The value of the e-commerce sector in Qatar exceeded $ 2.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 47% from $ 1.5 billion in 2019, the Qatar Chamber found in a recent study.
The study titled “Electronic Commerce in the State of Qatar: Reality, Challenges and Solutionsâ€, also said that the volume of electronic commerce in the country is expected to reach $ 2.3 billion this year.
He also reported on the emergence of e-commerce and its related concepts and benefits, as well as the e-commerce infrastructure in Qatar and its contribution to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The report discussed the current spending and growth of Qatar’s e-commerce sector, in addition to legislation, laws, and government-provided facilities to accelerate and support e-commerce. He also highlighted the initiatives adopted by Qatar to develop the sector amid the challenges facing the e-commerce industry.
According to the study, the global online shopping sales volume is estimated at $ 25 billion in 2018, with the number of e-shoppers reaching 1.66 billion worldwide, including nearly 9% of the international market of retail.
“Electronic commerce has become more necessary than before for doing business due to the increased awareness of consumers in light of the increasing penetration rate of the use of broadband and high frequency internet services, as well as the availability of advanced technologies. infrastructure for the Internet and smartphones, which helps to have a significant impact on the way of doing business between the B2B sector and the B2B sector, â€the study said.
“The State of Qatar was not far from this development, as the e-commerce paper, which is the first of its kind in the country, outlined the current state of e-commerce in the state.” , he also said. .
The study confirmed that Qatar has an enabling 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 deployment of fixed fiber networks and occupies a leading position in the implementation of mobile and fifth generation networks.
Qatar also ranks second in the world out of 175 countries in the Internet speed test via mobile networks, and its citizens and residents enjoy high income levels. Being at the top has resulted in a high rate of per capita spending on luxury goods, especially electronic shopping.
The report states: “The availability of online accounts for citizens over the age of 15, the spread of bank accounts, postal reliability, the increasing use of electronic applications at the level of ministries and government institutions in the context of development. online administration. , and the advanced legislation in this field, which reinforces confidence and reliability in electronic services, have all contributed to the wide diffusion of the use of means of communication and information technology, where the purchase transaction single average performed by a Qatari citizen was $ 260. “
Qatar ranked first in the Gulf and fifth globally in the Mobile Internet Speed ​​Index, with a speed of 59.90MB. It also ranked first in the Gulf and 39th in the world for the level of fixed broadband Internet, according to the “Speed ​​Test†website. Currently, Qatar ranks seventh in e-commerce among the business-to-consumer sector in terms of transaction volume in the Middle East and North Africa.
The study also indicates that Qatar’s e-commerce sector has experienced significant growth, reaching the 47th rank in 2019 from 59 in 2018, joining the top 50 list, which includes 152 countries.
“This means Qatar is better than 105 countries, according to the 2019 E-Commerce Index released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), an indicator that monitors countries’ progress on four sub-indicators. , including the prevalence of Internet use, the availability of electronic accounts for citizens over 15, the spread of bank accounts and postal reliability.
“He was referring to the expectations of the Planning and Statistics Authority which indicated a growth of transactions in the e-commerce sector at a compound annual growth rate of 17% through 2025,” the report said.
The study said that Covid-19 has had a negative impact on large sectors of the international and local economy in many countries, but in return, some sectors have been able to achieve “a strong increase and growth”, such as trade electronics, which flourished in various countries.
The study indicates that most large, medium and even small businesses have made a qualitative leap in terms of spreading, commercializing and pumping the markets as part of the economic shutdown that has occurred to deal with the outbreak of the virus. .
He said e-commerce experienced “a strong renaissance” in Qatar in 2020, during which Qatar experienced “a partial and complete economic shutdown like other countries in the world.”
The report also referred to a study prepared by the Arab Monetary Fund, which said the pandemic was accompanied by a 50% increase in cellphone use and an increase in data use. online by 40%, enabling many companies operating in Qatar to prosper and increase their presence and share in the local market. The prevalence of e-commerce in Qatar is estimated at 14%, according to the report.
The chamber study showed that the size of Qatar’s e-commerce market in 2020 was $ 2.2 billion, almost evenly split between business transactions among themselves and between businesses and consumers.
Local firms accounted for around 38% of the total value of these transactions, while the share of foreign firms accounted for 62%. Qatar is the seventh largest online market in the Mena region, and the Ministry of Transport and Communications expects the market size to reach QR 12 billion by 2022, and the transaction value of e-commerce is expected to jump over the next three years to around 150%.
He said transactions in this sector account for over $ 2 billion of total trade transactions globally, and Qatar leads the Middle East in terms of the average value of a single transaction, which is $ 264 per transaction.
Ecommerce businesses saw an increase in number in 2020, reaching 350 businesses at the end of June and 416 in December 2020, translating to 66 new ecommerce businesses in six months.
The most important activities of this sector are food products and food delivery, groceries, clothing, gifts, electronics and products related to beauty and fashion equipment and health, in plus technical games and sports, travel, digital books, hotel reservations, household items and auto parts.
The study also looked at the challenges facing e-commerce in Qatar, including weak coordination between competent authorities to establish a clear system and policy for e-commerce to facilitate registration and establishment. from small and medium enterprises to international investors.
Other challenges also include low consumer awareness of the options available in e-commerce and low spread of e-commerce among a large number of low-wage temporary workers, hampering efforts to promote e-commerce among these categories. .
They also include the complexity of electronic payment rules and systems and the high cost collection process which is a barrier for SMEs as most payments in Qatar are cash on delivery which is most important. common and most acceptable among buyers accounting for 75% of total e-commerce payments, according to official statistics, in addition to a limited number of electronic payment methods, such as credit cards, accounting for 19%, and PayPal (6%), among others.
The study recommends the development of policies, regulations, systems and laws that support the practice of e-commerce in Qatar. It also recommended activating and encouraging electronic payment by helping merchants to collect and use prepaid bank cards and digital wallet technology, assess the possibilities of proposing simplified procedures for the accreditation of establishments of payment and electronic financial institutions, to facilitate the issuance of electronic payment tools, such as prepaid cards and digital wallets, and to study the evolution of the “law on electronic paymentâ€, which could help to regulate the e-commerce market and simultaneously allow payment service providers to obtain the licenses necessary to carry out their activities.
It also recommends motivating consumers to practice and use e-commerce and developing a simple one-stop shop portal for workers to help them maximize the use of e-services. The study calls for the empowerment of merchants by facilitating and supporting the process of registering start-ups and related activities to help SMEs increase their presence on the internet.
