While online shopping and retail is certainly on the rise in the region, it seems people still prefer to pay cash on delivery rather than use their credit and debit cards online, according to recent statistics from compareit4me.com.
Research into the behaviour of their users by the region’s leading finance comparison site found that although customers wanted to compare and select their car insurance products online, they were reluctant to use their credit cards to do so. The site has responded to this demand by becoming the first online insurance portal in the country to offer a ‘cash on delivery’ option.
Jonathan Rawling, CFO of compareit4me says: “We know that ‘cash on delivery’ is still a popular payment option in the region and we don’t want to leave these customers out in the cold. We have, therefore, created an option for people to be able to purchase their insurance online through our site but pay in cash. We will arrange collection of the payment from the customer’s home or office. This will enable customers who don’t feel comfortable paying online, or who are unable to for whatever reason, to still benefit from the ability to compare between products online and choose the one that is right for them.”
Additionally, results from two other independent surveys back up the findings of the finance comparison website.
A report released by Payfort, an online payment gateway and payment solutions provider, stated “Ecommerce is the fastest growing sector and by 2020 it will be nipping on the heels of airlines to become the biggest.” Payfort predicts that, by 2020, the commerce market in the Arab world will be worth as much as USD13.4 billion (AED 49 billion). Interestingly, in the UAE, we have a higher percentage of the population using ecommerce when compared with other countries in the region – a whopping 71 per cent. Yet, despite this widespread uptake of purchasing online, Payfort reports that, region-wide, 50 percent of online shoppers still choose to pay by ‘cash on delivery’.
Similarly, Dubai-based web design company GO-Gulf conducted a survey which found that 85 percent of online purchasers in the region would rather pay cash on delivery than pay online by card. The GO-Gulf survey also found that 42 percent of people believe that the ability to compare between stores and brands online would improve their shopping experience.
Rawling adds: “We have certainly seen a dramatic increase in the number of people interested in purchasing insurance, loans and other finance solutions online with the number of visitors to our site increasing by 300 percent over the past two years. People evidently enjoy the freedom of being able to compare products and brands from the comfort of their desk, or home. Giving them the option to pay in the way which best suits them will only encourage them further.”
