09 September 2009
There has been a substantial increase in the number of female online users in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, on a year-on-year basis, according to a recent survey by Nielsen, the media marketing and information company.
This increase has been welcomed by the market and will lead to enhancement in online retail activities, claim some analysts.
Jayesh Ravindranath, Head of Business at AIS Brandlab, said: "Retail might not be able to mobilise sales online, due to the lack of infrastructure for e-commerce in the [Gulf] region, yet retail can benefit from the growing online population in the region, mainly in building awareness and establishing access to the consumer base while making sure they are reaching out to their target audience."
The August survey revealed that people under the age of 34 consisted a majority of the users, with 60 per cent aged 25 to 34 years. In the sample size of 5,308, 60 per cent were females.
Based on these demographics, the results revealed that a 79 per cent majority of the respondents used the internet every day, with 37 per cent spending more than 30 hours a month, at an average of one hour a day.
Ravindranath said: "What comes to mind from this survey is that more and more women are going online, which is good news for brands that target females, especially in markets like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait."
He added: "In the more conservative markets, brands will have easier access to their target audience through the internet, being able to interact with potential consumers and promote their products and services."
Following the Nielsen find, a senior online research expert also confirmed that female users are found to be increasingly spending time browsing the web.
The expert said that the most common areas of internet use across all demographic categories include communication sites, mainly chatting, social networking, and information search such as Google.
He said that there is a ?definite link between the growth of the number of female online users and growing opportunities for online retail marketing.
Having said that, he doubted that Nielsen's figures could reflect the complete ?reality, since results might vary from one country to the other. "As far as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is concerned, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the online population is much more, and its behaviour is also more intensified."
Ramadan might also affect the survey figures, said the expert. Typically, he noted, Ramadan is a month when TV viewership increases to an extent that could affect other media, especially the internet. So, online media might see much larger figures if Ramadan were excluded, he said.
The expert's ?opinion is corroborated by Sanjeev Setia, marketing head of VLCC, an India-based international chain of health and grooming centres. Setia said that VLCC ?assigned 20 to 22 per cent of its budget to online marketing. This was because it understood the importance of new media in reaching the intended target audience, he added.
Setia further said that 92 per cent of the members of the beauty brand's loyalty programme were online. "Our loyalty programme has 12,800 members, of whom 55 per cent are active users constantly responding and interacting with us. Females constitute 58 per cent of our members, who are between 25 and 55 years of age."
The GCC, he said, was seeing an increasing inclination towards new media mainly because of the expat population, work environment and connectivity.
There has been a substantial increase in the number of female online users in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, on a year-on-year basis, according to a recent survey by Nielsen, the media marketing and information company.
This increase has been welcomed by the market and will lead to enhancement in online retail activities, claim some analysts.
Jayesh Ravindranath, Head of Business at AIS Brandlab, said: "Retail might not be able to mobilise sales online, due to the lack of infrastructure for e-commerce in the [Gulf] region, yet retail can benefit from the growing online population in the region, mainly in building awareness and establishing access to the consumer base while making sure they are reaching out to their target audience."
The August survey revealed that people under the age of 34 consisted a majority of the users, with 60 per cent aged 25 to 34 years. In the sample size of 5,308, 60 per cent were females.
Based on these demographics, the results revealed that a 79 per cent majority of the respondents used the internet every day, with 37 per cent spending more than 30 hours a month, at an average of one hour a day.
Ravindranath said: "What comes to mind from this survey is that more and more women are going online, which is good news for brands that target females, especially in markets like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait."
He added: "In the more conservative markets, brands will have easier access to their target audience through the internet, being able to interact with potential consumers and promote their products and services."
Following the Nielsen find, a senior online research expert also confirmed that female users are found to be increasingly spending time browsing the web.
The expert said that the most common areas of internet use across all demographic categories include communication sites, mainly chatting, social networking, and information search such as Google.
He said that there is a ?definite link between the growth of the number of female online users and growing opportunities for online retail marketing.
Having said that, he doubted that Nielsen's figures could reflect the complete ?reality, since results might vary from one country to the other. "As far as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is concerned, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the online population is much more, and its behaviour is also more intensified."
Ramadan might also affect the survey figures, said the expert. Typically, he noted, Ramadan is a month when TV viewership increases to an extent that could affect other media, especially the internet. So, online media might see much larger figures if Ramadan were excluded, he said.
The expert's ?opinion is corroborated by Sanjeev Setia, marketing head of VLCC, an India-based international chain of health and grooming centres. Setia said that VLCC ?assigned 20 to 22 per cent of its budget to online marketing. This was because it understood the importance of new media in reaching the intended target audience, he added.
Setia further said that 92 per cent of the members of the beauty brand's loyalty programme were online. "Our loyalty programme has 12,800 members, of whom 55 per cent are active users constantly responding and interacting with us. Females constitute 58 per cent of our members, who are between 25 and 55 years of age."
The GCC, he said, was seeing an increasing inclination towards new media mainly because of the expat population, work environment and connectivity.
By Dima Hamadeh
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
