Digital Middle East Trends 3 October

Digital Trends Middle East
Online, Mobile, Ecommerce
October 2011

The Internet figures
Google stats
Cisco Visual Network Index

Mobile vs Internet vs Population

Internet Traffic Statistics 2010 - 2015
From Cisco Visual Network Index 2011

Middle East + Africa tops growth
In nearly every category, the MEA region outperforms all other regions in terms of CAGR over the time period 2010 to 2015.
Monthly Internet traffic in the Middle East and Africa will generate 440 million DVDs' worth of traffic, or 1.8 exabytes per month.
Business IP traffic in the Middle East and Africa will grow at a CAGR of 30 percent, a faster pace than the global average of 24 percent.

Social media

GENDER

Twitter

Compared to 2010, in the first three months of 2011, Facebook grew in the Arab region at an even faster rate, growing 30% in the first three months as compared to 18% over the same period in 2010.
Countries where major civil movements have occurred have shown exponential growth during and after those civil movements, with the exception of Libya, which has shown a dramatic decrease in number of Facebook users possibly due to the mass exodus of expats during the past few months.
Country rankings have changed minimally, indicating distributed growth throughout the region

Female participation in Facebook usage remains glaringly low. Even though the percentage of female users has risen slightly in the region (to 33.5%), the percentage of female users globally still remains significantly higher (at 61%), and is growing at a faster rate.
Youth continue to drive the growth of Facebook in the region, making up 70% of Facebook users, although the number of users who are over 30 years of age has risen slightly, possibly due to more adults signing on to Facebook in the wake of the civil movements across the region.

What are people talking about?

The Case of Saudi

Saudi 2011

Saudi continued
Amendments have been made to the Press and Publication Laws in Saudi Arabia, chipping even further at its citizens’ freedom of speech. The changes prohibit publishing anything that “contradicts rulings of the Islamic Sharia [law] or regulations in force,”
Since January, this has come to include online publishing, putting Saudi Arabia at the top of the list of governments severely restricting self-expression online
There is very little entertainment for young men—no movie theaters and few sports facilities. If they're single, they can't even go into malls where women shop.

Mobiles and self expression
If there is one accessory that allows a bit of self-expression for Saudi men, it's their cell phones. Nader's is filled with pictures of women taken from the Internet, tight face shots of singers and actresses.
Cell phones and the Internet are also what allow young Saudis to evade some of their country's social rules.

Youth expressions
The single greatest priority for young people in the Middle East remains living a democratic country (Asda’a Burson Marsteller Arab Youth Survey)
Among current concerns, young people in the Middle East are most preoccupied with the rising cost of living, as well as unemployment, human rights and the gap between the rich and poor.

Top 10 findings of Arab Youth Survey
1. An enduring desire for democracy
2. Anxiety grows about rising cost of living
3. Gap between rich & poor of increasing concern
4. Less optimism about economic recovery and future outlook
5. Education gap widens between Gulf states and other Arab countries
6. Increasing preference to work in private sector, eagerness to start
own business
7. Internet makes more inroads, with social media growing in importance
8. Television the most popular and trusted source of news
9. Traditional values are paramount, while parents grow in influence
10. Increase in positive perception of global powers, growing sense of
global citizenship

Top 5 additional findings
Importance of democracy is greater than ever but so is desire for stability
Concern about the cost of living, and corruption, continues to escalate
Increased frustration with domestic status quo
Support of the protests is high, and so is belief in their positive impact
Political views are increasingly liberal and forward-looking

Arab Women Online

Online Female Demographics

Arab Women Online

Refer to this article and the academic papers quoted within it
http://campaignme.com/2011/05/22/12029/answering-the-call-for-empowerment/

Mobile

Some stats
45% of MENA Internet users use mobile phones to access the Internet. (50% in UAE)
Mobiles used for email (71%), social networking (34%), news & weather (29%), sports news (29%) and hobbies (25%)
85% of MENA mobile Internet users surveyed have downloaded apps
57% of MENA mobile Internet users plan to buy a tablet device

70% of smartphone users are likely to upgrade within 12 months
54% of Non smartphone users plan to get one within 12 months
41% of respondents in GCC own 2 or more smartphones

What device are they using?

Mobile browser stats UAE

Mobile browser stats KSA

Mobile browser stats egypt

Ecommerce in the region
Yes we’re ready!

Travel and gaming have emerged as the region’s top two e-commerce segments. Travel has been one of the largest and most competitive online sectors for the past three years, especially as many low-cost airlines have been deploying advanced e-ticketing systems to gain more market share from major carriers.
Online gaming, on the other hand, has benefitted from the introduction of updated versions of popular gaming consoles such as Sony’s Playstation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox, which enable players to download and play several massively multiplayer online games

Two thirds of consumers (66%) claim that if it is cheaper to buy online they would buy more often. In addition, over half (56%) would buy more often if it was more convenient to purchase online. Exclusivity, ease of online transacting and a wider product range are secondary motivators for why people would choose to buy online more often.
“This shows there is great potential for online stores that can disrupt offline retailers through the cost efficiencies of e-commerce. Online retailers that can provide a mix of value and convenience will see a very receptive market,” said Jahanbani.

There is also considerable purchasing power among online shoppers. Interestingly, for a daily deal website, the GoNabit sample was skewed towards higher incomes (38% with monthly salary of $5,333 or more).
Just over half (53%) have spent more than $500 on a purchase, while 3 in 5 (60%) would be prepared to do so in the future. Over half (52%) of those on the highest incomes have spent more than $1,000 online and 57% are prepared to spend that amount in the future.

Research is also an important factor in online purchasing behavior. The vast majority of people surveyed conduct research before buying a product online (94%). The most popular sources for this information are review websites (73%) which are used more than friends and family ‘in the know’ (64%).
Deal websites (54%) and consumer forum websites (49%) are also important research tools, in addition to manufacturers’ websites which are used by 56% of males

According to JP Morgan, global e-commerce revenues are forecast to grow to $680 billion this year, up 18.9 % from 2010.

UAE opportunity
The UAE is missing out on the US$680 billion (Dh2.49bn) global e-commerce industry, with just 5 % of businesses transacting online.
The majority of businesses in the Emirates do not sell products on the internet, and only 11 per cent make purchases via the Web, according to a survey by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
That comes despite 44 % of UAE employees routinely using a computer at work, according to the survey.

"It's really started to boom," said JulienPascual, the chief executive and founder of EmiratesAvenue.com, which sells a range of electronic goods and home appliances.
"In the last six months we have doubled the number of orders compared to last year."
Online retailers say an increasing awareness among consumers about websites and the availability of products, particularly electronics, has spurred shoppers to start clicking.
"Over the last few months, and for most of the year, e-commerce has definitely been growing," said Ronaldo Mouchawar, the chief executive of souq.com.

Gonabit.com and YouGovSiraj
About 75% of users now have the confidence to shop online. An increase of 18 percentage points compared with 6 months ago according to the research
People were already going online back in their home countries but were not thinking of checking online here

More businesses are moving online to capitalise on the region's growing e-commerce market.
Ikea and Lulu plan to launch online payment portals and delivery services this year, while Panasonic recently created its own.
JadoPado.com launched five months ago and has sold more than Dh1.5 million (US$408,000) of electronic goods and perfumes.

References

http://paper.li	115
http://a0.twimg.com	26
http://learni.st	23
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	18
http://www.linkedin.com	4
http://www.linkedin.com	4
https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net	1
http://tweetedtimes.com	1
http://twitter.com	1
http://pinterest.com	1

Digital Middle East Trends 3 October

by Alexandra Tohme

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