Kiosk design in Dubai: how to choose a kiosk manufacturer
By Parvathy Shijin, Marketing Lead, New Royal Advertising. Last reviewed: 10 August 2026
Most kiosk projects in Dubai go wrong at one of two points: a design package the mall sends back, or a manufacturer who quoted a design they cannot actually build. Both have the same fix. Work with a company that designs and fabricates under one roof, and make them show you real builds before you sign. This guide covers what a complete kiosk design includes, what separates manufacturers, what drives the price, and the questions that tell you who you are really dealing with.
What a complete kiosk design actually includes
A kiosk design is not a 3D render. The render is the part you approve; the mall approves something else entirely. Before a Dubai mall lets you build, it wants the full technical package: structural drawings, the MEP layout, and load calculations for anything drawing power or fixed to the floor.
If your designer cannot produce that package, you will pay a second company to reverse-engineer it, and that is where budgets and timelines start drifting. We prepare the concept 3D and the complete technical package with the same in-house team, and the 3D design is free with every quote.
The kiosk types we build
In the last two years we have delivered 25+ kiosks: mall retail kiosks, beauty and fragrance counters, F&B sampling units for brands like Pepsi, Cheetos, and Ferrero, interactive screening kiosks for pharma and dermo-cosmetic brands, duty-free retail units, and weather-resistant outdoor activation kiosks. Every one is custom fabricated at our Al Quoz workshop. There is no catalogue; the brief decides the build.
What separates kiosk manufacturers in Dubai
Many companies that sell kiosk design hand the fabrication to whoever has workshop capacity that month. The problem is not just quality control. The approval package gets written by people who will never touch the build, so the MEP figures stop matching the actual fixtures once they are priced, and the mall bounces the file.
When design, drawings, fabrication, and installation are one team, the package the mall reviews describes the kiosk that actually gets built. That is the single biggest difference between manufacturers, and it is checkable: ask for the workshop address and visit it.
Mall approval is where projects lose weeks
Every major mall runs its own design review before a kiosk goes up, then issues a Permit to Work once the technical package clears. Done cleanly, that stage runs two to four weeks. Done badly, a four-week build becomes a two-month wait.
The file is bigger than most first-time tenants expect. On a recent Mall of the Emirates kiosk, it included the Dubai Municipality trade permit, contractor all-risk insurance, a method statement with staff IDs, and a final on-site architectural inspection before the unit could trade. Installation itself happens after the mall closes. We prepare and manage all of it for Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, and City Centre, and we run the same process with Aldar malls in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. The three things that get files sent back are in our mall kiosk approval guide.
What drives the price
Four things move a kiosk quote: footprint, finish level of the joinery, integrated equipment (screens, dispensers, chillers), and the electrical load the mall has to sign off. A plain retail unit and an interactive screening kiosk with automated sampling are different projects even at the same size. Most mall kiosks we deliver come in between AED 45,000 and AED 120,000. For exactly what moves you between those numbers, materials, hardware, and finish, see our kiosk cost guide.
The quote you get from us is fixed. Because we fabricate in-house, it is the real production cost, not a margin on someone else’s estimate.
Recent builds you can check
On the mall side, we delivered a perfume retail kiosk for Ayaam Perfumes at Yas Mall, and a duty-free retail kiosk for Marvis. On the activation side, we built PepsiCo a can-shaped Pepsi Zero sampling kiosk engineered for outdoor use in Dubai heat, and for Ducray, the French dermo-cosmetic brand, an interactive kiosk that runs a three-minute hair-loss screening and dispenses samples automatically. Careem, Dubai Municipality, Cheetos, Kinder, and the Al Jalila Foundation are on the same workshop floor’s project list. The full write-ups are in our case studies.
Five questions to ask before you sign
Where is your workshop, and can I visit it? Who produces the structural and MEP drawings? Who submits to the mall and answers their revisions? Who installs on site? Which kiosks in this mall are yours? A manufacturer with the right answers will not hesitate on any of these. If the answer to two or more is a subcontractor’s name, you now know who you are actually hiring.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a mall kiosk take from brief to opening?
The build itself runs about four weeks. Mall approval adds two to four more when the package is clean. With design time up front, plan for roughly two to three months from brief to trading.
Who handles the mall approval?
We do. Design drawings, structural and MEP package, load calculations, and the submission itself for Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, and City Centre, plus Aldar malls in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.
Do I pay for the design?
No. The 3D design is free with every quote, so you see the kiosk before you commit to anything.
Can the kiosk move to another mall later?
Yes. When the brief includes relocation, we engineer the unit to disassemble and reinstall, and we handle the move and the new mall’s permits. We are doing exactly this for a perfume brand moving between malls now.
Do you build outside Dubai?
Yes. We fabricate in Al Quoz and deliver and install across the UAE.
Ready to price your kiosk? Send your brief through the kiosk design and fabrication page or call +971 56 422 0364. You get a free 3D design with the quote.