Ecommerce Benchmarks in Egypt and the Gulf: Real Numbers from Live Accounts
Most benchmarks you find are global and don't apply to the Egyptian or Gulf market, where COD, margins and buying cycles are different. The numbers below come from accounts I actually manage, and every number has a published, dated screenshot behind it. The short version: a healthy conversion rate in Egypt is between 3% and 7% for a specialized COD store, and in the Gulf between 1% and 1.5% with online payment. That gap is normal and not a problem, because AOV and returning rates are different.
Why global benchmarks mislead you
Search for the normal conversion rate for online stores and you'll find numbers like 2% or 2.5%. Those are global averages from markets that pay online, with carts holding more than one product, and with completely different competition and trust. Measure yourself against them and you'll make wrong decisions in both directions: thinking you're excellent when you aren't, or thinking you're failing when you're above the market.
The numbers below come from live ecommerce accounts in Egypt and the Gulf, with the period written next to each number. All the screenshots are published here with brand names hidden and the numbers as they are.
Conversion rate (CVR)
| Type | Market | CVR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialized COD store | Egypt | 3.14% | After removing the cart completely |
| Fashion, normal season | Egypt | 4.37% – 5.43% | 4 consecutive months |
| Fashion, strong offer | Egypt | 6.53% | End-of-season offer |
| Fashion, over 9 months | Egypt | 7.06% | From the store dashboard |
| Supplements, before optimization | Gulf | 0.70% | The state we found it in |
| Supplements, after CRO | Gulf | 1.19% | +68% in two months |
| General ecommerce | Kuwait | 1.97% | Over 7 months |
The takeaway: Egypt runs far above the Gulf on CVR. The market isn't better. COD removes the payment barrier, so people order more easily, and in exchange some of those orders never get delivered. Read why COD changes all your numbers before comparing yourself with any Egyptian figure.
Average order value (AOV)
| Type | Market | AOV |
|---|---|---|
| Fashion | Egypt | EGP 366 – 490 |
| Fashion, over 9 months | Egypt | EGP 399 |
| COD store | Egypt | EGP 862 |
| Supplements with bundle | Gulf | $79.91 |
| Fitness | Gulf | $78 – 85 |
The gap between EGP 366 and EGP 862 in the same market isn't a coincidence. It's the bundle. If your AOV sits at the low end, this is the cheapest lever you have: how to raise your order value.
Returning customer rate
| Type | Market | Rate | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee | Gulf | 54.08% | One month |
| Fitness | Gulf | 45% – 56.67% | 4 months |
| Supplements | Gulf | 40.66% | 7 months |
| Diet products | Gulf | 29% – 44.84% | 4 months |
This is the most important table on the page. A consumable product in the Gulf can have half its customers coming back, which means half your sales carry almost no ad cost. If your rate is under 20% on a consumable product, your problem isn't the ads: the LTV game, not the CPP game.
ROAS, and the trap inside it
| Platform | Market | ROAS | Number source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta, full account | Gulf | 3.22 | 448 campaigns, ads manager |
| Meta, after optimization | Kuwait | 3.73 | Was 2.79 before |
| Snapchat | Gulf | 4.6 – 13.57 | Depends on account and period |
| Multi-platform | Egypt | 13.27 | From the backend, not the ads manager |
Don't compare two ROAS numbers without knowing their source. The 13.27 comes from the store dashboard across all sales, and the 3.22 comes from the Meta ads manager for its own campaigns only. Both are correct, and they measure two different things. If anyone shows you ROAS without stating the window and the source, that number means nothing: the attribution window story.
More numbers from the same accounts
- Lost orders rate (started the form and left it) in Egyptian fashion: 11% – 14.6%.
- Discounts as a share of sales at a Gulf store that sells on offers: 0.64%, so almost no discounts.
- CPA in fashion in Egypt: EGP 38, with a CTR of 4.9%.
- Cost per order in Kuwait: down from $28.6 to $20.9 just by redistributing the budget.
- Delivery rate that made big spending possible in Egypt: 75%.
How to use these numbers
- Compare yourself with the same model. An Egyptian COD store at 2% CVR has a problem; a Gulf online-payment store at 2% is excellent.
- Start with your weakest number, not the most famous one. If CVR is good and retention is low, ads aren't your problem.
- Fix your measurement source before any comparison: the backend for sales and the ads manager for spend.
Methodology
Every number on this page comes from an account Ahmed Ebrahem actually manages, and is published on this same site with a dated screenshot in the proof section or in the case studies. Brand names are hidden under confidentiality agreements, and the numbers appear as they are, unedited. Periods run between August 2025 and August 2026, and currencies are as they appeared in the dashboards (Egyptian pounds for the Egyptian market, US dollars for the Gulf).
If you cite these numbers, a link to this page is enough:
https://ahmedebrahem.com/ecommerce-benchmarks-egypt-gcc/. It gets updated whenever
new accounts come in.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal conversion rate for online stores in Egypt?
For a specialized store selling with COD, a healthy rate is between 3% and 7%. That is far above global averages (around 2%) because cash on delivery removes the payment barrier, so ordering is easier. The trade-off is that some orders never get delivered, so you have to measure on delivered orders and not placed ones.
Why is the conversion rate in the Gulf lower than in Egypt?
Because payment is online, and the customer really pays before receiving the order, which is a bigger barrier. A healthy rate there is between 1% and 1.5% for a specialized store. In exchange, average order value is higher and returning customer rates are much higher, so the value of a visitor can end up larger.
What is the average order value in Egypt?
In fashion it's between EGP 366 and EGP 490, and a COD store with a bundle reached EGP 862. The gap between those numbers in the same market comes from the bundle and not the product, which means AOV is a lever you control and not a fixed market number.
What counts as a good ROAS?
There is no absolute number. The ROAS you need depends on your margin. If you make 30% of the selling price, you need ROAS above 3.3 to break even. More importantly, ROAS from the backend isn't the same as ROAS from the ads manager, so comparing two numbers from different sources gives you the wrong decision.
What should the returning customer rate be?
For consumable products (coffee, supplements, diet products) in the Gulf, the rates measured here are between 29% and 56.67%. If yours is under 20% on a repeat product, the problem is retention and not the ads.
Where do these numbers come from?
Ecommerce accounts that Ahmed Ebrahem actually manages in Egypt and the Gulf. Every number is published with a dated screenshot on ahmedebrahem.com, with brand names hidden and the numbers unedited.
Want to know where your numbers stand against these?
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