Theqa is a government-owned, not-for-profit trustmark program, with the primary objective of inspiring trust and credibility in Qatar’s eCommerce ecosystem, empowering consumers and businesses to rapidly and safely grow the local eCommerce market.
A Theqa trustmark certifies that a website is genuine. It reassures consumers that it has been approved by MCIT to sell goods and services online, building trust, instilling confidence, and encouraging preference for local eCommerce sites.
Theqa’s primary objective is to support and stimulate Qatar’s eCommerce sector, where there is significant opportunity to grow domestic sales in online retail.
Our goal is to engage with online vendors as partners, providing support and education in areas that are critical to success, and to accelerate their adoption of eCommerce in line with government and international standards.
By identifying and certifying credible eMerchants, Theqa will reassure Qatar’s online customers that they can shop domestically with trust and confidence, and take pride in Qatar’s best-in-class eCommerce marketplace.
By engaging with every stakeholder in the eCommerce ecosystem, Theqa seeks to foster lasting relationships, identify market needs and provide a platform for communication and innovative solutions.
We collaborate with businesses, educating and advising them to make smarter decisions and to gain better insight into consumer expectations. We also seek to enlighten customers on what to demand and expect from eCommerce businesses.
Theqa aims to empower the entire eCommerce ecosystem, by providing businesses the tools, abilities and skills required for rapid success – and consumers the knowledge and confidence to shop online.
Theqa seeks to elevate the market by setting rigorous standards for all stakeholders, including ourselves. We seek to take businesses to the next level, assist consumers to become more discerning, and to raise the Qatari eCommerce ecosystem above international standards.
Theqa continually stays up to date with best practice, standards and expectations in the rapidly evolving local and international online retail space. We constantly strive to grow the market by building new relationships and improving the integrity and quality of the eCommerce trustmark.
Though eCommerce in Qatar is expanding rapidly, there remains significant opportunity to improve domestic sales, as the vast majority of local online consumers currently still prefer to buy from platforms based outside of Qatar. In 2016 alone, Qatar’s online retailers lost an estimated $700 billion in sales to international online vendors.
The country’s domestic online sales continue lag far behind international levels and are 44% lower than the average of local merchants in benchmarked countries, which include Turkey, Germany, the UK and USA.
In those countries, consumers cite the factors influencing their decision to buy locally as advanced marketing and advertising, enhanced digital infrastructure, the maturity of the domestic eCommerce market, robust consumer protection, and - most significantly – complete trust in their local eMerchants.
This is where Theqa, Qatar’s first eCommerce trustmark, aims to positively impact the country’s online retail ecosystem. By inspiring customer trust, pride and confidence in Qatari online shopping platforms, and by empowering them to make informed purchasing decisions, Theqa aims to substantially stimulate and support domestic eCommerce sales.
Additionally, by engaging with local ecommerce vendors, providing access to best-practice guidelines, and requiring compliance to government and international standards, Theqa seeks to nurture the enormous potential in Qatar’s eCommerce market. For more information around eCommerce in Qatar please visit the eCommerce information portal