COVID-19 has been a catalyst for the rapid growth of e-commerce in the Middle East.

"The retail industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is on the verge of a pivotal shift," the consultancy Bain & Company wrote in 2019. While the company was optimistic in its predictions, it could not have anticipated the recent uptick this sector has seen.

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In June, a report from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce revealed that retail e-commerce in UAE had grown 53% year-on-year (2020 vs. 2019) as a result ofthe COVID-19 crisis. Now worth some$3.9 billion, the organisation predicted the market would be worth$8bn by 2025, with mobile commerce adding a further$3.9bn to this mix.

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Although not every Middle East country is witnessing this growth, COVID has helped accelerate existing trends, encourage new players and behaviours, as well as draw fresh investment and optimism for the sector across much of the region.

With that in mind, here are seven e-commerce developments to keep an eye on:

1. Continued investment

Although Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt typically attract the most investment, the MENA region is rife with e-commerce solutions, although many of these are national services, rather than services covering the whole region.

Back to School promotional image from Orisdi's website, October 2021.

A number of these have seen new investment as a result of the pandemic. In Iraq, for example, Orisdi recently signed a six-figure deal with Al Sharqiya TV Group, one of the largest media groups in the company. This investment was supported by a matching grant from Deutsche Gesellschaft f