10 Things I Learned in 2022

2022 was an exciting year of commerce transformation, but with its ups and downs. I decided to sum up 10 of the most compelling discoveries about the progress of commerce throughout 2022 - and other interesting facts. Special thanks to Ian Jindal, Yoldas Ertugrul , Leena Gallegher and Ahmed Chinbou amongst others (even if you didn’t know I was following you). Here are my top 10 learnings. Enjoy !

1. Return rates were higher in 2022 than the previous year

If your customers’ returns and refund process is not seamless, their entire shopping experience is marred. How customer-centric is your return process??

2. Branding existed 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia?

People buy from brands if and when they associate them with good service. Make sure your modern-day commerce experience is an excellent one.?

3. GCC retail industry expected to grow with a CAGR of 5.7% by 2026 ?

If you are in the GCC region, you should be able to capitalise on this. Talk to Akinon if you want to get started.

4. Number of physical stores has changed enormously after covid?

Brick and mortar still play an essential role. Are you operating them to your advantage within your omnichannel commerce setup? Something to think about.

5. Would take approximately 181 million years to download all the data from the internet?

But, when managing commerce data, you ought to own a fast and reliable system that gives you a single view of customer and product data.

6. 69% of UAE customers shop online

This is compared to 55% across the Middle East, and 70% say they prefer to shop via mobile.? If you are in the region and want to ensure you delight that large market share, talk to us to see how our customers are doing it with one of the easiest and fastest mobile app development.

7. Avg. 5%-7% of all payments in Africa were made via electronic or digital channels

This is expected to grow rapidly, but in the meantime, you should support those cash-based transactions with a truly Unified Commerce model that is also ready for the digital future.

8. Online grocery shopping will reach $100bn. by 2025 , seizing 20% of total grocery market?

Make sure your digital platform can support this from today. Check how some of Akinon’s customers are doing this under the Customers section.

9. MENA B2C e-commerce markets expected to grow by 15.19% in 2022-2026?

This level of growth requires a reliable, scalable platform. One that is ready for you today and allows you to expand without disruption quickly. That’s an excellent point to check when evaluating your platform for a possible migration.

10. Some things never fall over

Please don’t try this at home, but you should test that your digital platform will not fall during peaks.

I would also like to recommend you visit Akinon.com and see how this technology aims to transform businesses digitally.?