MyUS.com is America’s leading shipping service for global shoppers who purchase US goods online since 1997. With over 350,000 members in 220 countries and territories, the platform offers consumers a simple, reliable way to shop US online stores and ship their purchases worldwide.

E-commerce continues to grow in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. According to a report by global consultancy AT Kearney, this sector is expected to grow to $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) by 2020 from $5.3 billion in 2015. Therefore, MyUS decided to focus more on this region; it has now incorporated Arabic language services and industry-low shipping rates to its offerings.

In 2011, MyUS had just over 2,000 total members in the GCC region. Today, the company has over 100,000 members throughout this region that enjoy the fastest, most reliable, and most affordable package forwarding service from the US.

 

The UAE leads the GCC with 53 per cent market share of e-commerce in the region. Customers residing in the UAE can now access MyUS.com in Arabic, and receive substantial savings on shipping costs through low rates and combining multiple purchases into one shipment. The aim is to cater to the region’s growing demand for US goods and bridge the gap for commodities that are unavailable.

In a recent visit to Dubai, Ramesh Bulusu, CEO, MyUS.com, said, “With the speed of technology adoption sky rocketing, consumers are looking for simpler and faster ways to purchase the products they want. Increasing internet penetration, safe and secure payment methods along with access to a whole new range of product portfolios, have all played a significant role in creating a market shift toward e-commerce.”

Over the past year, consumer shipments from the US to the UAE from merchants such as Amazon, Colourpop, GAP, and Zulily have seen increases of up to 133% reaffirming the increased demand. Specifically, MyUS.com data shows that beauty and cosmetics brands like Kylie Cosmetics, Morphe Brushes, Dose of Colours, BH, and Mac have shown the fastest growth trend among local consumers.

“With the e-commerce market across the GCC expected to grow to 73.4 billion dirhams by 2020*, we continue to further enhance our services to meet consumers’ expectations. MyUS.com offers local shoppers a sheer variety of products from American online retailers across all categories, including apparel, beauty products and electronics, now available at their fingertips,” added Ramesh.

MyUS works by providing customers with a personal MyUS shipping address to use when shopping US websites like Ralph Lauren, Amazon, Nordstrom and Forever 21. When customers enter their MyUS address as the “ship to” address, they bypass any retailer shipping restrictions and their goods are forwarded to the secure MyUS facility in Sarasota, Florida USA. Parcels are then re-packaged using lighter protective materials. At the customer request, multiple purchases are repacked into a single shipment for maximum savings and shipped overseas to the customer’s door.

As the first and largest company in the industry, MyUS receives and ships over $240 million in e-commerce purchases annually, with hundreds of new members joining every day. When asked about the return and exchange policy they follow, Ramesh affirmed that MyUS takes pictures of each item and makes sure it is not damaged before they send it to our clients. “We make sure that customers are aware fully aware of what they are receiving. In any other case, we return or exchange the items in the US before shipping.”

The company that gives members an address in the US, ensures shipments are delivered to them in their countries within two to four days. In 2015, 5 million items were bought from 300,000 retailers in the US and the number is increasing every year. The number of shipments from the US to the UAE has grown 60% since 2013.

Nevertheless, it seems that women have more appetite for online shopping in this part of the world, specifically female residing in KSA and the UAE.  Amir Hegazi, Senior Consultant, MyUS.com explained that “Online shopping is women-driven in this region. However, the sectors being in demand are mainly a reflection of what is available on the market. Local players are strong in the electronics side, but fashion brands, cosmetics and accessories are a bit limited and more expensive and that is why MyUS is a perfect fit.”