AWOK.com reveals online buying behaviour in the UAE

E-commerce in the UAE has seen some very interesting trends in the past year, says online retailer AWOK.com. Male online shoppers, at 73%, were way ahead of their female counterpart, at 27%, when it came to ‘click and buy’.

The trend shows that online shopping is high in the age group of 25-34 year-olds who make up the biggest proportion at 50%. The mid age group between 35-and-44 also showed affinity towards online shopping and stood at 23%

AWOK.com, specifically, has seen significant response with returning customers now hitting 74%. Mobile technology plays a big role in supporting site accessibility, with a majority of customers accessing the site through their smartphones and other smart devices.

With smartphone penetration in the UAE being extremely high 78% of consumers access online shopping through their mobile phones while just 22% access it through their desktops. Android users are the most predominant, at 76%, while the optimum browsing choice is Google Chrome.

Consumers still believe in cash-on-delivery as compared to doing transactions online, AWOK.com shares. According to its figures, 70% of consumers believe in cash-on-delivery, while 30% engage in online transactions. Hence, AWOK.com does not see the cash-on-delivery method disappearing in favour of online payment as people are still wary of using credit cards.

“The confidence of some shoppers to use their credit card online is relatively low. However In today’s scenario, payment gateways are safer because they do check for fraudulent transactions,” points out Ulugbek Yuldashev, Founder and CEO of AWOK.com. Banks are doing their best to improve the convenience of online shoppers and increase their confidence in online payments, he believes.

Mobile phone is the top searched category followed by watches, jewellery, perfumes and home appliances & accessories, AWOK.com findings reveal.