Eighty-three per cent of local GCC millennials have shopped online in the past six months, with 42 per cent shopping on local websites and 41 per cent on international sites, says a recent study from YouGov, a global market research firm.

The research found that the most likely items to be purchased online by GCC millennials are mobile phones (20 per cent) and computer software/hardware (20 per cent), followed by electronic equipment (19 per cent), games (17 per cent) and e-books (13 per cent).

The least likely items to be purchased online are flowers (3 per cent), pet related products (3 per cent), music (4 per cent), sporting goods (6 per cent), hardcopy books (6 per cent) and health products (7 per cent).

YouGov found that the most common barriers to online shopping were related to not being comfortable with making online payments (41 per cent), high shipping charges (37 per cent) and long delivery times (34 per cent).

Among female GCC millennials barriers also included a lack of cash on delivery options (33 per cent), uncertainty of authenticity of products found online (30 per cent) and a lack of information about the return process (20 per cent). – TradeArabia News Service