File photo used for representation only. Photo credit: Abdul Basit/ The Peninsula
Qatar’s e-commerce market is set to scale new heights. The boom in country’s e-commerce market will continue as growing number of retailers and consumers are shifting to online platforms. There is also significant increase in the demand for digital banking products and services.
The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital adoption in the country. Many consumers who were so far hesitant in using digital payment channels, have now started embracing online payments. The high penetration of Internet services has worked in favour of boosting e-commerce in Qatar.
From ordering food online to buying groceries, online shopping has become integral part of residents.
Along proper e-commerce platforms of companies, many housebased entrepreneurs are also employing social media to market, sell their products. According to a recent report, ‘social commerce’ is also growing in Qatar at the same pace as the country’s booming e-commerce industry.
Authorities in Qatar have taken several initiatives to support and boost the e-commerce sector. One such initiative is ‘Theqa’ portal. The portal is a non-profit and voluntary government programme that is aimed at stimulating Qatar’s e-commerce sector and develop local online retail sales by encouraging citizens and residents to trust the country’s e-commerce ecosystem. It also seeks to encourage buyers to use local websites and platforms for effective and safe online shopping, and to provide merchants with the tools, capabilities and skills needed to succeed quickly.
Various reports have confirmed the strength of e-commerce market. A recent study conducted by Qatar Chamber stated that the value of e-commerce in Qatar exceeded $ 2.2bn in 2020 compared to $ 1.5bn in 2019, showing an increase of 47 percent.
The study titled ‘E-Commerce in the State of Qatar: Reality, Challenges and Solutions’ also said that the volume of e-commerce in the state is expected to hit $2.3bn in the current year.
The Business-to-Consumer e-commerce market in Qatar, ranked the seventh largest online market in the Middle East and North Africa in 2015 at $1.2bn, is expected to achieve a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17 percent by 2025.
The study by Qatar Chamber added that the e-commerce sector in Qatar saw a significant growth, as it rose in 2019 to rank 47 compared to 59 in 2018, to join the list of the top 50, which includes 152 countries, which means that Qatar is better than 105 countries according to the 2019 E-Commerce Index issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, an indicator that monitors the progress of countries according to 4 sub-indicators, including: the prevalence of Internet use, the availability of electronic accounts for citizens over the age of 15, the spread of bank accounts, and postal reliability.
Local companies accounted for about 38 percent of the total value of these transactions, while the share of foreign companies accounted for 62 percent. Qatar is the seventh largest online market in the Middle East and North Africa, and the Ministry of Transport and Communications expects the market size to reach QR12bn by 2022, and the value of e-commerce transactions is expected to jump over the next three years to about 150 percent.
The transactions of this sector account for more than $2 trillion of total commercial transactions around the world, and Qatar leads the Middle East countries in terms of the average value of a single transaction, which amounts $264 per transaction. E-Commerce companies witnessed an increase in their numbers during 2020, as it was 350 companies at the end of June, and their number reached 416 companies in December 2020, which means the establishment of 66 new e-commerce companies in 6 months.
The most important activities in this sector are food products and food delivery, groceries, clothes, gifts, electronics, and products related to beauty and fashion equipment, health in addition to technical games and sports, travel, digital books, hotel reservations, household items, and spare parts of cars.
The study confirmed that Qatar has a suitable environment for the adoption of e-Commerce and has a developed infrastructure for the Internet. It ranks first among the highest countries in the world in terms of the deployment of fixed fiber networks and occupies a leading position in the implementation of mobile networks and the fifth generation.
