Mena customers are much less likely to shop for health and beauty care items online compared to customers in Europe, according to the 2023 RetailX Health and Beauty Marketplaces report.
The study reveals that only 15 per cent of customers in the Middle East have a habit of buying their beauty products online.
Yet, only eight per cent of shoppers in North Africa are more likely to buy health and beauty products from an e-commerce website compared to a brick-and-mortar store.
“Online growth returned to lower levels in 2022 with sales in some categories declining online as consumers returned to more pre-pandemic behaviour,” the research said.
This comes as e-commerce in the Mena region is forecast to grow substantially in the next few years, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 15 per cent for 2023.
This follows research by the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ reported revealing how health and beauty prices are increasing at their fastest rate in a decade. It claims over the last year, the cost of shampoo and shower gel has increased by eight per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.
