We always hear about e-commerce and that it has become the biggest trend for various types of businesses recently, so what is e-commerce? Does this mean replacing traditional trade? Is it the right approach for business owners in the current period?
Do you have to turn to e-commerce? Do you need to be an expert in the digital world to get started in e-commerce?
Many questions are on your mind about e-commerce, which we will answer in today’s article and tell you about practical case studies of some Arab e-commerce stores from which we explore the steps to success in a practical manner and not in an academic manner 🙂
E-commerce concept
E-commerce is the buying and selling process that takes place over the Internet, regardless of the type of products, services, or individuals who practice buying and selling, but any buying or selling process that takes place via digital platforms is one of the types of e-commerce.
The business owner creates his website (like this website where you are reading my article now) and then displays his products or services to visitors who complete the purchase through a payment method agreed upon with the store owner, and then the seller sends the sold products to their place of residence.
This is the explanation of e-commerce in brief, whether it is relied upon in the digital sector, health sector, information sector, entertainment, tourism, educational, banking, architectural, service sector…
.. In any field in which you can sell products that you have in mind, he can start by creating his own store and entering the world of e-commerce.
E-commerce elements
If we want to analyze the previous definition and simplify the concepts better, we will discover that e-commerce consists of several basic elements through which buying and selling operations take place, which are as follows:
- The seller : He is the owner of the product that he wants to sell on the Internet via the intermediary platform. He is often the owner of the business system and the owner of the online store, and he is the one who manages the entire sales process.
- Buyer : The customer who purchases the product through the intermediary platform using his own computer, mobile device, or tablet.
- Payment method: which is often made through credit card, PayPal, electronic wallet, or any other acceptable payment method, or through payment upon receipt.
- Sales platform: It is the website, online store, or intermediary platform through which products or services are reviewed in order to complete the sale process.
Have you ever tried opening your mobile phone to order a product from the famous Amazon website? After completing the purchase of the product and receiving it from Amazon, you are a participant in e-commerce.
This general concept is theoretical in terms of completing a sale and purchase, but let us delve a little deeper and take a short journey into the world of e-commerce for business owners and how they start selling their own products.
Advantages of e-commerce between the past and the present
When we talk about e-commerce, it does not come to mind that it is a new industry that is completely different from traditional commerce. Rather, it follows the basic concepts of commerce, such as obtaining goods in exchange for some money. However, the huge boom that has recently occurred in the technical world with the advent of the Internet has brought about a boom in e-commerce. .
The first e-commerce outlet appeared in 1979 by Michael Aldrich , who created an information center that integrated computer networking technologies with television using a telephone line. The system was marketed to process buying and selling transactions in several European countries, and the system was later known as (Teleputer).
This development began to rise rapidly in the current era, starting with a huge boom in e-commerce in 2017 in the Arab world and in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates specifically, according to the PAYFORT report . Then, after the Corona crisis, the boom in e-commerce increased to about 20% of the total retail trade.
Therefore, consumers are gradually increasing their tendency to purchase consumer products online instead of traditional methods of purchasing.
It is worth mentioning the following:
- Reduced operating costs and fixed costs, such as renting the property, labor, and management and maintenance expenses
- The ability to expand to larger markets by targeting all Internet users to whom you can ship your products
- Ease of marketing through digital platforms or free access to customers via the search engine
- Ease of providing customized offers to customers according to the segmentation of consumer segments of your store visitors
- Enhance communication between you and customers through contact forms or live chat
- Easy purchasing 24/7 for any customer
- Ease of purchasing with one click from the user wherever he is
- Ease of browsing thousands of products on one page or website
- Ease of processing the many sales that occur during general selling seasons
- Reviewing the opinions and ratings of previous customers, which gives the customer confidence in the product
- Easily compare products with each other to determine the most appropriate one to purchase
- Ease of payment operations and multiple different payment methods in all countries
Read also: Steps to create an online store from scratch until achieving sales
It is worth noting that e-commerce has several advantages to flourish and dominate in business models for various projects, but like other industries, it is not without defects, and as was said in the example: for everything if there is a decrease 🙂
Below we review the disadvantages of e-commerce that store owners face in general, regardless of the specialty of their store , or the products they sell online.
Disadvantages of e-commerce
- The inability to preview the product, and this challenge appears clearly in products that need to be tried on, such as clothes and perfumes
- Shipping problems in the Arab world due to difficulty reaching some areas, traffic congestion, and lack of enhanced communication with customers
- Frequent returns for various reasons among customers, and the store owner sometimes bears the cost of shipping and damages
- Lack of confidence among users in purchasing online, especially with obscure stores, and lack of confidence in the products provided to them
These are some of the problems and challenges that we talked about previously and how to overcome them , but in today’s article we highlight the concept of e-commerce more broadly and try to give a tip to those who want to start in e-commerce without having previous experience .
Successful models in e-commerce
I will not give you successful models of e-commerce for famous stores such as (Amazon, eBay, Ali Express), whose market value has exceeded billions of dollars, but we will give you models of e-commerce stores that have grown in the Arab market in the recent period and caused a boom in recent years so that you do not think that the market has It has reached a state of saturation.
We review some inspiring examples below:
1- Amazon store
One of the most prominent stories in e-commerce is the Amazon store, which began in the nineties and achieved great successes during this period in several countries until it began expanding to the Arab countries: the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, , after acquiring Souq.com and changing it to
The Amazon store has several characteristics and benefits that make it unique and has the ability to expand into many consumer markets, including:
- Amazon displays a wide variety of products that customers need in most categories, and a large number of merchants review it
- Amazon has strong shipping chains that are able to cover many places at an optimal time through its distribution centers
- Amazon provides excellent customer service during purchase and after the sale
2- Jumia
Since the Jumia platform was established in it is the second store after Amazon to provide sales service in 22 African countries, including (Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia). It has a wide variety of products and has also become one of the leading platforms in , and is distinguished by the following:
- View lots of products and 14 day money back guarantee
- Spreading large-scale marketing campaigns for many brands and providing promotions during discount seasons
- Many secure payment methods, including the ability to pay upon receipt.
3- Nun
The Noon platform came to keep pace with the competitive market in the Arab world with existing stores in 2017, to showcase itself to the public with a competitive advantage, which is speed of delivery, as well as by trying to gain users’ confidence in the products sold in the store, and it targeted Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Egypt (as they are the largest markets in which there is high purchasing power). Its strong influence has recently appeared in the Arab market and its acquisition of a significant market share.
The platform comes with several features for consumers as follows:
- An abundance of international brands in various departments at competitive prices
- Payment can be made through more than one method and is available to most users.
- There is a fast shipping service (shipping the product within 24 hours) and a low shipping cost (12) riyals for the product to arrive the next day.
- Free shipping for orders exceeding 250 Saudi riyals.
- The site launches discount coupons on an ongoing basis and they are widely disseminated
4- We walk
The Namshi store is considered one of the leading stores in the Gulf in the fashion market and the trade of clothing and accessories (Fashion). It is one of the old stores that started in 2011, and when it was founded, it began selling shoes and then developed to include the clothing market in general.
In its marketing efforts, the site is more focused on targeting the youth group, as it is the largest segment of users of digital platforms and is also the largest group that buys clothes on an ongoing basis, so it has brought in many different brands to provide a variety of confident elegance products.
Similar to Namshi, you will find the Ounass platform that specializes in selling clothing in the Gulf, but the platform paints the mental image in the customer’s mind of purchasing luxury brands, as the price of one bag may exceed 50,000 Saudi riyals.
There are also Arab e-stores along the same lines, such as:
- extra
- Blink
- the sea
- Kobonava
There are several international stores that also provide shipping services to Arab countries, such as: Ali Express, Alibaba, and eBay.
Some famous brands have also set out to create online stores to showcase their products and enable the customer to buy from their online store, such as: Addias, Nike, HP and other brands.
E-commerce tips
Based on some of the models that we briefly reviewed previously, we are inspired by some general tips that you should keep in mind to start e-commerce successfully, whether you have a nascent online store, or you want to start learning e-commerce properly.
We review the tips as follows:
- Having competitive advantages over existing stores
- Focus on providing a unique shopping experience to potential customers
- Gain customer confidence in the products you provide to them
- Having an abundance of products that a customer needs in your store
- Ensuring customer service during and after sales
- Improving the product shipping service you provide to customers
- Providing multiple reliable and convenient payment methods for customers
- Improving overall sales services based on customer interests
- Improving website design and displaying products interactively
- Paying attention to the reputation and trust of customers in your online store
- Paying attention to reaching customers through various marketing campaigns
Whether you are a store that specializes in one market (clothing, for example), or you are a multi-category store, and whether you attract specific regions or target several countries to purchase from your store, we can summarize all advice in e-commerce in one word, which is (customer care).
This is because the focus of your success in e-commerce is providing a successful service to customers that will make them return to purchase on an ongoing basis.
Learn e-commerce
In order to start learning e-commerce, there are some basic skills that you need to possess, such as: project management, product design, marketing, sales, purchasing, team management, purchasing and supply management, customer service, and other skills. However, we provide you with valuable educational guides that will help you launch your online store. It reaches users through several things that you start with to create your online store and reach customers.
You can preview this series of explanations in: Chapter on creating an online store within the WordPress guide
Thus, we have learned about the concept of e-commerce and discovered the most important tips that help the business owner start his own store and sell on the Internet.
We can say that most of the previous tips are inspired by some existing online stores, based on success stories, and based on our previous experiences in this field. We don’t always like to resort to academic studies that come from people who have never been in business before and have no prior experience with the content being studied.
We hope that you have benefited from this knowledgeable explanation and a step towards starting your next online store. If you have any questions, put them in the comments.
