Value of e-commerce in Qatar exceeds $ 2.2 billion: Qatar Chamber

Doha: The value of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in Qatar exceeded $ 2.2 billion in 2020 compared to $ 1.5 billion in 2019, showing an increase of 47 percent, a recent study conducted by Qatar Chamber revealed. 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 $2.3 billion in the current year. The reports touched on the emergence of e-Commerce, its related concepts and advantage, as well as the infrastructure of e-commerce in Qatar and how it contributes to achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.  It also discussed current expenditure and growth of e-commerce sector in Qatar, in addition to the legislation, laws, and facilities provided by the state to facilitate and support e-commerce. It also highlighted the initiatives adopted by the state to encourage and stimulate this sector, challenges facing e-commerce.

Accelerated development According to the study, the volume of online shopping is estimated at $25 trillion in sales globally in 2018, with the number of e-shoppers reaching 1.66 billion worldwide, including nearly 9% of the international retail market. It indicated that e-commerce has become more necessary to carry out business than it was before due to the increase of consumer awareness in light of the increasing penetration rate of the use of internet services with broadband and high-frequency, as well as the availability of advanced infrastructure for the internet and smart phone, which contributes to having a significant impact on how to carry out business between the business-to-consumer sector and the business-to-business sector.  It confirmed that the State of Qatar was not far from this development, as the E-Commerce document, which is the first of its kind in the State of Qatar, drew the broad lines of the current situation of e-commerce in the State of Qatar. 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. It also ranks second globally out of 175 countries in the internet speed test via mobile networks, and its citizens and residents enjoy high levels of income. Being at the top resulted in a high rate of per capita spending on luxury products, especially in electronic purchases.  It said that the availability of online accounts for citizens over the age of 15, the spread of bank accounts, postal reliability, the increasing use of e-applications at the level of ministries and government institutions in the framework of e-government development and the advanced legislation in this field, which enhances confidence and reliability in electronic services; all have helped in the great spread in the use of means of communication and information technology, where the average single purchase transaction carried out by a Qatari citizen amounted 260 dollars.  Qatar ranked first in the Gulf and fifth globally in the mobile internet flow speed index, with a rate of 59.90 megabytes. It also ranked first in the Gulf and 39 globally in 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 the volume of transactions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Significant growth The study also said 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 (UNCTAD), 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. It referred to the expectations of the Planning and Statistics Authority that indicated to a growth in the transactions of the e-commerce sector at a compound annual growth rate of 17% until 2025.