E-commerce has got a boost in Qatar following the social restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, researcher ValuStrat has said in a report.

As per the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC), about 60% of the consumers in Qatar had a “desire to shop online” in 2019, it said.

“Due to the pandemic, e-commerce got an uplift as consumers forced to stay at home were motivated to rely on online channels,” ValuStrat said.

Retailers, it said can “leverage” this trend and “restructure” their sales strategy, marketing tactics and supplier base to incorporate online sales platforms. There is medium-level potential for sellers of home and furniture, electronics, health and beauty to improve sales through online platforms, while high-level potential for retailers of grocery and food products to expand revenue using e-commerce platforms.

“Consumers might be hesitant to return to in-person activities that were the norm before the advent of Covid-19. Globally, consumer sentiment surveys indicated that shopping mall visits will be limited once the pandemic subsides,” ValuStrat noted.

“However, consumers behave differently in the GCC region as the majority prefer in-person retailing. Therefore, it is unlikely there will be slow growth of footfall in malls during the recovery stage. But this is conditional upon what actions retailers will take to encourage consumers back in their stores, ValuStrat noted.”

Retailers might have to restructure the layout of their outlets, introduce touchless shopping experiences and follow strict protocols of ensuring health and hygiene of staff and shoppers.

In the country’s F&B sector, ValuStrat said restaurant dining might not suddenly increase during the recovery stage, as consumers might be wary of being in densely populated areas.

The demand for take-away has been observed to be high in the past two months. Therefore, in recovery stage, it is projected to reach pre-pandemic levels. There has been an observed demand for at home food consumption during March and April 2020. This is projected to continue in the medium term as well, with consumers likely to spend more on food delivery, groceries and prepared food.

This is a financially challenging time for many restaurant retailers, especially for the ones who rely on "dine in" for a major portion of their revenue. In the medium term, there is a high probability that restaurants may not be able to sustain further revenue losses and decide to dissolve operations.

However, countermeasures can be taken by businesses to avoid such situations such as strict cash flow oversight, use of relevant policies to reduce financing costs, disposal of non-core assets and faster business transformation (development of online sales channels), ValuStrat noted.