Snapchat users in the two largest GCC economies are keen to search and buy online, with more than nine in 10 Snapchatters (96 per cent UAE, 91 per cent Saudi Arabia) having visited an online retail site or store in the past month.

More importantly, approximately 3 in 4 (76 per cent UAE, 71 per cent Saudi Arabia) have made an online purchase over the past 30 days, a share considerably higher than among those who do not use Snapchat, new data from Global Web Index Q1-Q2 2018 showed.

While they are eager to shop online, Snapchatters are also savvy deal hunters, with 4 in 5 (82 per cent UAE, 77 per cent Saudi Arabia) saying they are always trying to find the best offers when shopping online.

Over the past few years, Snapchat has become the to-go platform for companies looking to connect with online shoppers. Souq.com, the architects behind the famous White Friday deal event, has been activating unique experiences on Snapchat for several years.

According to BMI Research, the GCC’s e-commerce industry is on the verge of becoming the world’s fastest growing market and is forecasted to grow from an estimated $26.9 billion in 2018 to $48.6 billion in 2022.

To help the region’s businesses take advantage of this transformation, Snapchat recently launched four new e-commerce features in the Middle East: Shoppable Snap Ads, Product Catalogues, Advanced Pixel Targeting, and partnerships with over 40 global performance agencies to help advertisers succeed with e-commerce.

Mohammad Jabri, VP of Marketing - Middle East at JollyChic, an e-commerce client of Snapchat, said: "Snapchat as a platform has been key to our success in both building our brand awareness, reaching a wide audience and achieving a healthy performance ROI through targeted tactical campaigns. When working with Snapchat, we choose to build on the creative tools capabilities to fully optimize the platform’s potential to deliver on our marketing objectives."

Farimah Moeini, Business Solutions lead at, Snapchat, added: “Snapchat is already playing a pivotal role in helping ecommerce businesses deliver results at scale. With e-commerce set to almost double over the next few years nearly every business sector will be redefined. We look forward to strengthening our local partnerships and products to help businesses capture the value of this transformation.” – TradeArabia News Service