Majority of Arab consumers do not trust e-shopping

A majority of consumers in the Arab world do not trust e-shopping because they consider the Internet as a fertile ground for fraud, according to marketing expert Hassan Al Katheeri.

He was commenting on the results of a survey of electronic shopping habits conducted by a Dubai-based Arabic daily newspaper.

About 3,000 readers participated in the poll by  ‘Emarat Al Youm’ newspaper. Six per cent of those polled said they always did online shopping, seven per cent shopped a lot, 32 per cent bought through the Internet often, but 55 per cent did not do online shopping because of lack of trust.

Al Katheeri said most Internet marketing companies do not specialise in any product line but move to different products from time to time.

The existence of these companies outside UAE means that the products they sell often do not meet quality and safety standards expected by buyers, he said.

Al Katheeri referred to advertisements for sale of land and villas in London and other European cities in the local press. Buyers were cheated in many cases, some which have come up before UAE courts.

He urged those doing online shopping to make sure of the existence and reputation of the marketing companies through the chambers of commerce in UAE and UAE embassies abroad.

Al Katheeri said online shoppers face the problem of lack of legislation that covers Internet shopping. There are doubts about which country’s laws would apply in cases of disputes, he added.

He urged chambers of commerce in all emirates to help raise consumer awareness about online shopping.

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