Dubai Chamber Demonstrates UAE's Successful E-Commerce Performance Amid The COVID-19 Crisis The UAE has outperformed advanced economies in the inventory of basic materials owing to government support.
By Entrepreneur Middle East Staff Edited by Tamara Pupic
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The UAE's e-commerce sector has been comparatively more successful than more than 30 other economies despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent analysis conducted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Based on the latest data from Euromonitor that analyzed 38 advanced and emerging market economies, the Dubai Chamber analysis compared the percentage of goods that are not in stock, levels of inventory for their major e-commerce platforms, and daily percentage of stock keeping units (SKUs) that were marked as "goods not available" on the retailer websites for each country.
It found that the UAE adopting supportive government initiatives, having modern infrastructure, and strenghtening its evolving logistics sector have contributed towards building a strong supply chain and addressing current e-commerce challenges effectively.
This assessment was made based off a comparison of the current levels of essential items availability (on April 21, 2020) with the pre-pandemic levels (on January 21, 2020) across the 38 nations. The ranking of countries is based on figures dating April 21– the lower the percentage of out of stock essential items, the lesser disruption the economy has faced.
Percentage of essential items out of stock.
Meanwhile, in terms of availability of items in UAE by category, the study noted how the daily percentage of out of stock items have been maintained at a low value across the board. According to the data provided, stocks of low-life products, such as fresh food, are always replaced quickly whereas basic items, such as eggs, poultry, and vegetables, are at a rate of zero or close to zero. Items with long shelf life, such as home care materials and canned food, are often hoarded by consumers owing to pandemic panic, and as a result, sometimes experience slightly higher rates of daily stock outs.
Percentage of essential items out of stock in UAE during April 21, 2020 (by category).
The above data is indicative of UAE's advanced global ranking, owing to its geographical position in global trade, large storage capacities, and an efficient logistical network which helped ensure that only a low percentage of materials were out of stock prior to the pandemic, that is - 3.4% on January 21, 2020.
The swift measures taken by the UAE government and logistical support companies further continued the flow of necessary materials even during the pandemic, which resulted in a drop to 1.8% by April 21, the sixth position in the world, which makes the UAE surpass many developed economies.
The e-retail companies have managed to achieve this success not just in the domestic market, but including the neighboring markets as well. For example, Saudi Arabia also has a similarly low rate of 2.2%, given that the Kingdom is the top regional trading partner for the UAE.
