Oman ECommerce Business Consulting Services

Economy and ECommerce

Known for its breath-taking coastal attraction, architectural exquisiteness driven by its rich cultural heritage, and endowed natural beauty, Oman deserves to be in the list of ‘places to visit’ for every travel enthusiast. Coming to business and economy, Oman has one of the fastest GDP growth rates in the GCC; even better than the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Sultanate has witnessed significant developments in the field of economy and education among others. Oman is a member of the WTO and its leading trading partners are the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, India, China, and the European Union. The Sultanate seeks to diversify its economy and reduce its dependency on oil revenues. Other prosperous industries in Oman are travel and tourism, transportation, agriculture and fishing, construction, manufacturing, etc. The service sector, which includes wholesale and retail, education, health care, and others, contributes to more than half of the country’s GDP.

Oman’s eCommerce industry is still at a sprouting stage. The country has a strong internet penetration (over 70%) and an even better smartphone usage trend (second-best in the GCC after the UAE). All these combined with a GDP per capita of about USD 15,500, Oman provides ample reason to believe that it has the potential to emerge as a bustling eCommerce market.

Challenges: Now and Ahead

Customers Embracing eCommerce:

People usually do take some time to embrace new technology in their lives. For instance, we may know what IoT is or maybe even using it in small and indirect ways but most of us will prefer to take some time in allowing IoT to play any major role in our lives especially when we have nicely working alternative systems in place.

Online Payment Concerns:

Digital safety concerns are normal. We have seen this phenomenon earlier in GCC and many other countries. This again is a matter of establishing robust digital payment systems in place and users being able to trust these systems in the due course of time. ECommerce marketing consultants realize the importance of customers’ trust and confidence in the growth of digital payments in eCommerce.

Customer Experience:

A major reluctance to choose eCommerce is its impersonal nature of transacting and its inability to provide a physical experience of the products to the customers before purchasing. Even in fully-grown eCommerce markets, few customers may be reluctant to buy relatively expensive products like phones or laptops or products where they feel a quality check is important before purchasing. Addressing that aspect of customer experience and expectation will be hard for eCommerce businesses and even for many eCommerce consulting firms.

Language Support:

Website language support is not merely translation; it is about localization. Website content must be seen from the perspective of the native speaker. The content must have cultural conformity and be relevant to the aspirations and expectations of the customers. ECommerce SEO consultants may stress on keywords and content but these can only bring traffic and not user engagement.

Competition from Brick and Mortar:

In Oman where brick and mortar retailing overwhelmingly dominates the market, eCommerce retailing will face head-on with the virtues of the former. From digital marketing to last-mile delivery and customer support, eCommerce businesses will have to counter physical retail in every respect that is relevant to customers.

How YRC can help

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 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 will help you in the selection of the right eCommerce software to smoothly manage the backend processes and in enabling eCommerce integration with the eCommerce tools.

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.

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.

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

Oman E-Commerce