The first edition of our Global Digital Index offers a clear-eyed look at the digital shopping landscape in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Developed through a partnership between the RLC Global Forum and EMARKETER, this inaugural report provides practical insights into digital engagement, cross-border ecommerce, and the changing behaviors of consumers in the Gulf.

Click the "Deck" tab above to view our slideshow on ecommerce in the GCC, presented in February by our Chief Content Officer Zia Daniell Wigder at the 2025 RLC Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

There are countless reports on the rise of digital shopping in different countries around the globe. Studies on earlier-stage markets often highlight factors like a growing middle class, low median age, mobile-centric users, and high digital engagement—dynamics that are often different from what we see in the US or Europe. These same market drivers are cited in analysis on regions from Latin America to Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Gulf States.

What’s often missing is the fact that these factors don’t necessarily indicate an ecommerce market is set to soar in the near future. Our EMARKETER research shows that the countries that spend the most time on social and messaging, for example, still see relatively low penetration of ecommerce. High consumption of digital media also doesn’t correlate with high growth in online spending. In 2025, only one of the 66 countries we forecast will see retail ecommerce growth rates over 20%: the Philippines.

To understand how ecommerce markets will evolve, it’s important to look at the broader global context rather than simply looking at a single region and the factors that could propel the market forward. Our new research aims to put different parts of the world into a global perspective, showing where they over- and underindex.

We also dive into some of the similarities in terms of how markets evolve, and provide a point of view on what to expect going forward. For example, Asia’s cross-border ecommerce titans that soared from 2022 to 2024 (and now dominate many markets) are starting to show cracks in their armor.