E-commerce is a burgeoning industry with AT Kearney expecting e-commerce in the UAE to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent per year up to 2020, while Frost and Sullivan estimate that the market could be worth up to $10 billion by 2018.

In fact, according to Global WebIndex (GWI) 56 percent in KSA and 66 percent in the UAE purchased a product online in the last month.

It’s no surprise then that retailers are launching their e-commerce portals hoping to capitalize on this trend. And the latest brand to do so is Canon. The online store will carry over 450 products ranging from cameras, printers, office equipment and lenses, as well as official Canon merchandise: apparel, household equipment, travel accessories, and more.

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Anurag Agarwal, managing director, Canon Middle East, says in a statement: “The launch of our new e-store is a major step that will bring our products and merchandise even closer to our customers in the UAE. Online shopping is growing in popularity in the region, and this launch symbolizes our commitment to make the Canon experience enjoyable for our customers from the very start.”

This is being driven by online shopper behavior in the Middle East, and according to a study by PwC, nearly half of all respondents said that they prefer to shop online due to a wider product selection and overall convenience. The single most popular reason for online shoppers to shop from single-brand online stores is for the superior customer service that they can expect.

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Venkatasubramanian Hariharan, business unit director, B2C, Canon Middle East, adds, “Consumers are our core, and with the launch [of the e-commerce site], we are now uniquely positioned to curate the very best of Canon products alongside an array of merchandise. Our vision with this launch is to make it easy to find the most compelling products to inspire Canon users and help them create their own stories and memories.