Dubai: Criteo, the performance marketing technology company, expects mobile commerce to grow in the region due to high smartphone penetration rates.
Dirk Henke, managing director for Eastern Europe and MEA at Criteo, said that more than 30 per cent of the e-commerce transactions are taking place on mobile phones.
He said the shift from desktop to mobile is extremely fast.
According to Google’s survey, smartphone penetration rates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are at 73.8 per cent and 72.8 per cent, respectively.
In the region, 40 per cent of the transactions in Lebanon and Qatar are done on mobile while in the UAE, it is 30 per cent.
He said the company is committed to the region as it opened its regional hub in Dubai despite being present in the region for more than two years.
According to PwC, spending on internet advertising in the Mena region is set to grow from approximately $707 million in 2013 to $2.46 billion in 2018.
Gregory Gazagne, executive vice-president at Criteo, said the growth is due of the rise in fast-speed internet connectivity, the growing affluence of residents in the region and the improving prospects of e-commerce — factors that are driving advertisers to increasingly buy online space.
Criteo numbers show that every third digital purchase in the UAE and Saudi Arabia is completed through a mobile device.
“e-commerce in the Middle East is at an exciting crossroads. Understandably, advertisers and marketers are vying to secure a sizeable online presence, and to do so better and faster than the rest. Criteo is specially equipped to deliver these market needs,” Henke said.
