DOHA: Qatar’s e-commerce market is expected to witness a sharp double-digit growth over the next few years. The combined size of e-commerce trading, which stood at QR4.36bn ($1.2bn) in 2017, is estimated to touch over QR11.65bn by 2022, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The e-commerce trading, which includes almost all types of online trading, will be registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent.
“These projections are based on annual average growth rate of 17 percent in e-commerce trading, which is the annual average for the GCC region,” Moayed Siddiq (pictured), Industry Specialist at the Ministry of Transport and Communications told The Peninsula on the sidelines of Qatar-Turkey Economic Forum.
Siddiq added: “In terms of Internet penetration and smartphone users, Qatar is one of the highest in the world. And the country is also having one of the highest rates of consumer spending in the world, which is logically a suitable environment for the rapid growth of e-commerce trading.”
However, he also noted some of the challenges facing the industry, which include barriers related to supply-chain, logistics, and some issues related to easy delivery system.
“Some real work is being done in these areas to address the issues, such as initiatives taken by Qatar Postal Service Company (Q-Post), and on the part of some other stakeholders, including merchants. Qatar Post, in particular, is doing some fantastic works in sorting out some delivery related issue,” he highlighted.
Q-Post, in 2016, introduced a new service ‘Connected by Qatar Post’, an e-commerce service. The service allows everybody in Qatar to shop their favourite brands online and have them delivered using various options. The parcels can be collected from 30 Q-Post branches, delivered at home or collected from smart lockers.
Q-Post also has plans to use drones for parcel delivery in the near future, which will help boost the e-commerce trading.
“We at the Ministry, under the national e-ecommerce roadmap, are trying to educate all the stakeholders to enhance trust level of consumers as well as merchants,” said Siddiq.
Asked about the role of cryptocurrencies in boosting e-commerce trade, he said that it is too early to comment on the use of virtual currencies. “But if the popularity and trend of such currencies catch up around the world, I have no reason to believe Qatar will not be lagging behind.”
The Ministry is working to launch a set of policies to promote best practices related to e-commerce for the local industry.
Last year in March, the Ministry had launched an online portal providing step-by-step guidelines for consumers and merchants to conduct online trading in the best possible manner, highlighting the security prospects, legal obligations, and refunding norms to consumers.
E-commerce trading is still in infancy in Qatar. Currently about 65 percent of the total volume of e-commerce trade is conducted through international portals, and the services sector such as airline bookings, hotel bookings, cleaning and other services, dominate e-ecommerce. While the retail sector, which is the least traded sector, is still growing and has very bright growth potential.
“We want to help put the local merchants on the platform. Through our various initiatives, we are supporting the local goods and merchants who are trustworthy and selling quality products,” added Siddiq.
“We have also established partnership with solution providers, such as e-payment gateways, who offer special discounts to merchants.”
The Ministry also runs a digital incubation centre where it provides a lot of support and mentorship to e-commerce startups and others. In addition, the Ministry also holds workshops throughout the year providing in-depth training programmes on wide range of topics, including how to conduct business using e-commerce, cloud services, and other software solutions.
He said that locally manufactured products such Abayas, apparels and other items are doing very well in online shopping. Commenting on the e-payment security system he said that in terms of actual technical security of electronic payments, Qatar Central Bank (QCB) spearheads the system, and the QCB, according to Siddiq, is doing a fantastic job in regulating the e-payment gateways.
