MENA E-commerce Statistics: Holiday's Season E-consumer Behavior

• Consumer choices lead to a more than x300 growth in the amount of health & beauty purchased items
• The digital & home appliances registered an x5.4 growth compared with 2017/2018

Admitad MENA team compiled and compared the e-consumer behavior during the holiday season 2018 compared with 2017, and this is what the major observations are.

Reflecting on the end of the booming sales of the holiday season, Admitad is releasing the analysis on the intricate purchasing patterns of consumers in the MENA region for the busiest time for the e-commecers 25.12.2018-08.01.2019 versus 25.12.2017-0.01.2018. While monitoring the key indicators of e-commerce behavior, it was discovered that shopping habits have shifted, with consumers tremendously relying on online shopping as a result of a number of different factors. These include the end of the year holiday, more free time, choosing the comfort of online shopping versus the shopping in the crowded malls and responding to the e-commerce advertising call to actions and great discounts. In the MENA region, 2018 and 2017 were years of huge market growth for the e-commerce industry, adding to the shopping driven-culture of the region the comfort and novelty of the local/regional e-commerce experience. The major online stores have challenged traditional retail stores through the power of digital tools, intuitive data usage in advertising campaigns, complementing the formula with eye-catching offers, express (same day) delivery services and flexible return policies.

The rising wave of e-commerce platforms is also a massive component in consumer purchasing patterns as they lead their consumers to visit their outlets and buy the items, adorned with terms such as sales and discounts and factoring in the latest trends they hold on to an influential power.  Leading that narrative is also influencers who share their thoughts on opinions regarding the goods, and these reviews are factors that are heavily persuading buyers behavior patterns. Most online users out there are exposed to various social media accounts that are dedicated to lifestyle and culture, and with the combination of bots filtering the consumer's personalized interests through their search history, all the goods appearing on their feeds urge them to purchase those items.

As a direct consequence of what we call  “social media impulse purchase syndrome”,

the statistics show a drastic increase in health&beauty products purchases, leading the charter as one of the best sellers categories in the 2018/2019 holiday shopping season.

The causes for the major growth in the health & beauty category are deeply rooted in the offline day to day consumer lifestyle, as a generous amount of buyers are chasing the last minute gift offers, for their friends, family or themselves, either due to lack of time for shopping or due to “bargain hunting” waiting for the price dropping strategies on certain items.

2018 & 2019 VERSUS 2017 & 2018

At a quick look at the purchased products pattern, we can see between 25.12.2018-08.01.2019 that apparels and shoes have doubled in sales compared with the same period a year before(25.12.2017-08.01.2018). The highest percentage of sales was registered in the health and beauty category, where we can see the purchases grew approximately  x314,7 times compared with the same period of time (25.12.2018-08.01.2019 VERSUS 25.12.2017-08.01.2018). It can be subsequently witnessed that consumer impulses have adopted the culture of ‘convenience’ whilst shifting their preferences into self-care and health.

Looking at the content consuming buyers, the online market became a more attractive way of shopping for books, with a moderated increase of x1,7 during the 2018-2019 holidays season compared with the year before. However, the average check graph indicates a slighter decrease in the value of the shopping cart, leading to the understanding that 2018/2019 showed a lower price for the book items, along with the booming variety of discounts and offer such as “buy one get one free”.On a positive note, despite the rising of different entertainment platforms, consumers showed a balanced preference for reading, keeping books in the top of the go-to classical gifts.

Streamlining in considerable growth of approximative x 5 are digital equipment and household appliances categories. The new technologies aided with multifunctional properties, the variety of offers and the free home delivery services are keeping the category in the top 3 e-commerce preferred items. The level of growth in this category also reflects a slight increase in the consumer’s disposable income used to elevate the comfort of their homes.

Combining the right prices to a variety of items have tripled the average check in hypermarkets. With the majority of shoppers based online, factoring convenience as a major element in purchasing habits it has comprehensively lead also to doubling of the average check of food delivery.

Online consumerism is a thriving market because traditional retailers are also shifting towards different online platforms by stocking inventory based on the personalized preferences of the consumers they have observed and promoting those items on their platforms. Another vital element to emphasize are geographical features, with convenience and added benefits of express and free shipping options, irrespective of their location consumers can conveniently purchase any item with affordable prices.

Additionally, through advanced and interactive customer services, online chat centers and review pages rating the different products and services, the consumer can notify the seller as well as the other users about their experiences which will also help in validating the brand's authenticity. The concoction of these elements stimulates a grand shopping experience for the customer and this concludes to why their shopping habits, especially during the holidays, are merely through a device.

© Press Release 2019