Opinion

OPINION features signed columns from industry leaders and WORLDEF editors on e-commerce, cross-border logistics, payments, and policy. Expect rigorous analysis, practical recommendations, and diverse viewpoints. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors.

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Highlights

The 2026 E-Commerce Playbook

The 2026 E-Commerce Playbook: Four Structural Shifts We Are Underestimating

The future of e-commerce will not be decided on the storefront, but behind it. As global demand continues to expand, operational discipline, data quality, and fulfillment infrastructure are becoming the true determinants of sustainable growth. — Burak Yalım writes.
e-commerce_in_2025

E-Commerce in 2025: Real Growth, Inevitable Friction, and Changed Rules

Burak Yalım writes... 2025 was not the year e-commerce slowed down — it was the year it became harder. Behind the growth headlines, the ecosystem faced rising costs, tighter margins, and deeper questions about sustainability and power concentration. What follows is a closer look at what truly changed in digital commerce this year.

Q4 in the Age of AI: Why the Gap in E-Commerce Widens?

Editor in Chief Burak Yalım writes: Q4 is arriving with record sales, rising pressure, and a new force reshaping everything: AI. November deals are no longer just discounts. This op-ed asks a simple question: as AI becomes the real power behind peak season, is the ecosystem growing stronger, or just more unequal?

Latest News & Analysis

E-Commerce

The 2026 E-Commerce Playbook: Four Structural Shifts We Are Underestimating

The future of e-commerce will not be decided on the storefront, but behind it. As global demand continues to expand, operational discipline, data quality, and fulfillment infrastructure are becoming the true determinants of sustainable growth. — Burak Yalım writes.
The 2026 E-Commerce Playbook
Opinion

E-Commerce in 2025: Real Growth, Inevitable Friction, and Changed Rules

Burak Yalım writes... 2025 was not the year e-commerce slowed down — it was the year it became harder. Behind the growth headlines, the ecosystem faced rising costs, tighter margins, and deeper questions about sustainability and power concentration. What follows is a closer look at what truly changed in digital
e-commerce_in_2025
Opinion

Q4 in the Age of AI: Why the Gap in E-Commerce Widens?

Editor in Chief Burak Yalım writes: Q4 is arriving with record sales, rising pressure, and a new force reshaping everything: AI. November deals are no longer just discounts. This op-ed asks a simple question: as AI becomes the real power behind peak season, is the ecosystem growing stronger, or just
Opinion

Why the AI Sandbox Model Could Redefine Innovation in Emerging Economies?

Burak Yalım writes on the AI Sandbox and its potential for emerging economies. The idea of an AI sandbox first caught his attention as more than a regulatory experiment, it felt like a roadmap for how emerging economies can innovate responsibly.
AI Sandbox
Opinion

Red Markets, Digital Frontiers: Clicking Under Communism

Burak Yalım writes: What began as ideology now performs as infrastructure: one-party systems running world-class marketplaces, logistics, and payments. E-commerce in China, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba and North Korea reveals a paradox: centralized authority, decentralized checkout.
Red Markets: Communist Digital Frontiers
Opinion

What have the past two years of UAE-Turkiye CEPA trade taught us?

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, writes on the transformative impact of the UAE–Türkiye Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Signed in March 2023 and in force since September 2023, the agreement removed or reduced tariffs on 82 percent of product lines and created
UAE-Turkiye CEPA
Opinion

Who Owns the Future of Talent? The Gulf vs. the Old Dream

Burak Yalım writes on how the UAE and wider GCC are repositioning themselves in the global hunt for talent: rising shares of highly skilled workers, cities ranked among the safest in the world, and zero income tax are creating a model that contrasts sharply with U.S. visa barriers and Europe’s
Future of Talent
Opinion

Saudi Arabia: From Oil Cycles to a Commerce Operating System

Burak Yalım writes on Saudi Arabia’s digital pivot: positive diplomacy, policy flexibility, and real-time rails (Sarie, Fatoorah, open banking) are powering steady e-commerce growth and a playbook others in the region may adopt.
E-Commerce

WGN: MENA’s Operating System for Measurable Growth

Omar Nart writes on WORLDEF Growth Network — WGN was born precisely from this need. It is not a club, nor a chain of events left to the coincidences of random encounters. Our aim is to establish a relationship system that produces commercial outcomes and to connect it with global
WGN Meeting 4 September 2025
News

New U.S. Tariffs and the “E-Commerce Wars”

Gökhan Tanrıverdi | Founder of Newowner, Entrepreneur
tariffs
News

Tariffs, Temu, and Türkiye: E-Commerce’s New Power Play

Emin Imer | Independent Board Member at WORLDEF
Türkiye
News

The Impact of U.S. Tariffs on E-Commerce: From Global Constraints to Local Opportunities

Orxan Isayev | Vice President of WORLDEF
tariffs
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News in Brief

Canva to Establish Regional Headquarters in Dubai, Strengthening Support for SMEs

6 February 2026

Canva, the global visual communication and design platform, will establish its regional headquarters in Dubai, marking a significant step in the company’s expansion across the Middle East and Africa. The move is supported by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and aligns with the UAE’s national objectives for digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

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