E-Commerce in Morocco Flourishes Beyond the Pandemic

Rabat – Morocco’s four-month lockdown in 2020 led to a 46% hike in the volume of transactions made through Moroccan e-commerce websites, marking a 25% year-on-year increase in the money spent on online purchases.

Morocco’s high internet penetration rate, reaching 75% of the country’s 37-million citizens, coupled with a robust road network contributed to the rise in e-commerce, says the source.

The e-commerce boom in Morocco was not limited to already-existing online retailers such as Jumia, and Electroplanet.ma. The boom saw social peer-to-peer commerce proliferate, as sellers and buyers overcame social distancing requirements through social media, explains the report.

As people were forced to stay at home, online ordering of food, clothing, and electronics flourished, resulting in the creation of 300 new e-commerce businesses at the height of the COVID-induced economic crisis. This trend brought the number of e-commerce businesses operating in 2020 to 1,000 websites, according to a report by Quartz Africa, a business-focused news organization.

The lockdown did much to change consumer behavior in the North African country. Consumers indulged in the convenience and competitive prices that online shopping offers, explains the same source.

Morocco’s e-commerce comprises more than a thousand operators using Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups to reach out to clients and showcase their products quietly. These sellers operate on a Cash-on-Delivery basis, making it harder for authorities to track them, according to an expert cited by the report.

Despite the proliferation of e-commerce, Moroccan startups still face major constraints hindering their prospects. Albeit reaching an all-time high level of funding in 2021, set at $29 million, Moroccan startups suffer from a weak flow of international investments and a “killer administrative process,” reports Techcabal, an African startup platform.