The Arab world differs from the rest of the world in many ways. These distinctions and differences lead to us having different expectations and preferences when we shop online, whether it’s on Amazon or anywhere else. Whether you’re shopping online as an Arab consumer yourself, or are just interested in how someone who’s not an American consumer thinks about shopping online, I hope this guide will help you better understand how تسوق بالعربي, so that you can reach out to your local Arab consumer market more effectively than ever before with your products and services.
Buying low-priced items
One issue that people have with buying from online stores like Amazon is that they often buy items that are much cheaper than what they would pay in-store. This might seem like a great idea, but there are some drawbacks to this. For example, if you buy something for $5 and it’s worth $10 then you’re really not saving any money at all. You need to make sure the price of the item is lower than what you would pay in-store.
Buying high-quality electronics
I was looking for a new computer monitor and I thought that it would be best to buy from a company who ships internationally because the price difference is enormous. In the end, I had to go with a US-based online retailer because none of them sold monitors for the quality that I wanted at the price that I wanted. It just goes to show how much of a premium you pay when you’re buying from overseas markets.
Finding a lack of selection
I’m not sure if it’s because I live in a small town, or because I just haven’t found the right things yet, but shopping for products on Amazon has been rather disappointing. There are plenty of items that interest me, but I can’t find them anywhere other than through Google searches and third-party websites. With such a variety of products available, it’s hard to know where to start. In addition to the lack of selection, there is also the matter of shipping costs.
The international shipping scam
Buying from outside of the United States is cheaper, but it’s always a gamble. Customs can hold your package for weeks and often times you’re not even notified. When you finally do receive your package, it could be empty or completely destroyed by the time it reaches you. I’ve been lucky in my two purchases and they both arrived with nothing missing and without a scratch.
Shipping & delivery
Amazon is the largest ecommerce company in the world, with more than 300 million customers around the world. Customers place orders and have them delivered within hours. However, as a customer living in the Middle East, I can tell you that it’s not always a pleasant experience shopping on Amazon. Shipping rates are astronomical, and delivery times span from days to weeks.
Customer service can be hard to reach
Amazon’s customer service is a bit hard to reach. If you have any issues with your orders, take pictures of the products and their prices and send them to customer service. That way, there will be no question about what was paid for or ordered. I’ve had this done for me once when I had a wrong order sent to me. When it came to my package not arriving, I contacted customer service and they let me know that it would come in two days – which it did!
A comparison between local stores and online stores in Saudi Arabia
When the first online stores in Saudi Arabia came out, I remember how excited I was. There were so many things that I couldn’t find in local stores and it was a great feeling to be able to buy anything from home, without having to leave the house. For example, when my favorite perfume went out of stock at every store, I could just go to any website and have it delivered right to my doorstep.
