Egypt is one of the fastest growing countries in online shopping, with figures expected to double over the next few years,Ronaldo Mouchawar, co-founder of online shopping platform Souq.com, told Daily News Egypt. Mouchawar said mobile penetration, which can be used to place orders, is high in Egypt. MasterCard's online shopping behaviour report said the main products purchased in Egypt are airline tickets and hotel bookings. Regarding mobile shopping, the report stated that mobile penetration in the Egypt market is 90%. "87% of respondents [in the Middle East] have access to the Internet from their mobile phones," the report said. "Almost 1 in 3 respondents purchased from their mobile phone in last three months." The report added that almost 1 in 3 respondents in the Middle East said they planned to make an online purchase in the next six months. Discussing why online shopping is gaining popularity in Egypt, Mouchawar stated that expensive real estate and difficulty experienced in importing products encourages people to turn to e-commerce instead. Approximately 52% of Egyptian respondents said they made at least one online purchase in the three months prior to the study. Online shoppers in Egypt prefer using local websites than foreign websites, the report illustrated with 72% of shoppers picking local websites compared to 28% opting for foreign sites. The main online shopping websites used in Egypt are Souq.com and Jumia. "Our private owned policy is not to disclose numbers, however I can say that we are doing well," said General Manager of Souq.com Omar Elsahy. "We haven't reached the targeted figures of e-commerce so far, but we might reach it in two or three years."
