Mideast Internet shopping, the next big thing?

We don't know as nobody collects these figures. But with the rise in Internet penetration across the Middle East, Internet shopping must be going up here too. Why can we be so sure?

Well, for one thing the Net knows no geographic boundaries, so this is global shopping. From Dubai I can order a present for my mother in the UK, or a friend in Abu Dhabi can send me an email with a voucher to spend at www.amazon.com as happened last week.

What about buying locally online? Try booking a discount flight with www.airarabia.com which has a neat way of selling air tickets with the lowest cost for booking early. Or go to www.emirates.com to book a flight, and perhaps get yourself a frequent flyer point upgrade online by a visit to www.skywards.com.

Not enough frequent flyer points? Then go to your Internet bank account at www.me.ae and transfer some MeMiles from your credit card statement.

For a more conventional shopping mall experience there is always www.uaemall.com. But in truth online shopping is still a market waiting to be tapped in the UAE. That is strange, commercial opportunities do not usually remain untapped in this country for long.

Part of the problem is that you need a unique, or especially cheap shopping experience to succeed online. One of my personal favorites is www.abebooks.com - a second hand book portal. You can even buy a first edition of 'The History of Bovis' by Peter Cooper for $45, and other similar obscure tomes.

The trouble with trying to sell books or CDs online in the UAE is that www.amazon.com already does this very well, and buying locally has little advantage, except slightly quicker delivery and perhaps marginally lower prices.

However, there must come a point when online shopping websites make sense, and my view is that this critical mass can not be far off in the UAE, at least. Online shops are cheap enough to set up if you know how to go about it, and Visa payment facilities are not difficult to arrange.

Getting your online store known in the marketplace is easily solved. Just contact www.ameinfo.com - which is the only Google Rank 8 website in the Middle East and offers a wide range of e-marketing options. Far more expensive adverts in Gulf News are another option but promoting online services online is cheaper and more effective.

Surely the development of e-commerce is going to take off in the Middle East as well as the US, and this will be a goldmine for the person who gets it right!