With nearly 500 e-commerce websites, can Qatar become the next blue ocean?

Public data from Qatar's Ministry of Transport and Communications shows that there were 350 registered e-commerce websites in June last year, but as of now, the number has reached 494, with 144 new ones added.

E-commerce websites published on the official website of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Qatar

It is reported that many e-commerce websites in Qatar are operated in a mixed mode , such as well-known supermarkets, restaurants, pharmacies, clothing stores, etc. In addition, there are also many companies that only provide online services, such as tourism and other retail fields.

Data shows that Qatar's e-commerce market ranks seventh in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), with a scale of approximately US$1.2 billion, and official estimates show that it will grow to US$3.2 billion by 2022. Compared with other Middle Eastern countries, Qatar's e-commerce scale is relatively small, but Qatar has great potential.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Qatar's per capita GDP in 2019 was about $69,687, ranking fifth in the world. At the same time, Qatar is also the country with the smallest gap between the rich and the poor in the Middle East. According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute's 2018 Global Wealth Report, Qatar's Gini coefficient is 61.5% (the smaller the Gini coefficient, the more evenly distributed the annual income).

On the other hand, the easing of relations between Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries will also promote the development of its e-commerce. On June 5, 2017 , six Middle Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, successively announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar. On January 4 this year, this tense relationship was finally resolved, and many countries resumed diplomatic and economic exchanges with Qatar.

This marks that more international e-commerce platforms can enter Qatar. In late February this year, UAE fashion e-commerce Namshi announced the opening of its Qatar site, becoming the first company to enter the Qatar e-commerce market after the ice-breaking.

Geographically, Qatar is very close to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For Amazon and Noon's Saudi and UAE sites, it should not be difficult to sell to Qatar through these two national sites. I believe that the two will soon follow Namshi's footsteps and embark on the road of e-commerce in Qatar.

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