Online shopping in Lebanon bears the burden of slow internet, slow delivery speeds, and a lack of overall coordination on the online front. Repeated delays have plagued the passing of a law on e-signatures, which would make online transactions more secure. Shoppers in Lebanon have little faith in making purchases online. Only 1.44 percent of Lebanon’s internet users — who constitute around 60 percent of the population — shop online, according to a 2012 Ipsos poll. Compared to twice that in the United Arab Emirates and 6.65 percent in Kuwait, the market for online shopping in Lebanon is still immature. Despite these barriers, a small but growing segment of the Lebanese population is beginning to enter the world of online shopping. In 2012 online purchases in Lebanon reached $200 million, according to MasterCard and Visa data compiled by Bank Audi. This was a 40 percent increase from the year before.
