I have no doubt that shopping via computer will before long become the fastest and most widespread service in our region compared to any other way of shopping. This perception is based on the addictive nature of a consumerism drive that has developed into a phenomenon in every Arab city. People can be seen moving hypnotically toward shopping centers.
This is typically the case after shops replaced gardens and public parks which served as playgrounds for children and meeting places for adults. We must not be annoyed by such a situation as long as people are happy and these harmless trips help keep the wheels of the economy turning and also provide sources of amusement. The Arabs are no exception to what is seen everywhere else and the populations of many world capitals have long been addicted to shopping.
While looking through some research papers and comments concerning the recent e-commerce conference held in Riyadh, I felt the resolution of the problems might be more difficult than I had at first imagined although the aim of the conference itself was to facilitate and accelerate electronic trade.
The reason for my skepticism lies in serious obstacles associated with communication and money. While communication is made difficult, no financial trade-off is allowed. When the problems of improving the existing telephone network — which is still inefficient — and designing and approving a financial accounting system are solved, we should expect a situation simultaneously fascinating and worrying. It will be fascinating because it will expand the possibilities beyond what is offered in today’s shops and malls. It will be troubling because by pressing a button, you can achieve all that you formerly achieved by using your car and your feet and shopping for hours.
Once these problems have been solved, the e-market will surely flourish in this region for reasons linked to local Arab societies, especially the Saudi one. As long as women remain the largest consumers and purchasers in the world — including, of course, Saudi Arabia — enabling them to shop from home will reduce the many complications associated with movement and accessibility to the means of transport. We should not, however, have the illusion that shopping via the Internet means an end to traffic jams caused by swarms of shoppers of both sexes or even an end to shoplifting which plagues many commercial establishments. Nor would e-marketing mean putting a hold on the expansion of malls and commercial centers or the disappearance of teen-agers loitering for hours in markets.
The key to e-commerce lies in the hands of two parties. One is responsible for the telephone and the other, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, for laying down the foundation for the necessary financial system. As for the e-market itself, it will become a superhighway and will not need any help in moving and spreading because its components are there and have already been put to the test.
It is surprising to learn that the groups which have benefited most from business opportunities created by e-marketing are booksellers. These people are flourishing to an extent never before imagined.
Today the largest library in the world is an imaginary book shop familiar to all those who surf the Internet looking for amazon.com. Though many have thought that the book had been buried under an unstoppable flood of video films, television and electronic print, they have been surprised — and perhaps delighted — to discover that the book is still alive and remains the most widely sold item on the Internet.
