1. Electronics is a critical category for online retail – GCC markets now in growth stage

Electronics online retail typically contributes significantly to total online retail during the nascent stage of ecommerce penetration as seen in markets like Indonesia and India. This is primarily due to the high AOV of highly demanded categories like phones and laptops, while other sectors have not gained as much traction. In more mature markets like US and UK, other sectors see higher levels of penetrations and online electronics’ GMV contribution declines.

In KSA and UAE, online retail is in its growth stage and hence we see a lower contribution by electronics to the total online retail, but still higher than mature markets like USA and UK indicating the sector will grow further.

2. MENA online electronics has ~3x penetration levels compared to online retail

In the region, online electronics has ~3x penetration compared to overall e-Tail indicating other sectors can expect to see their online GMV’s growing faster than physical store GMV’s in the future.

3. Offline electronics retail is still in a recovery phase while online electronics retail is growing strong YoY

Offline electronics market in the region is still on route to recovery after a shaky 2020 with GMV’s not yet returning to pre-covid levels. Online electronics GMV has seen a strong YoY growth and it is expected that both supply and demand drivers will work well for the sector online.

4. Online electronics in UAE is primarily dominated by e-Tailing Horizontals & Specialist Omnichannels

In the UAE, more than half the online electronics GMV is accounted for by e-Tailing Horizontals like Amazon, Noon & the likes. Despite being the preferred channel for physical store sales for electronics, Specialist Omnichannels lag behind when it comes to online electronics. Most players in this category, however, are in process of building stronger capabilities to cater to the online customers.