About 63 per cent of online consumers in the UAE have shopped online in the past 12 months, with 60 per cent purchasing from overseas, according to a recent report.

The global study for PayPal revealed that over a third of online adults anticipated that they will begin to or increase their online cross-border shopping in the next 12 months.

The 22-market survey of more than 17,500 consumers, conducted by IPSOS, explored the habits of online shoppers across the globe.

The findings have revealed that cross-border trade is a driving force of the global e-commerce marketplace, allowing online merchants invaluable insights and opportunities to grow their local and international business.

Of those UAE online adults polled, about 49 per cent shopped both domestically and cross-border – and the top three countries that UAE online shoppers opted to buy from were the US, UK and India.

Almost a third of all online shoppers revealed that 11 to 50 per cent of their online spend was spent cross-border; with 12 per cent revealing that 51 to 100 per cent of their online shopping spend was cross-border.

Of the cross-border UAE shoppers polled, 43 per cent had bought  travel and transportation products from foreign websites, followed by clothing/apparel, footwear and accessories; consumer electronics; jewellery/watches; event tickets; cosmetics/beauty products; digital or downloadable entertainment/education; physical entertainment/education products; household appliances; household goods/furniture; and toys and hobbies.

The top motivating factors for making UAE online shoppers more likely to shop cross-border were free shipping, safe ways to pay and the ability to find items which can not be got locally, while delivery/shipping costs, concerns about identify theft/ fraud and difficulty that the item would not be as described cited as the top barriers which may prevent online shoppers from purchasing from overseas websites.

The online shoppers’ motivation factor was to use the internet to search for, choose and order products, with 40 per cent revealing the ‘convenience factor’ – saving time and effort – is their main reason for using the internet and 27 per cent admitting they search for products online mainly to save money, said the study.

Another incentive for UAE online shoppers to search for products online is to find interesting, rare and new products, it said.

Kivanc Onan, regional director of PayPal, Turkey, Middle East and North Africa, said: “The IPSOS research has not only provided invaluable insights for PayPal from the perspective of UAE consumer behaviours, but has also provided a better understanding of the current landscape for UAE merchants and identified avenues for trade and growth opportunities around the world.

“Empowering the people and the economy is a core part of PayPal’s ethos, and studies such as that of IPSOS for PayPal provide insights which allow merchants to be explore new marketplaces in which they may not have previously considered, and which may hold untapped opportunity – thus helping PayPal reach that core goal.” - TradeArabia News Service