KUWAIT: According to owners of local classifieds websites, the future of online shopping in Kuwait "looks promising," especially with the predicted continuing growth of internet usage in the country.

The entrepreneurs were speaking to the Kuwait Times about their businesses' prospects after a recent study revealed that people across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are open to buying goods and services online. The survey, 'Use of classifieds in the Middle East,' which was carried out by the region's biggest job site, Bayt.com, found that almost 20 percent of those surveyed found online shopping to be an "enjoyable marketplace experience.

It also found that 16 percent of the MENA residents surveyed shop for cars online, 15 for electronic goods, 10 for holidays, eight for clothing, five for real estate and two percent shop online for furniture. "Before it was hard because people were afraid to use their Visa cards online, but after K-Net (the Kuwaiti online payment system) came online, I saw that there was a prospect for online business to grow, because people are now not so afraid to use it," said Anwar Ibrahim, the founder of Q8Classifieds.com.

Ibrahim said that many internet users in Kuwait still need to learn about adopting the right security measures when it comes to using the online payment systems, but in general, with K-Net and prepaid credit cards it is much easier and much safer. At the same time, Ibrahim said that although there are prospects for future growth in the market, the level of competition is also likely to increase. "Big companies might also decide to join the market and take a share of online business, and that will make the market more competitive," he asserted.

The Internet in the whole of the Arab world is a growing market, and Kuwait is certainly amongst the leading countries in that regard," said Muhammad Ahmad, an employee with classifieds website Q8up.net. Ahmad added that in the year since the website launched its operations in Kuwait, it hasn't been charging for its services, explaining that they are waiting for the right moment to start making profits, and to expand regionally.

The only limit that is standing in our way right now is the number of internet connections, and this is growing rapidly, and with every new connection comes a new prospective client," Ahmad concluded.

Anwar Ibrahim, who launched his business three years ago added that there is an opportunity for local couriers to fill a void that is currently present in the market: "There are currently limited options for those who decide to take their business online," he explained. "They can either establish their own delivery service, or depend on one of the few available local couriers in Kuwait, whose prices are very high, so if there were more couriers, prices would go down, and services would be better, which wou
ld encourage more businesses to go online.

Kuwait's internet penetration statistics show a steady increase in internet usage, from five percent of the population in the year 2000, to 37 percent in the year 2009. The data, from Internetworldstats.com, shows that roughly one million of Kuwait's three million residents currently use the internet. - Kuwait Times