E-commerce in the Middle East: Then, Now, and the Future.

The middle-east includes countries of Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite being among the most advanced economies, the middle-east is still far behind when it comes to the online business realm. Then: Conventions and Challenges In 2016, when e-commerce was already at full force in other countries like the US, Europe, and India, a Garner study reported that over 85% of businesses in the middle east did not have any online presence. In spite of having one of the highest digital literacy rates and the best internet penetration in the world, only 2% of their retail was online. Also, 90% of the online transactions that were made were due to foreign businesses. One of the major challenges impeding the growth of e-commerce in the middle east is the lack of area codes. This is something so trivial yet vital. The absence of area codes can affect last-mile deliveries and slow down entire supply chains. Another pain point is the conventional use of ‘cash on delivery.’ Digital payments have yet to pick up pace in the middle east. Except for UAE, the rest of the countries in the middle east still opt for cash on delivery as their primary payment choice.  Among the many factors in place, trust is the major player influencing such behavior of the customers. PwC studies show that 62% of the customers prefer offline payments because they are concerned about their information being