Retail, Luxury & E-commerce current GCC market status and evidence monitor

Executive summary

Evidence

Findings

• Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce evaluated 220 electronic stores in the second phase published in 2026 against ten criteria. The criteria cover Saudi Business Center verification, the exchange, return and refund policy, shipping rights, complaints, privacy, the store link in the commercial registration, tax and licence display, commercial-registration display, a visible contact route and secure website operation. The sample describes the Ministry’s compliance test; it is not the total number of Saudi e-stores and does not measure revenue or customer demand.
• The Ministry’s first-phase detail shows why a registered store still needs operational diligence. The 100-store sample reported 100 percent compliance for secure website quality and 99 percent for customer contact and return policy, while store verification and linking the store to the commercial registration sat within a lower 75 to 79 percent band. These are historic sample rates, not a forecast for a new entrant, but they identify fields that should be verified before a partner or marketplace is trusted.
• Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched the e-commerce licence under Decision No. 25 of 2026 for a website dedicated to an activity in Qatar. The announcement covers 194 approved activities and a QAR 500 issuance fee. The figure is a licence line item, not the cost of the entity, product registration, importer, payment acceptance, warehouse, delivery, consumer returns, tax or marketing. The selected activity and operating model must still be checked in the current electronic application.
• Bahrain distinguishes selling owned inventory from operating an e-marketplace. Retail Sale via Internet, ISIC4 4791, requires a functioning domain, return and refund and related consumer policies, secure electronic payment, an active cart and delivery. An operator listing products belonging to other licensed businesses follows the marketplace or portal route and must identify those businesses. A commission or subscription model does not remove the need to classify the activity correctly.
• Bahrain’s eFada seal is issued without a fee after its registration requirements are met and indicates that the platform is registered, active and authorised for e-commerce in Ministry records. It does not certify product quality, delivery performance, solvency or customer satisfaction. The Virtual Sijili route is also not a general foreign-entry shortcut: it is limited to eligible Bahraini applicants and excludes twelve listed product groups plus other products requiring authority approval.
• The UAE framework covers websites, mobile applications, social-media platforms and digital marketplaces. The seller needs the appropriate activity licence and approvals, permitted products, accurate information, data protection, compliant marketing and a digital invoice. A free-zone licence may require a distributor or additional arrangement for direct mainland sales, so the contracting seller, importer, stock location and customer territory must be mapped rather than inferred from the licence title.
• UAE VAT registration becomes mandatory for a resident business when taxable supplies and imports exceed AED 375,000 over the preceding twelve months or are expected to cross it in the next thirty days; voluntary registration starts at AED 187,500 under the stated tests. A non-resident making taxable UAE supplies faces a different rule unless another UAE party accounts for the tax. These thresholds affect the model, but do not determine the VAT treatment of every product, cross-border flow or marketplace arrangement.
• Oman’s Ministry reported more than 10,500 businesses licensed to operate online by mid-July 2025 and a 191 percent compound annual growth rate in licences between 2020 and 2025. It cites Ministerial Decision No. 499/2023 as the regulatory basis for websites and social-media commerce. The figures describe the licence population and period growth; they do not show active stores, sales, compliance or commercial success.
• Ma’roof Oman is a separate, free verification layer for licensed stores. The Ministry reported 340 verified stores and 670 requests by February 2026. A Ma’roof record can support an identity check, but it is not the underlying activity licence, product approval, tax registration, quality score or evidence of delivery performance.
• Oman’s Tax Authority publishes an OMR 38,500 annual mandatory VAT-registration threshold for resident taxable persons under the guide’s tests. It states that the threshold does not apply to a non-resident supplier required to collect Oman VAT and distinguishes a marketplace acting as principal from disclosed and undisclosed agency arrangements. Seller role, customer status, invoice and payment flow must therefore be mapped before the tax position is assumed.
• Bahrain’s February 2026 CBB rulebook lists nine regulated payment-service categories, including merchant acquisition, payment initiation and account-information services. Ordinary use of a licensed checkout or acquirer does not make every retailer a payment provider. A platform that receives, holds, routes or initiates customer funds needs a separate role, licence and contractual-perimeter review before launch.
• Bahrain’s official consumer portal identifies specific complaint cases rather than an unlimited return right. The seller should not refuse an invoice, charge above the displayed price, add a credit-card fee or use misleading or unlicensed promotions. The cited fifteen-day return or replacement remedy concerns a manufacturing defect or non-conformity with approved or contracted specifications and must be separated from voluntary change-of-mind policy.
• Brand registration is independent of company or store registration. Bahrain’s official trademark guide separates the national-mark application, publication and registration stages, with published bands of BHD 100–300, BHD 50–100 and BHD 500 respectively. A domain, commercial name, distributor appointment or eFada seal does not settle trademark class, ownership, opposition or enforcement.
• Luxury jewellery adds a product-specific release chain. Bahrain MOIC states that imported jewellery must be hallmarked, recognises the lawful fineness standards for gold, silver and platinum, requires detailed sales receipts and requires prior permission for jewellery, pearl or gemstone exhibitions. The ordinary one to five working days assay and hallmark range is not customs release, store approval or total market-entry time.
• The Bahrain marketplace route changes the evidence file. MOIC describes ISIC4 6312 as operating an e-marketplace, website or portal and requires the listed goods or services to belong to licensed and registered businesses; the operator should declare the participating businesses. If the operator buys inventory for resale, the Ministry directs it to obtain Retail Sale via Internet under ISIC4 4791 as well. Horizon therefore treats marketplace commission, inventory ownership and seller-of-record status as regulatory and accounting facts, not merely commercial wording.
• The eFada code is a verifiable Ministry-issued platform signal rather than a static logo. The official service permits public verification of a platform and reporting of seal misuse without eKey, while applications and authorisation management use eKey. A screenshot or copied badge should not satisfy onboarding. The counterparty file should retain the live verification result, commercial-registration branch, platform URL and date checked, and should still verify product permission, beneficial ownership, fulfilment and complaints independently.
• Jewellery receipts are part of the control evidence. MOIC guidance requires seller name and commercial-registration number, customer name, purchase date, article description, hallmark karat, total precious-metal weight and separate information for mounted pearls, gemstones or diamonds. Gold guidance identifies 24, 22, 21, 18 and 14 karat standards. A product title, supplier invoice or overseas assay certificate should not replace the Bahrain hallmark and customer-receipt fields where the rule applies.
• Premium and experience-led consumption segmented by resident, tourist and occasion
• E-commerce and omnichannel operations requiring profitable acquisition, fulfilment and returns
• Decision-chain evidence: Brand owner and trademark or product-rights holder. Record the named institution, accountable role, current need and dated route into the decision.
• Decision-chain evidence: Importer, distributor, franchisee, concession or retail group. Record the named institution, accountable role, current need and dated route into the decision.
• Evidence gate: Activity licence, product eligibility, registration, label, claim, advertising and import route.
• Evidence gate: Price waterfall through duty, VAT, freight, channel margin, promotion, payment, delivery and returns.

Method and limits

How this brief was produced

Horizon integrated official sector authorities, multilateral or research sources and the reviewed GCC sector dossier. The brief tracks market structure, commercial signals and evidence gates without inventing a regional market-size number.

Original sources