E-retail share of retail GCC 2015-2025

The e-retail industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region was expected to have a penetration rate of 12.2 percent of the offline retail in 2025 before the COVID-19 pandemic. The forecasted penetration rate grew to about 16.3 percent after the pandemic.

 GCC e-commerce overview

The e-retail industry in the region has been expanding rapidly over the past couple of years. The value of e-commerce transactions was forecasted to reach around 27 billion U.S. dollars by 2022 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE ranks first in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the UNCTAD E-commerce Index, followed by Saudi Arabia. The most popular e-commerce segment in UAE in 2020 was airlines and hotels, while in Saudi Arabia it was the fashion category.

 COVID-19 impact on GCC e-commerce 

  The value of e-commerce sales in the region was accelerated after the lockdowns and social distancing rules imposed by the governments to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In Saudi Arabia, the estimated market size by 2025 was 21 billion U.S. dollars. According to a survey in UAE in 2020, more than 30 percent of respondents increased their online shopping frequency post the pandemic . The governments responded to the shifts to e-commerce by easing the process of obtaining e-commerce licenses. This was undertaken to encourage new businesses to enter the market in the field of logistics and other sectors that could support the e-commerce industry.