Small and medium-sized businesses are celebrating the arrival of the World Cup in Qatar, preparing to experience an unprecedented increase in sales. The arrival of tourists from all over the world to Doha is helping the entire economy grow.
Retail, hospitality and service industry representatives say the best times are yet to come as fans continue to come to Qatar as the Mundial is just gaining momentum.
For now, sales at malls and retailers in Doha are still flat, but things should improve over the coming weeks. Retailers predict that as we approach the final stage of the World Cup, their numbers will increase steadily. In the first week of the main sporting event of the year retailers received only 50-60% of the expected revenue. In the future, it is expected that the companies operating in the market will be able to invest in the development of trade in both the retail and online segments.
Factors that continue to constrain the development of modern trade in the country are increased competition, high costs of technology implementation, and the emergence of non-traditional resellers in the market, whose influence continues to grow.
Earlier analysts from Fitch Solutions predicted that Qatar’s GDP could grow by 4.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022. In this case, the sphere of retail and services remains an important link in the economy of one of the most promising states in the region.
Retailers continue to diversify into e-commerce, but the classic market is growing as well. Several malls opened in Qatar in 2021, with new openings planned for the fourth quarter of 2022.
