Most UAE residents use grocery apps more during Ramadan

Food delivery and online shopping also experience a spike during the holy month, according to a YouGov survey

Modern devices such as smartphones are not free from the threat posed by determined cyber criminals. AP

Nearly 60 per cent of UAE residents said their use of grocery apps increases during Ramadan, according to a new YouGov survey.

The research, collected online from more than 1,000 respondents in the UAE between May 6 and 12, studied Ramadan’s impact on the usage of various lifestyle and entertainment applications. Two-thirds of the respondents said they are fasting.

About half of respondents said they use food delivery apps, such as Zomato and Talabat, and online shopping apps, such as Noon and Amazon, more during the month of fasting.

Just under half of residents also said their use of health and fitness applications will rise during this period along with social media for 45 per cent of respondents and video-on-demand apps for 43 per cent. However, about a quarter said they would use these types of app less.

Residents are more evenly divided in their use of travel, hotel and booking, and gaming apps. For example, 32 per cent believe their use of gaming apps will increase, 33 per cent think it will decrease and 35 per cent said it will remain unchanged.

There were some differences between fasters and non-fasters, with grocery app usage higher among fasters. Non-fasters showed higher use of travel apps (47 per cent compared to 33 per cent of fasters) and hotel booking apps (44 per cent compared to 32 per cent of fasters).

In terms of gender differences, men were more likely than women to increase their use of health apps (48 per cent of men versus 42 per cent of women) and gaming apps (35 per cent of men versus 28 per cent of women) during Ramadan.