Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry Launches ‘Virtual Mall’ to Help Retailers Keep Up E-Commerce

In a bid to help keep retailers in business during the lockdowns imposed to help curb the spread of Coronavirus, Bahrain’s government has launched a ‘virtual mall’ that allows consumers to browse and shop from over 100 retailers on one site with the apt url, mall.bh.

Launched by Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, the portal launched this week and boasts several categories for shoppers to peruse - from essential food and pharmaceuticals to clothing and beauty products. In fact, most of the retailers signed up before the website was live, and the portal continues to accept any tax-registered store in the country to join for free.

As of now, the 24 categories include supermarket, baby needs, electronics, homewares, fitness, fashion and books and stationery, and more categories are to be added ongoing. While many Arab countries have seen similar directories of online and phone-based retailers pop up over the last month, Bahrain's marks the first such initiative implemented by the government. 

The government has said that mall.bh will continue to function even when the pandemic subsides.