In this article
Key takeaways
- Perfumes are the first category in WooCommerce ads (17%), mostly outside Saudi Arabia: the UAE 35%, Kuwait 33% and Oman 29%.
- Saudi Arabia is different: kids and toys first (14% of Saudi WooCommerce ads).
- WooCommerce stores advertise quietly: a discount or offer in 27% of their ads against 38% market-wide, and shorter copy (a median of 45 words against 60).
- The median price is SAR 160 against 189 for the whole market, in the ads that state a price.
What WooCommerce stores sell
Perfumes and incense come first by a clear gap: 17% of WooCommerce ads. Then kids and toys (8%), hair care (8%), skincare (7%) and food, coffee and dates (6%).
Because WooCommerce is part of WordPress, the group also holds sites that are not stores in the narrow sense: travel bookings (40 ads with a "Book now" button) and applications (29 ads with "Apply now"). Leave them aside when you study products; they are another market.
Perfumes: WooCommerce's market outside Saudi Arabia
Of 344 perfume ads on WooCommerce stores, 35% run in the UAE, 33% in Kuwait and 29% in Oman, against only 8% in Saudi Arabia, where Salla owns the perfume market. In Kuwaiti perfumes specifically, WooCommerce comes after Shopify and WhatsApp: 5% of Kuwait's perfume ads, against 3% for Salla.
And they advertise unlike the perfume market as a whole: a gift in 18% of their ads, close to 19% across all perfume ads, but "limited offer / hurry" in only 5% against 26%, and a discount in 31% against 49%. WooCommerce perfume stores sell with gifts and their brand, not urgency. The full perfume market: Perfume ads.
Each country, its WooCommerce best sellers
- Saudi Arabia: kids and toys first (14%), then home (8%), with perfumes at only 4%. WooCommerce kids ads are mostly video (80%); read Kids and toys ads.
- UAE: perfumes 22%, then skincare, hair and food, with abayas present (32 ads).
- Kuwait: perfumes 20%, then hair (9%) and electronics (8%).
- Oman: perfumes 28%, then skincare (14%).
How WooCommerce stores advertise
| WooCommerce | All ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Video | 62% | 69% |
| Discount or offer | 27% | 38% |
| Limited offer / hurry | 13% | 18% |
| Free delivery | 7% | 12% |
| Cash on delivery | 9% | 16% |
| A gift | 7% | 10% |
| Instalments (Tabby, Tamara) | 3% | 3% |
| Median copy length (words) | 45 | 60 |
Almost every offer signal is below the market: fewer discounts, less urgency, less free delivery and cash on delivery. WooCommerce stores are often established stores with their own brand, not dropshipping stores testing a product a week. The exception is skincare: free delivery in 19% of its ads and a discount in 40% (Skincare ads).
Buttons: "Shop now" 39% and "Order now" 32%. To read these signals in every category: Ad offers in numbers.
Prices: where WooCommerce stores sit in the market
| Market | Currency | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | Whole country median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce, Gulf | SAR | 77 | 160 | 299 | 189 |
| WooCommerce, Saudi Arabia | SAR | 96 | 199 | 369 | 199 |
| WooCommerce, UAE | AED | 100 | 275 | 480 | 280 |
| WooCommerce, Kuwait | KWD | 15 | 27 | 46 | 21 |
Prices come only from ads that state one in the copy (150 WooCommerce ads), so read them as a direction, not a price list. In Saudi Arabia WooCommerce stores match the market median almost exactly, in the UAE they sit a little below it, and in Kuwait above: Kuwaiti WooCommerce stores sell perfumes and electronics, not cheap accessories.
How to use these numbers
- If you sell perfumes in the UAE, Kuwait or Oman: WooCommerce stores are real competitors. Open the "WooCommerce" filter with perfumes, sort by longest running, and read the gifts they offer.
- If your competitor is on WooCommerce: do not fight with a bigger discount alone; it does not sell on discounts. Compete with the offer it lacks: free delivery or instalments.
- Save what you find in a collection with a note on price and offer, and come back in two weeks to see what survived.
How to study one WooCommerce store step by step: Spy on a WooCommerce store.
