Five trends that will shape the Arab World's online industry in 2015

2014 was a milestone year for online businesses in the Arab world. It was the year in which Arab online users spent more time behind their smartphone and computer screens than their televisions, online classifieds’ popularity soared over that of print classifieds, and several industries such as transportation, automotive, and food & beverage were disrupted and/or evolved – thanks to online marketplaces for services such as restaurant reservations, online food ordering and mobile taxi ordering.

2014 also marked the year where Internet penetration and smartphone penetration passed the 75 percent threshold in all GCC countries and the 50 percent threshold across the region. This happened amidst unrest and transitions, at a time when investment in online businesses was –and still is– very low compared to other regions of the world with similar population size and Internet penetration rates.

As 2015 rings in, online business growth in the Arab world continues unabated, while traditional industries such as banking, telecommunication, and traditional media witness dwindling margins and growth. While this will continue for years as the online industry matures, clear trends are emerging for 2015 that will define the industry.

Here are the top five trends we expect to see in 2015:

The rise of online media brands and advertising expenditure growth

The landscape of online media –be it news sites, video sites, or specialty content sites for women, luxury, or travel – is fairly fragmented in the Arab world. As advertising budgets move to the online space in pursuit of affluent and young users, and in adopting international trends of allocating more to online advertising, we expect to see consolidation of online media brands into strong networks that leverage economies of scale.

Original article by Khaldoon Tabaza

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Five trends that will shape the Arab World’s online industry in 2015