What is e-commerce? 4 Arab models from which we draw practical inspiration for success

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? There are many questions 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 and not academic manner.

Contents of the article The concept of e-commerce The elements of e-commerce Advantages of e-commerce between the past and the present Successful models in e-commerce 1- Amazon store 2- Jumia 3- Noon 4- Namshi Tips in e-commerce Learn e-commerce

The concept of e-commerce 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, the health sector, the information sector, entertainment, tourism, education, banking, architecture, services…..

In any field in which you can sell products you have in mind, he can start by creating his own store and entering the world of e-commerce. Elements of e-commerce: 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, and they are as follows: The seller: He is the owner of the product that he wants to sell on the Internet through the intermediary platform, and 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.

Selling 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 your mind that it is a new industry that is completely different from traditional commerce, but rather it follows the basic concepts of commerce of obtaining goods in exchange for some money. However, the huge boom that has recently occurred in the technical world with the emergence of the Internet has brought with it a boom in e-commerce. It is considered the first e-commerce outlet that appeared in 1979 by Michael Aldrich

Who invented an information center that integrates 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 clarification of the advantages of e-commerce that push you towards it as a foundation in your business model, including the following: Low operating costs and fixed costs, from renting real estate, 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 through the search engine. Ease of providing customized offers to customers according to the division of consumer segments of visitors to your store. Enhancing communication between you and customers through communication forms or live chat. Ease of purchasing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any customer. Ease of the purchase process with one click from the user in Any place where there is ease of browsing thousands of products on one page or one website. ease of processing the many sales that occur during general selling seasons. reading the opinions and evaluations of previous customers, which gives the customer confidence in the product. ease of comparing products to each other to determine the most appropriate for purchase. ease of payment processes and multiple payment methods.

Different 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 prevail in business models for various projects, but like other industries it is not without defects, and as was said in the Arab example: for everything if it decreases. Below we review the disadvantages of e-commerce that face store owners in general, regardless of the specialty of their store, or the products that 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 the difficulty of reaching some areas, traffic congestion, and lack of enhanced communication with customers. Frequent returns, which are for various reasons from customers, and the store owner bears the cost of shipping and damage sometimes. Lack of users’ confidence in purchasing online, especially with flooded stores, and their lack of confidence in the products offered to them. These are some of the problems and challenges that we talked about previously and how to overcome them, but we will discuss them 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 examples 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 reached a state of saturation. We review some inspiring models below: 1- The Amazon store is one of the most prominent stories in e-commerce. It is the Amazon store that started in the nineties and achieved great successes during this period in several countries until it began to expand to the Arab countries: the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, after acquiring Souq.com to change it to Amazon.ae for the Amazon store in the Emirates Amazon.sa for the Amazon store in Saudi Arabia Amazon.eg for the Amazon store in Egypt. The Amazon store has several characteristics and benefits that make it unique and has the ability to expand into many countries. From consumer markets, the following: Amazon displays a large variety of products that customers need in most categories, and a large number of merchants display it. Amazon has strong shipping chains that have the ability to cover many places at an ideal time through distribution centers. Amazon provides excellent customer service during purchase and after the sale. 2- Jumia Since the establishment of the Jumia platform in Egypt in 2012, it is the second store. 

After Amazon, it provides 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 Egypt. It is distinguished by the following: displaying many products and guaranteeing a return for 14 days. Publishing large-scale marketing campaigns for many brands and providing promotional offers during discount seasons. Many secure payment methods, including the possibility of payment upon receipt. 3- Noon 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’ trust in the products sold in the store. It targeted Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Egypt (as they are the largest markets in which there is high purchasing power), and its strong influence in the Arab market appeared recently and its acquisition of a significant market share.

The platform came with several features for consumers as follows: The abundance of many international brands in various sections at competitive prices. Payment can be made through more than one means 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 continuously releases discount coupons and they are widely disseminated 4- Namshi The Namshi store is considered one of the leading stores in the Gulf in the fashion market and the trade in 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 on the same model, such as: Extra Blink Al Bahr Coponava. 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 models

Which we briefly reviewed previously, we draw inspiration from 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 Focusing on providing a unique shopping experience to potential customers Gaining customers’ confidence in the products you offer them Having an abundance of products that the customer needs in your store Ensuring customer service during and after sales Improving the shipping service of the products you provide to customers Providing multiple reliable and convenient payment methods for customers Improving sales services in general based on the customer’s interests Improving website design and displaying products interactively Taking care of the reputation and confidence of customers in your online store Taking care of reaching customers through various marketing campaigns, whether you are a specialized store in one market (Clothes, 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 the advice in e-commerce in one word, which is (customer attention). 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, work 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 and reach 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.