E-commerce sales in the countries of the region have recorded a growth of 300% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is estimated, according to a report issued by "Visa", that the size of the e-commerce market in the Middle East region to reach about 48.6 billion dollars in 2022 compared to 26.9 billion dollars in 2018. The report revealed that the volume of e-commerce sales in the UAE alone amounted to about $16 billion in 2019, and by $7.7 billion in Saudi Arabia. The UAE ranked first in the world in terms of Internet usage, with 93.9% of the total population of the country. The report also expected that the value of e-commerce sales in the UAE would reach about 27 billion dollars in 2022.
The estimates pointed out that e-commerce sales across the region will grow at a rate of 23% annually between 2018 and 2022. According to the Visa report, e-commerce in the UAE currently accounts for 30% of all retail sales. This percentage is expected to rise over the next few years in light of the trends of brands aiming to reduce the cost of labor, storage, rent, and inventory turnover, which will be reflected in strengthening the role of e-commerce in the Emirates and increasing its market share to about 70% of the total retail sales.
Source (Al-Khaleej Newspaper-UAE, Edited)
