MENA: What You’re Missing without Ecommerce

Even though the MENA region is one of the brightest frontlines for internet & IT growth, including eCommerce, how come up to this date, many companies prefer not to go into it?
Well for a start, most MENA companies fear online transactions and security of their data. Another reason is the low use of credit cards, and the unawareness of payment gateways available in this region.
Just in 2015, eCommerce had a growth rate of 45% in MENA, but this is a low figure if you calculate how many people have smartphones in their pockets and consider that 80% of mobile users are using their mobile for purchasing.
Or did you know in the near future, some countries will be eliminating use of cash bills? According to CNN  and the GAURDIAN , Denmark and Sweden will be going ‘cashless’ due to the rise of electronic money usage.
So, in the era where you can buy from your smartphone in a click, and with growing technologies in the region, what are companies missing out on?

• Your customers save time, and it’s convenient to use
• You as a retailer have an online presence so u will have a head start from your competitors
• You get new audiences coming to you from search engines and social media
• You save operational costs since you will have a web-based system with inventory management
• Your get a boost in your brand awareness
• No need for your customers to stand in a queue or to be put on hold
• Usage of coupons and deals

And much more…
In a world where everyone is on the run and can come to your shop any time anywhere, if you don’t have eCommerce, your losing business and customer by the second. Amazon, as a prime example of eCommerce has a lot of online stores available 24 hours a day, including a quick checkout process, order tracking and shipping.
How to change?
1-First, make the decision to make a change to your business.
2-Payment Gateways:
In terms of security and payment gateways, if you want to start your e-commerce shop in the Middle East, here are a list of payment gateways available in the region (Payment Gateways in the Arab World: by Wamda) :
• PAYFORT (new payment gateway in MENA- very popular)
• PayPal (9 countries)
• Skrill (14 countries)
• CASHU (17 countries)
• 2Checkout (15 countries)
• Onecard(16 countries)
• Gate2Play (All)
• Faturah (Saudi Arabia)
3- Set aside your budget. Can’t go forward without money, so this will be investing to get your business ROI boosting.
4- Start gathering your product information, your marketing audience (who will buy your brand) and get someone to start your website. Think about your business model, and your processes and how you will work.
5- Start marketing online, with your Facebook account, or setup a landing page, or get an expert to fulfill your social media campaign.
Remember, you will have to get online and atomized to have your business boosting. For more information on how to proceed, feel free to contact us at Comelite.net.