Trends in E-Commerce During COVID-19: A Case of UAE

Background

Though much of the dramatic growth in e-commerce was a reaction to Covid-19, and almost 100% of the UAE population enormously access the Internet and mobile phone access, consumers report an increased trust in purchasing products online. Undoubtedly, the current pandemic propels the UAE's e-commerce growth, which is a good sign, especially for the UAE where gradually reopening its economy and slowly lifting restrictions under strict precautionary safety and health measures. Even the middle-east's biggest retailers Carrefour and Lulu Group launched online shopping portals in the UAE. At the same time, e-government services are migrating to online platforms during the pandemic to offer their services, such as utility billing, traffic services, licensing, visa issuance, etc. The London-based professional services multi-national company Deloitte reiterated that the proliferation of e-commerce has drastically changed the global retail market, and significant drivers of e-commerce growth in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region, would be a high spending potential-owing to a high per capita income, developed transport logistics networks, rising internet penetration levels and a growing tech-savvy youth population (Deloitte, 2018).