The Arab World is very slow in discovering e-commerce and its secrets. Although it has become an essential feature and a formal sponsor of most of its activities. According to Shopify, Arab countries are in the eleventh place in terms of e-markets, while Asia and North America lead the list. Arab countries are also absent from the list of The top 10 countries in the field of e-commerce.

With the top three leading, China, United States, and France, while Japan and South Africa are at the bottom of the list.

These statistics prove that Arab countries suffer many problems that prevent them from getting a leading position in e-commerce market. These problems must be solved as soon as possible.

In this article we are going to discuss the obstacles to the development of e-commerce in the Arab world, and what prevents its spread. First of all, we will have a brief overview of the concept of e-commerce itself, and what happens under this concept of activities.

About E-Commerce

The term “e-commerce” is a modern term. It is originated as a result of the development of modern technology and the emergence of the Internet world. There is no specific timing for the beginning of its appearance. Some are likely to have originated with the launching of e-stores such as Amazon.com and Pets.Com. Others go back to the 1970s, when the factories used e-data interchange technology with each other.

In both cases, the term is a revolution in the whole trade and in the human lifestyle and way of living as well.
There are many definitions of e-commerce, some define it:

“Doing business between business partners using sophisticated information technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness of performance”
Others define it as:

“A term that refers to the entire range of business services dealt with by groups (institutions, companies or individuals) that rely on e-data processing (text, audio and video)”

A general concept of e-commerce can be derived from these definitions. A business activity for the purpose of making deals and related sales and purchases through the use of modern technology such as the Internet to carry out the following activities:

Deliver business deals remotely
Buy products at any time and from anywhere
Negotiate and interact directly with the client
Sale and delivery of products
View and promote products
Establishing trade relations on a wide geographical scale
Display detailed information on goods and services
Offering technical support services to consumers as well as sales and after sales services
Perform remote money transfers and secure financial transactions
Conducting automated correspondence on purchases and sales
Query prices and services
Payment of invoices and establishment of e-stores

So, you can conclude that e-commerce is centered on its core resistance around 3 key elements:

Strong and fast Internet presence
There are customers who are able to use this technology and harness it to their demands
There are companies or institutions offering these services to consumers

Now, we will highlight the most important obstacles that hinder the progress of e-commerce in the Arab world, as follows:

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