tasks and receipt analysis at greater scale after its campaigns had moved to digital processes in 2020.
The company now describes its AI workflow as a system in which individual agents perform defined tasks, with unresolved cases escalated through further checks and ultimately to human judgement. Arun Sadasivan, RaffleTech’s business head, said the intention was to give AI defined responsibilities and limits rather than unrestricted decision-making authority.
That emphasis reflects a wider challenge for retailers adopting automated customer-engagement tools: using purchase information to make promotions more relevant while maintaining clear eligibility rules, consent controls and human oversight. RaffleTech’s platform information states that supported purchase evidence remains connected to submissions and that workflow and reporting arrangements are agreed for individual programmes.
The MECSR awards cover shopping-centre owners and developers, retailers and brand operators, management companies, consultants and support services across the Middle East and North Africa. Entries for the 2026 programme were assessed by an independent industry jury, with the eligibility period running from August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026.
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