The e-commerce confidence among UAE shoppers is on the rise with an 18 per cent growth, according to new research commissioned by GoNabit, a LivingSocial company.

GoNabit, the Middle East’s first local commerce website, also known as group buying, partnered with independent research consultancy YouGov Siraj to measure e-commerce sentiment among its registered users in the UAE.

In addition to revealing a significant rise in local e-commerce confidence, the research shows users prefer to shop with credit cards, with GoNabit continuing to act as a catalyst for increased e-commerce. 

Following a pilot study in March this year, the latest research is GoNabit’s first e-commerce Confidence Index which the company plans to release quarterly.

'Historically, UAE shoppers have bought confidently from overseas websites, but have not had compelling reasons or opportunities to buy from local or regional websites due to a lack of choice, quality and trust,' said Dan Stuart, CEO and Co-founder, GoNabit.com.

'Our latest research reveals a significant attitudinal shift. The majority of people not only feel confident shopping from local websites, but they are actually buying twice as much online from home-grown sites as they are internationally,' he noted.

The research revealed that 75 per cent of respondents feel confident buying online from local websites, an increase of 18 per cent since the March 2011 pilot study.

'Respondents are more than twice as likely to buy from the region where they are resident (60 per cent buy once a month or more) than from other areas of the world (25 per cent buy once a month or more).

“At GoNabit we’ve worked very hard to build trust and confidence in e-commerce. Introducing a customer charter and anti-spam policy, becoming a TRUSTe Sealholder and focusing on having the best possible customer service for both buyers and merchants are all ways in which we instill confidence in our shoppers.'

'Building this trust is great for our business and also for the health and continued success of the e-commerce space in the region,' Stuart added.

In addition to revealing a significant rise in local e-commerce confidence, the research also shows a 16 per cent increase in credit and debit card usage since the March study, with 69 per cent of those polled now indicating that they prefer this option.

Card providers of choice are Visa with 52 per cent of shoppers using this brand and Mastercard at 38 per cent.
GoNabit and Visa currently partner on “Visa Days,” which provide special discounts and rewards to GoNabit members who pay with their Visa card. Third-party payment sites, such as PayPal, are less popular with 17 per cent of respondents electing to use this payment method.

'A well documented distrust of credit cards among shoppers in the Middle East is clearly waning – with GoNabit built on the requirement that purchasers on our website transacts via credit card,' said Sohrab Jahanbani, COO and Co-founder, GoNabit.com.

'This isn’t about small numbers either; the research shows that shoppers are prepared to spend up to $1,000 or more online in a single transaction. Consumers are confident shopping with us and making large purchases and they’re confident using their credit card to do it,” he added.

GoNabit pointed out that this optimism and increased confidence in shopping online was a positive sign for merchants, as was the purchasing power of those polled: 44 per cent have a monthly income of $5,000 or more.

“This research outlines compelling reasons for merchants to consider a GoNabit partnership – we have an increasingly confident user base that are credit card savvy and have significant purchasing power. They are ready, willing and able to shop online to discover new merchants and experiences in their city,” Jahanbani noted.-TradeArabia News Service