How MECSR powers Retail Congress MENA end-to-end with Zoho Backstage
- INDUSTRY Retail & Shopping Centres
- EVENT TYPE In-person
The organization
The Middle East Council of Shopping Centres and Retailers (MECSR) is a leading trade body for the shopping centre and retail industry across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Established in 1994, the organization connects developers, mall owners, retailers, investors, and industry professionals, and today represents a network of more than 20,000 retail professionals.
Events sit at the heart of MECSR's mission. Its calendar spans intimate networking sessions, educational programs, conferences, exhibitions, and awards, all designed to bring the region's retail ecosystem together.
At the centre of this portfolio is Retail Congress MENA, a two-day flagship event that combines thought leadership, exhibitions, networking, deal-making, and industry recognition under one roof. Delivering that experience seamlessly, year after year, is central to MECSR's work.
The challenge
For years, MECSR managed its events through largely manual processes. As Retail Congress MENA grew in size and complexity, registrations, payments, badge printing, and exhibitor engagement became increasingly difficult to coordinate. Every new attendee, exhibitor, or sponsor added another layer of operational complexity, while manual workflows left little room for error.
The team knew it was time to move beyond spreadsheets and disconnected systems. What they needed was a single platform capable of managing the complete event lifecycle, from registrations to on-site operations.
"From the beginning, we usually start with a manual process of event management, and that is kind of difficult—and it's prone to error."
The solution
MECSR chose Zoho Backstage to power Retail Congress MENA and gradually built the event experience around a single, integrated platform.
The first step was modernizing registrations. Online ticketing and payments enabled attendees to register and pay in one place, removing the friction of manual processes.
"Zoho simplified the registration process by building ticketing into the platform itself, which made it easy for our attendees to register and pay online."
Badging followed naturally. Designers could create badge templates in Zoho Backstage, and the platform automatically populated attendee information and generated unique QR codes for every participant. Live badge printing allowed attendees to check themselves in and receive their badges on the spot, reducing preparation time while creating a more personalized arrival experience.
"I love the badging feature—I can design whatever I want, the system automatically picks up the names and generates the QR codes, and it's less work on my side."
Managing access across Retail Congress MENA required more than simply scanning badges. The event featured conferences, exhibitions, and award ceremonies, each with different access privileges. Using Zoho Backstage's zoning capabilities, event staff could instantly validate attendee permissions by scanning QR codes, ensuring guests accessed only the areas included in their registrations while keeping entry points fast and organized.
Behind the scenes, the Floor Planner simplified exhibitor management by allowing the team to map booths, monitor sold and reserved spaces in real time, and allocate locations to sponsors and exhibitors with ease.
Exhibitors also benefited from the platform. Using the Backstage mobile app, they could capture attendee information by scanning QR codes and schedule one-on-one meetings directly within the event app, making networking far more productive.
Whenever the event demanded a more complex registration workflow, the Zoho Backstage team worked closely with MECSR to customize the platform around their requirements.
"One instance required a specific and complex registration workflow, and the Zoho Backstage support team really helped us find a solution to meet our needs."
The Backstage features MECSR uses:
- Online registration, ticketing, and payments
- Custom badge design templates
- Automatic QR code generation for every attendee
- Live, on-site badge printing and self check-in
- Zoning and access control
- Floor Planner for booth and exhibitor management
- Exhibitor lead capture via the Backstage mobile app
- One-on-one meeting scheduling and attendee networking
- Custom workflow and on-site support
Benefits & ROI
The most visible measure of success is repetition.
One platform, nearly ten events
Since adopting Zoho Backstage, MECSR has hosted nearly ten events on the platform, replacing the manual, fragmented processes that once defined its operations with a single system that supports the entire event lifecycle. Having registrations, floor planning, badge printing, access control, and exhibitor engagement in one platform has eliminated the need to reconcile information across multiple tools, allowing the team to focus on delivering the event rather than managing it.
"From registration to the exhibition to the conference and everything—Zoho played a big role in that."
Automated badging
The biggest operational gains came from automation. Badge creation, once a repetitive manual task, now begins with a single template, while attendee information and QR codes are generated automatically.
"With Zoho Backstage, it's easy for me. I just have to do the template and it does the rest of the job."
Faster on-site check-in
On event day, live badge printing dramatically reduced waiting times. Instead of manually searching for printed badges, attendees simply checked themselves in and collected their badges immediately.
"The live badge printing option is really great—our attendees come, check themselves in, and the badge is printed on the spot. It's a huge time saver."
Efficient access control
Access management also became significantly more efficient. A quick QR-code scan instantly verified whether attendees were authorized to enter conferences, exhibitions, or restricted areas, removing the need for manual verification at every checkpoint.
Better networking for exhibitors and attendees
The improvements extended beyond operations. Attendees embraced the platform's networking capabilities, while exhibitors used lead retrieval and meeting scheduling to create more meaningful business interactions during the event.
"The attendees really appreciated the one-on-one feature and the meeting booking feature from Zoho Backstage."
Support that stays involved
Underlying it all was a support team that remained closely involved whenever the organization needed assistance.
"The support from the Zoho Backstage team is incredible—whenever you reach out, they always respond."
Future plans
As MECSR expands beyond shopping centres and retail into broader sectors such as hospitality, mixed-use developments, residential communities, and real estate, its events are expected to become even more diverse and sophisticated. For the organization, that growth calls for an event platform that can continue evolving alongside it.
"I would definitely recommend Zoho Backstage to all event planners. They continuously innovate and grow with your event. It is amazing."
For Rufaidh, one word captures the experience best:
"If I had to describe Zoho Backstage in one word, I'd say it's innovative."