In preparation for 2021, Middle Eastern sellers should pay attention to these six challenges!

1. Trust issues

For consumers in the Middle East, it is difficult to find a shopping website they can trust. Although there are large platforms such as Amazon and Noon, it is relatively difficult for some independent sellers to gain their trust. In addition to deciding whether the product is what they really need, consumers also have to worry about their personal privacy security.

From a consumer's perspective, it is necessary to be very cautious when disclosing your delivery address and bank information on the Internet. According to an article by Plytix, 75% of online shoppers only provide personal information to websites they trust. Therefore, e-commerce platforms and sellers should ensure that their information is open and transparent, with a clear refund policy, as well as detailed contact information and address.

2. Intensified competition in the e-commerce market

Last year, the number of online stores in Saudi Arabia increased by 36,447 in nine months, and the number of online stores in Qatar increased to 416 in June last year. With the increasing number of e-commerce platforms and online stores, competition is bound to continue in the e-commerce "battlefield".

In order to make their brands "stand firm", sellers need to take care to differentiate their products and have price advantages . For independent website sellers, improving the fluency and simplicity of the website can effectively increase conversion rates. A study shows that 17% of people give up orders because the payment process is too long or too complicated; nearly 50% of people cancel their purchases because the price is too high.

3. Product reviews and store reputation

E-commerce, like offline business, also requires good reputation. Because online shopping cannot see and experience the real thing, consumers usually check product reviews and store ratings before deciding whether to place an order. According to Media Post data, people read an average of nearly 10 reviews before buying , and if these reviews are within the last two weeks, they will have a higher degree of trust in the merchant. With a good reputation, consumers will feel more at ease shopping with you.

4. Globalization and localization of operations

One of the great advantages of e-commerce is that it connects sellers with consumers around the world. In this case, it is very important to operate globally and locally. For platform sellers, you can worry less about this because the platforms generally have multilingual settings . Independent website sellers need to work harder. Data shows that 70 % of consumers prefer to shop online in their native language. In addition, whether you are in a large or small market, it is very necessary to provide English product descriptions and shopping instructions .

5. Payment Methods

Although consumers in the Middle East prefer to pay on delivery, 2020 has changed the way some people pay, turning to digital payments such as digital wallets. In order to avoid consumers canceling orders because they cannot find their preferred payment method when paying, platforms and sellers can provide a variety of payment methods , including global and local mainstream digital payment methods and bank cards , to cater to the needs of different consumers.

6. E-commerce fraud

Under the epidemic, more and more people are starting to shop online, which is a happy thing for e-commerce platforms and sellers. However, at the same time, we must be wary of e-commerce fraud and avoid fake accounts that cause income losses or legal disputes. According to Security Magazine data, there were more than 1 billion e-commerce frauds in the first half of 2020 alone, resulting in losses of US$140 million.

middle East