UAE Shoppers Were Most Active Online and In-Store Smartphone Users

Over 60% of all consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used their smartphones at least once during their most recent shopping experience, whether it was online or in-store.

That’s one of the findings of a report published by PYMNTS in collaboration with Cybersource, “The 2022 Global Shopping Index: UAE Edition,” which explores consumer’s technology preferences in the UAE and how they compare to those found in other countries.

A key takeaway from the Global Shopping Index is that UAE shoppers are the most inclined to turn to their mobile devices while shopping compared to the five other countries surveyed.

When shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, 59.2% of UAE consumers reported using their smartphones to assist their in-store shopping experiences. That puts the UAE a good deal ahead of the six-country average of 32.8% and significantly ahead of the U.K., where just 23.6% of people embrace smartphone-assisted in-store shopping.

Read more: 59% of UAE Shoppers Use Smartphones to Enhance Their In-Store Experience

Not only are the UAE’s brick-and-mortar shoppers the most likely to use smartphones to enhance their in-store shopping journeys, but they also use those smartphones for a wider variety of functions than shoppers in other countries.

When shopping in-store, Emirati consumers use their mobiles the most to find product information (24.8%) and compare prices (24.7%) but across all eight categories of smartphone-enhanced in-store shopping, the UAE demonstrated a preference that was above the six-country average.

The UAE also leads in pure mobile shopping. Consumers in the country are the most likely of those surveyed to have completed their most recent purchases entirely through their smartphones, as 32% reported doing so.

Australia, Brazil, the U.K. and the U.S. all have a similar preference for pure mobile shopping at between 20% and 22%.

At the other end of the spectrum, only 13.1% of consumers in Mexico used their smartphones to complete their entire shopping journey. Mexican consumers were also found to be the most inclined toward completing the whole retail journey in-store — 77.9% of survey respondents in the country reported shopping and paying in-store during their last customer journey.

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