What are the key factors helping Dubai’s small businesses recover from the impact of Covid?

This data was revealed in a joint study conducted by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in Dubai and the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute (VEEI), which assessed the resilience of small businesses in Dubai during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Small and medium enterprises that operate in Dubai enjoy distinctive advantages. The emirate’s constantly evolving enabling ecosystem provides the ideal conditions for SMEs in the emirate to adapt to challenges. This has been a key factor driving their resilience and stability during the pandemic,” said Abdul Baset Al Janahi, the CEO of Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai.

“Enhancing the digital capabilities of SMEs has always remained a priority for Dubai SME, and our efforts in this direction took a new turn with Dubai announcing its strategic vision to be a leading innovative digital economy. The findings of the DET-VEEI study confirm that digital is the way forward for small and medium enterprises and the best pathway to sustain their growth,” he added.

Whitepaper on small businesses and MSMEs in Dubai

A whitepaper resulting from the DET-Visa study titled ‘Dubai MSMEs: Digital and resilient’ looks at the digital journey of MSMEs in Dubai and draws on Visa data to provide insights into UAE commerce trends.

The report noted that the pandemic led to a surge in e-commerce as business owners moved quickly to fulfill their customers’ demands, according to the state-run news agency, Wam.

The study surveyed businesses that are actively accepting card-not-present (CNP) payments as an indication of e-commerce activity. For all businesses in Dubai, this percentage increased from 8 percent in July 2019 to 13 percent in August 2021, marking a 60 percent growth.

For small businesses, the percentage increased from 7 percent to 12 percent over the same period, marking a growth of 70 percent. Dubai saw a record 83 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in the number of e-commerce licenses issued in the first half of 2020.

“The global pandemic and resulting economic crisis have severely impacted all businesses, with the smallest of firms struggling the most. It is, therefore, encouraging to see merchants in Dubai, especially those that have embraced digital commerce, feel optimistic about business recovery and growth,” said Dr Saeeda Jaffar, Visa’s SVP and Group Country Manager for GCC region.

“Supporting MSMEs has always been a top priority for Visa and is also the key to economic recovery. The Dubai government has spared no effort in developing a digital infrastructure that supports remote operations and digital business models for MSMEs in the ‘new normal’. Given our aligned goals, we are pleased to be able to share the results of this study in partnership with DET,” she added.

Survey findings on impact of digitalisation in the small business sector

A majority of MSMEs in Dubai experienced growth in 2020. Approximately 43 percent of the surveyed firms had positive revenue growth in 2020. Not surprisingly, firms that experienced the fastest revenue growth in 2020 were optimistic about growth in 2021.

MSMEs adopted new payment capabilities during the pandemic and transitioned away from some familiar ones.

Accelerating new trends saw Dubai shifting away from cash and cheques payments towards digital methods, according to the state-run news agency, Wam.

The majority of firms in all size categories still accept cash, but mobile payments, QR codes, established non-card e-commerce payment providers, and newer entrants in the payment space kept gaining users, especially in comparison with pre-pandemic levels.

In a striking development, more medium firms reported accepting mobile payments than cash in domestic transactions.

MSMEs expanded their use of social networks, messaging apps, and online marketplaces. MSMEs increased their digital activity across size categories.

The use of these online marketplaces doubled in many cases from their pre-pandemic levels.

The main priorities MSMEs identified in continuing their recovery is getting customers back, followed by diversifying their products and services, exporting to new markets, and digitising their sales channels.

Firms that sell online placed loans and grants in the bottom half of their strong needs. Not surprisingly, digital sellers included cybersecurity among their top needs.

Looking ahead, firms plan to prioritise improving their digital capabilities. Firms in every size category indicated they will prioritise expanding their digital marketing capabilities, growing their online sales, and amplifying their use of digital payments.

About a quarter to a third of firms, depending on the firm size category, have set out to telework before or during COVID-19, and almost another third of firms reported that they are looking to pursue teleworking soon.