Mobile’s Role in MENA During Ramadan 2022

InMobi recently completed a snapshot survey of 300 people across the UAE and Saudi Arabia using InMobi Pulse, InMobi’s mobile market research solution. It provides some fascinating insights on brand preference, travel trends and mobile shopping around Ramadan this year. 

Above all, the research demonstrates that mobile is now front and center in terms of preferred shopping channels around the holiday, with 50-55% of respondents saying they are most likely to purchase via this channel rather than on desktop, or even in person.  

As widely observed elsewhere, the preference for shopping via mobile devices has arguably accelerated through the pandemic.  

Travel Plans 

Another area clearly affected by Covid is of course travel. In our survey, we therefore asked about travel plans throughout the holiday to get a sense of how this might have changed: 

• In KSA, almost 50% of respondents plan to travel outside of their hometown or elsewhere within the country. 
• Between 7 and 11% of people plan to travel outside of the GCC. 
• 16% of people in UAE plan to travel somewhere outside of their own country but within the GCC. 

In each region, however, only about half of our sample said that their travel choices were informed by Covid, suggesting these numbers are less negative for the industry as they might have been. 

In terms of how those travel bookings are made, once again mobile plays an important role – with 44% in UAE and 30% in KSA saying they would buy tickets via mobile apps. Meanwhile, 31% and 30% in UAE and KSA, respectively, stated they would be using websites to book. And finally, 40% in KSA and just 26% in UAE stated a preference for using ‘offline’ agents. 

Shopping Plans 

For those planning on shopping over the holidays, as we’ve already seen, mobile holds the purse strings. However, to examine further our respondents’ plans, we also asked what type of items they might be planning to buy. 

Clothing and apparel are clearly prominent in the responses, with several other categories also in joint second place, from home décor to gift packs, jewelry and groceries. 

If our research proves correct, then around half of overall shopping activity over the holiday will take place on mobile devices. It will be interesting to reflect on the businesses best set up to maximize results – namely those with the most usable mobile apps and websites. 

Looking to make these insights actionable and reach consumers over Ramadan? Get out to InMobi today to get started: https://www.inmobi.com/company/contact.