https://www.baijingapp.com/article/35694

Solving the payment problem can bring more growth and new opportunities to cross-border e-commerce in the Middle East.

Annie Liu • 2021-09-24 16:28

Original title: Solving the payment problem can bring more growth and new opportunities to cross-border e-commerce in the Middle East

According to Checkout, a world-renowned payment service provider, its annual MENAP payment report Digital Transformation in Northeast China and North Africa and Pakistan: Why Payment is the key to unlocking more growth and opportunities, highlighting the region's electronics as consumer demand for digital commerce continues to surge. The business and financial technology industry has developed in the past 12 months and has shown enterprises the opportunities in the new market.

Are there many pain points when going to sea? Click here to solve

The report points out that the entire MENAP e-commerce market is growing exponentially year by year. In 2020, 47% of consumers said they expected to shop online more frequently next year. By 2021, about 83% of the respondents said that they would maintain or even increase the current level of e-commerce spending by 2022, indicating that consumer behavior will undergo an irreversible change. This transformation is particularly common in the convenience economy, and daily necessities such as food distribution, groceries and household goods have become people's favorites.

Consumers have increased the frequency of online shopping, and nearly half (45%) of the respondents said they would shop online at least once a month. In addition, 53% of people said that they now shop online more than before the epidemic began. Online shopping will also surge during peak seasons such as Ramadan. Earlier this year, 76% of consumers in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia said they expected to buy products and services online more frequently during Ramadan.

This growth of digital commerce matches the more complex digital payment ecosystem in the region. Payment methods such as cash on delivery and bank transfer have once again declined year-on-year. In contrast, 60% of consumers in the region now prefer to pay for e-commerce through digital payment, an increase of 20% since Checkout's 2020 report.

This also gives way to updated payment methods, including digital wallets, in-app social shopping and buy-as-you-you-pay (BNPL) options. Checkout 2021 global data shows that MENAP regions are actually surpassing Europe and Asia-Pacific regions in terms of in-app social shopping and the adoption of BNPL.

Today, three-quarters (76%) of consumers in the region say they have used some form of fintech applications in the past year, and 81% of them believe that they have directly benefited from the growing fintech industry.

Another sign of the maturity of the e-commerce and digital payment industries in the region is the continuous growth of cross-border shopping. Merchants who provide both international payment channels and popular local payment methods enable countries in the region to contribute more effectively to global value chains.

In the past 12 months, about 85% of consumers in the region have made online shopping at brands and retailers outside their home, and one-third (33%) of them have listed cross-border shopping as the first reason for their online shopping. THIS YEAR'S REPORT FURTHER PREDICTS THAT BY 2023, MORE THAN 80% OF LARGE EUROPEAN BUSINESSMEN WILL SELL PRODUCTS TO MENAP.