A research published by a UAE-based web design and development company, PixHear, reveals that these profits will come from 25% of Saudi internet users who are already active in ecommerce.
An online retail market is considered to be developed when at least 8.5% of the countrys total retail is done online, such as in Germany, where online retail accounts for 11.7% of its total retail trade, and Australia, which registered 8.9%.
The study points out Saudi Arabia is getting closer to the target, closing in at up to 8% of its total retail market by 2015, leaving the US (7.1%), Japan (6.8%) and France (6.7%) behind.
Findings unveil that Arabic is the dominant language in the ecommerce space, while 55% of online consumer are from Riyadh province and 40% from Makkah province. Also, in spite of initiatives to increase the use of credit cards, 75% of online consumers still prefer Cash-on-Delivery (COD) as the dominant payment method.
Despite being preferred to foreign counterparts, regional retailers still claim a minor share of the highly-fragmented Saudi ecommerce market, with Souq.com occupying 13%, Sukar 8t%, and Namshi 7%.
The fact that the residents of Saudi Arabia are incredibly active on the internet and social media websites is a major factor to this growth. Another recent study reveals that more than 60% of the Saudi population are under the age of 24 and have never known the world without the internet, with more YouTube users from Saudi Arabia than any other country in the world.
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