Dubai e-commerce sector to see 12% growth by 2026, says Dubai Chambers CEO

“I think we will have more retailers, more diversity when it comes to more specialised concepts that will use Dubai as a platform to expand into the region,” he said.

Dubai is working closely with international partners and using the platform of Dubai Global, which is an initiative to establish 50 integrated commercial representative offices for Dubai in five continents across the world by 2030.

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“Part of the efforts that we have is to attract large multinational companies and SMEs and obviously retail is one of our topmost sectors since it plays a big role in the GDP of the city and has one of the highest contributions that reaches around 24 percent,” Lootah explained.

Alongside attracting retail companies and international businesses, Lootah highlighted the need to attract technology providers that play a role in developing the retail sectors and “introducing solutions for e-commerce and social commerce while increasing the efficiency of retail partners on the emerging channels.”

He emphasised that the retail sector will always continue to be an important sector for the city of Dubai.

Physical stores have been the norms of retail and shopping for years until the emergence of technology and e-commerce, companies have been finding themselves adapting to the new ways that consumers shop.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region emerged as a bright spot for online orders from marketplaces globally, posting a surge in sales amid signs of a global slowdown trend in online sales post-pandemic, a study by Admitad said.

Lootah said that “we noticed a growth in adopting a hybrid approach. The brick-and-mortar stores are still there, but there is growth in e-commerce and even significant growth in social commerce. So now you see a lot of stores, especially in Dubai where people can as soon as they see the advertisement on a social platform, they can go and buy it right away.”

“I think this is very important not only to diversify the channel, but to make sure to ensure that you cover all segments of consumers, especially the younger ones, or tourists who might not be here. This will give more access to the product sold by retailers in the city,” he added.

Dubai’s success factors

Dubai received 14.36 million international overnight visitors in 2022, growing 97 percent year-on-year from the 7.28 million tourist arrivals in 2021, according to the latest data published by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET).

“I think we have a very resilient government. Covid was a very big example. We were the first to reopen the market. We’re the first to have international tourists. Last year we have 14.6 million tourists which reflected very positively on the retail sector,” Lootah said, highlighting Dubai’s success factors.

He further explained, “so Dubai has the ecosystem, the experience. I think the ecosystem from landing at the airport, down to checking into the hotel, going to a shopping mall, and experiencing having a sales or purchasing example that you go through. This whole ecosystem is what Dubai is offering.”

Dubai is constantly working with partners and the government as well as the business sector, to ensure that more reforms are put in place and more improvements are made to the ecosystem.

The future of retail and e-commerce has seen an entry into the metaverse, with stores and malls opening in the Web3 space. Last month, Dubai’s Majid Al Futtaim has announced it will open the Mall of the Metaverse.

Majid Al Futtaim’s Mall of the Metaverse will include virtual Carrefour, That Concept Store, Ghawali and Samsung outlets as well as a virtual reality VOX cinema space.

“I think the whole you know, advancement in technology, either it’s metaverse or video games. We’re moving towards more integration between the digital world and the actual world and I think the main driver of this is just to ensure that the retailers are covering the growing generations. I think, definitely, we notice a growth not necessarily only with metaverse, but with any advanced technology growing.”

The Retail Summit is currently taking place in Dubai, at Atlantis The Palm on March 14-15. The annual global platform, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, brings together over 750 minds of the global retail community to share their expert knowledge and insights through a cutting-edge agenda.

Brands in attendance include Amazon, Tommy Hilfiger, Chalhoub, Harrods, Al Tayer, Apparel Group and more, with speakers from various organisations sharing insights into various retail topics.