A third of UAE consumers use a smartphone or tablet at least once per week to shop for a product or service.
According to the president and CEO of Dubai Chambers, Mohammed Ali Bin Rashed Lootah, this is ‘above the average globally of weekly online purchases’.
Mr Lootah said at The Retail Summit in Dubai: “Mobile retail sales are expected to record a compound annual growth of 15.6 per cent between 2022-26 to reach $4.6 billion.”
The study demonstrates that the changes UAE shoppers adapted to during the lockdown phase are likely to stay. This was also the period when digital payment gained momentum.
The UAE’s e-commerce market is forecast to reach $9.2 billion by 2026, with the category’s share of total retail sales forecast to hit 12.6 per cent.
Total e-commerce sales in the UAE posted exceptional growth in 2021, surpassing $4.8 billion – up from $2.6 billion recorded in 2019.
“As the world came out of the pandemic, UAE and Dubai found ourselves at the dawn of a new era in retail with a very sharp rise in consumer spending and behaviour,” said Mr Lootah.
“Driven by activity in several key sectors, including retail, Dubai’s economy rebounded in 2022. The economy expanded by 4.6 per cent in the first nine months of 2022, reaching Dh307 billion. At least 24.1 per cent of it was via sales and retail.”
Similarly, in December, the 2022 Global Digital Shopping Index report found that the majority of UAE consumers rely on their smartphones when shopping.
The finding relied on data from 2,015 consumer responses and 500 merchant interviews conducted in the UAE.
Emiratis were found to be are also 55 per cent more likely than their counterparts from other countries to complete their shopping journeys entirely via smartphone.
