Ecommerce Business Consulting, Online Business Consulting Services

Economy, market, and eCommerce

Being the second-largest economy in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia, one of the strongest driving forces of the UAE’s economy is its oil and gas sector. With a GDP of USD 421.14 billion, UAE has the second-best GDP per capita of USD 41,420 in the GCC after Qatar. One of the striking features is that the UAE is propelling itself strongly towards strengthening its digital economy to enhance its economic security which contributes 4.3% to its GDP.

There are strong indications that eCommerce in the UAE is growing rapidly and traditional retail sales are slowing down in the country. UAE’s internet penetration hovers at impressive 90+% figures with almost 70% of them being online buyers (6.8 million out of a total population of 10 million). UAE tops the region in terms of growth in eCommerce (USD 18.5 billion in 2019).

Challenges in the UAE’s eCommerce market

Despite the favourable trends and statistics, succeeding in UAE’s eCommerce market is even more difficult. Here are a couple of reasons why we think so.

Finding the eCommerce niche

When you are competing in a fierce eCommerce market like that of the UAE or Dubai, you need to have a strong eCommerce niche. With the prior presence of big global brands and lesser-known but prevalent local competition, creating a niche or a UVP in UAE’s eCommerce market is a tough ask. Startups may prefer to enter new markets via proven routes like the Amazon retail business model but even then they will have to build their niche to survive in an online marketplace.

Low user engagement

When you own an eCommerce business, you would want your audience to visit and spend time on your website, and eventually make purchases. But this is a problem in UAE; the user engagement on eCommerce websites is on the lower side indicating deficiencies in terms of language support or content relevance or web design or user experience. The general opinion of eCommerce SEO consultants may stress on keywords but keywords can only bring traffic and not user engagement.

Online payments yet to become popular

In 2018-19, online eCommerce payments in the UAE stood at only 18%. That’s a problem area for foreign eCommerce players because going cash slows down the payment and transfer process. Preference of digital payments is complementary to the concept of eCommerce and push for a digital economy. Not many eCommerce marketing consultants stress on promoting digital payment.

Last-mile delivery challenge

Dubai lacks a standard postal address system. Without house or street numbers, deliveries are dependent on landmarks and instructions. Residents have the option of availing rent lockers with P.O. Box numbers. All these create problems in the last-mile delivery which can escalate into delayed deliveries or even order cancellations.

How YRC can help

Our aim remains to assist our clients build a sustainable and growth-oriented eCommerce enterprise with expert and dedicated services right from ‘concept’ to ‘implementation’. Thus, our role is not confined to assessments and planning but also extends to formulating strategies and defining the operational framework.

ECommerce business model and strategy

We will help you choose or craft the right business model and come up with a workable eCommerce strategy for your business. In eCommerce strategy consulting, we shall consider your business niche and value proposition which are very important components of an online retail model for establishing a strong footing, especially in a foreign market.

ECommerce Team

We will define the organization structure for your eCommerce venture in alignment with your business plan. This will also include identifying and defining all the roles and positions that will be necessary for the running of your business. For each role and position, the job description, KRAs and KPIs will be mapped.

ECommerce UX Design & Website Development

We realize the significance of a website for an eCommerce entity – the most important digital touchpoint. Our team shall focus on what it matters the most – user experience, via the right platform and the right features. An important consideration in web design for UAE eCommerce is the RTL language support.

ECommerce Order Fulfilment & Inventory Management

An order fulfilment centre is the heart of eCommerce business. We will help you in the optimum utilization of space required for key activities like goods receiving, goods processing, walk-ways, staff and office area, etc. In addition, we will also assess the requirements in terms of furniture and fixtures, IT and warehousing tools and equipment, staffing, rack planning, etc.

ECommerce tools and system integration

ECommerce businesses need to ensure that their back-end operations and back-end software application are in perfect sync. To help you choose the right software for managing your back-end eCommerce processes, we will define the process flow and create a blueprint of the required features.

We are a boutique retail consulting firm. To know more about our ecommerce consulting services or if you have any query, drop us a message and we will get back to you.

E-commerce / Online Stores