{"id":368669,"date":"2021-03-11T10:46:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T15:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/?p=368669"},"modified":"2022-09-09T15:37:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T19:37:52","slug":"ecommerce-in-the-middle-east-covid-uptick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ecommerce-in-the-middle-east-covid-uptick","title":{"rendered":"Ecommerce in the Middle East: Covid Uptick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many countries in the Middle East have immature digital infrastructures and inefficient logistics. But a few have relatively young and affluent populations that are eager to utilize ecommerce despite the problems. As in other regions, Covid-19 has spurred greater online usage in the region.<\/p>\n

This article will focus on three of the richer countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.<\/p>\n

Other than a Covid-19 uptick, not much has changed since I last wrote<\/a> about Middle East ecommerce. According to RetailX, 2020 retail ecommerce sales for Saudi Arabia, U.A.E., and Qatar were USD $11.06 billion, $28.08 billion, and $2.5 billion, respectively. By contrast, retail ecommerce sales in the U.S. in 2020 were roughly $374 billion.<\/p>\n

The lack of addresses<\/a> continues to plague ecommerce deliveries. The U.A.E., for example, doesn\u2019t have postcodes. Middle Eastern consumers often don\u2019t provide a full address when buying online. Delivery companies have to resort to electronic messages to consumers, which also captures their GPS coordinates.<\/p>\n

Pick-up \u2014 either in-store or curbside \u2014 is generally not available in the Middle East. Brick-and-mortar stores have just recently launched ecommerce sites in response to the pandemic.<\/p>\n