CAIRO — Egypt's e-commerce market will reach 2.7 billion by 2020, almost doubling compared to its 1.4 billion size in 2014, Payfort stated in a State of Payments' report. By 2020, the overall e-commerce in the Arab world will reach 13.4 billion, compared to 7 billion in 2014. Online spending on entertainment and events will increase to 10m in Egypt, compared to the 6.25 million registered in 2014. According to the report, the largest growth in the "relatively small market" will be mainly driven by the UAE. The entertainment and events market is expected to reach 200m by 2020, with the UAE accounting for 152m of that figure. The current market is valued at 125m. In 2014, the travel and tourism e-commerce market recorded 3.6 billion, with Egypt accounting for 0.87 billion. This figure will reach 1.3 billion in Egypt, and 5.3 billion in the Arab world. Discussing online airline ticket purchases, the report mentioned that it "will emerge as a major source of revenue". "The Arab world is turning into a travel hub, and if growth continues towards 2020 it will become an enormous industry," the report said. Egypt's share in online airline ticket purchases will surge from 1.9 billion in 2014 to 2.8 billion by 2020. On Internet usage, the report noted that 40.7 million Egyptians use the Internet, making it the largest Internet market in the Arab world, and is followed by Saudi Arabia. Payfort added that the UAE comes in third with its mature Internet population and relatively high rate of Internet penetration. "Egypt has the most online buyers [15.2 million] of any country in the Arab world," the report read. "However, by proportion of the population, the UAE and Kuwait have more online buyers and are easier for ecommerce companies to penetrate." Males dominate online purchasing in Egypt with 77%, while the remaining 23% are females. The age-range of approximately 50% of the online purchases varies between 26 and 35 years old, while 15% are between 18 and 25 years old. About 26% are between 36 and 50 years old. "Cash is still the preferred method of payment for ecommerce goods, especially in Egypt where 72% of consumers use cash. It seems cash on delivery is here to stay," the report said. — SG
