Qatar’s e-commerce sector is expanding at a phenomenal rate and its enormous growth potential means many incredible new opportunities for all kinds of businesses. Companies have been witnessing positive growth trends in e-commerce globally and Qatar’s e-commerce is also gaining momentum, experts said during a webinar.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) organised a virtual event recently entitled ‘Activate Your Stores E-commerce Channel: Guidelines Towards Success’, which gave an introduction about e-commerce and elaborated on how to expand business, reduce costs, and the building blocks of e-commerce.
Terek Mousa, an expert in e-commerce discussed the main pillars in developing an e-commerce platform including building an e-commerce site and the best tips, practices, and guidelines from MCIT. He said e-commerce is the selling and buying of products and services online through internet by smart phones, mobiles, and tablets.
Highlighting the benefits of e-commerce, Mousa said it reduces the operating cost of businesses, gives the ability to grow and expand faster, assists to reach clients in different places 24/7, saves marketing expenses and provides more flexible and feasible solutions in e-marketing, and gives deeper insight into customer behaviour and preferences.
Speaking about the potential for e-commerce for top countries in the world, he noted top ten countries ranked by retail e-commerce Sales Share, 2021 and 2022 which included China, South Korea, UK, Denmark, Norway, US, Finland, Sweden, France, and Spain.
Mousa stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic showed how much compulsory and important it is to adapt e-commerce to reach people, and highlighted the different business models for e-commerce – B2B (Business to Business), B2C (business to consumer), C2C (consumer to consumer), C2B (consumer to business), and MC (mobile commerce).
JamsheerThanalot, CEO and Founder of Jazp.com, an online store in Qatar, Oman, UAE and Saudi Arabia, shared his success story for all new e-merchants to start their business. He also shared the challenges he faced during his journey since developing the business in 2018, and the reason behind choosing e-commerce.
Speaking about e-commerce in Qatar he said: “E-commerce penetration is 62.1 percent and Qatar’s e-commerce market is expected to grow $3.2bn by 2022 with an average value per transaction at $264 (QR925). Also, online shoppers by demographics are Qataris (22 percent), Westerners (17 percent), Arabs (19 percent), Asian (20 percent), and others (22 percent). Qatar has the highest average (compared to GCC) annual e-commerce spend per user in the Mena region and average value per online transaction is higher than the GCC average,” he added.
A video presentation shared during the event explained how MCIT is helping develop e-commerce in Qatar, including establishing regulations and requirements to be trusted.
Theqa, Qatar’s e-commerce trustmark, is an active programme that will certify local online merchants based on a set of identified criteria and monitor its members adherence to the code of conduct.
Across the board, from SMEs to home-based businesses, it offers expert advice and information on setting up and operating an e-commerce platform. This includes access to services and support programmes such as domain registration, ePayment gateways, comprehensive e-commerce guidelines and the opportunity to join Theqa.
For e-shoppers, this portal provides important information and advice aimed at improving their e-commerce experience, such as the advantages of e-shopping and best practices to adopt when shopping online.
