BY: Eman Rashid
Electronic Commerce (E-commerce) is a flourishing business nowadays. In Egypt, the concept of ‘online sales’ spread over the last few years through advertising websites and ‘groups’ on social media networks such as Facebook. On some groups, personal products such as clothes, shoes, bags, leather products, cosmetics, perfumes, watches are being sold in addition to other articles, this while other groups are selling home appliances as well as imported and locally-manufactured products. Meanwhile, there are groups selling services rather than products. Some groups specialize in promoting famous brands in exchange for a sales commission while others use Facebook groups to promote their own shops or companies. It is worth noting that most groups’ administrators are girls and women.
Oyoun Abu Jaziah, a 21 year-old dress maker, believes that girls recently succeeded in establishing and managing small scale projects in which they invest their efforts, skills and creativity despite all obstacles. Accordingly, a lot of them became financially independent rather than unemploye.
Esraa Za’atout, agrees with Abu Jaziah, and manages to promote the products sold in her shop in Damanhur city through a Facebook group that includes 46,000 members. “Girls have proved efficiency in establishing projects; they are successful and able to manage projects independently,” said Za’atout.
Abu Jaziah, dreams of becoming a fashion designer and has high hopes to create her own famous brand. She launched a group on Facebook that is followed by more than 4,000 in less than one month. On her group she showcased several designs that she created, and she exclusively uses local materials and refuses to use imported ones in order to encourage Egyptian products. Abu Jaziah seeks to design unique and high-quality garments, always making sure they carry the “Made in Egypt” label.
As for Jehan Ezz El-Dine, she owns a small-sized project through Facebook, and works together with her mother who has been a seamdress for over 20 years. In two years, Ezz El-Din managed to harvest the fruits of her project; which provides her with a generous income, especially during Holidays and at the beginning of new seasons.
Moving to 25 year-old Basma Moustafa, we find that she put her shopping talent to use by establishing a small-sized project for selling leather products, make-up, and imported clothes through a Facebook group that is followed by 5,000-members.
Challenges and Obstacles
“Although online selling has its advantages, it doesn’t allow the buyer to physically see the product beforehand to evaluate its quality, thus, when I started my project I had to make simple pieces of my design as samples until I won over my clientele, who then trusted my products online” stated Abu Jaziah.
On the other hand, Jehan Ezz El-Dine and Amany Kamal complained about the prices of the material they use as textile prices are on the rise, at a time when they cannot increase their products’ prices accordingly as their brands are still relatively new; which incurs a big loss for them. For instance, a product is being sold for LE 10 (about 50 cents) uses half a meter of fabric that costs 6LE (about 33 cents) in addition to the cost of sewing, packaging and delivery. “In light of the constant rise in prices of our product’s raw materials’ we have to gradually give up our profit margin to keep our selling prices fixed so as not to lose our clients” they reiterated.
Basma Moustafa asserted the same complaint about market prices adding that officials should control market prices as merchants sometimes increase their prices and other times decrease them; just to accrue quick profits, to the detriment of other merchants.
Meanwhile, Gehad Hamdy pointed to safety and security risks that owners of Facebook groups are faced with upon delivering products to customers, as sometimes their safety, as well as that of their goods is jeopardized.
Customers Commitment
Abu Jaziah clarified that some customers are serious about buying products via the internet while the large majority are hesitant as they do not completely trust what is shown online, which is understandable since it is easy to be deceived, especially if they are not familiar with the product and did not try it before.
“At first, I thought that most customers are serious about buying via the internet. Unfortunately, I incurred losses worth LE 3,000 (around $166) as some customers were not serious and avoided receiving their orders,” Basma explained, “however, over time I gained experience in recognizing how serious a customer is simply by listening carefully and reading through their inquiries about the product”. Basma’s dream for her project is to have a head office, however, this will cost at least LE 15,000 (more than $ 800).
Basma noted that most customers are more interested in buying imported products rather than locally-manufactured ones, adding that she faces many obstacles in her struggle to import these products; which often end up consuming her profits. For example said Basma “After I purchase the goods in lots from the wholesaler, I find them partially damaged and unsuitable for sale, which costs me financially”.
Buyers
Marwa Mahmoud – a customer who buys via Facebook groups- believes that buying via the internet has advantages and disadvantages; it makes the purchase process easy as it saves time and effort, in addition, products prices on such groups are cheaper than their counterpart prices in shops. On the other hand, sometimes the customer after receiving the product discovers that the product’s material is of bad quality, furthermore, the product may be delivered later than agreed. Mahmoud noted that she buys many products via such groups as she lives far from shopping areas.
Noha Salah added that her personal experience with buying through face book groups is very positive, and that she seldom finds any defects in the purchased products. Salah uses these groups to buy clothes, shoes, and home appliances.
Tough and Easy times
About the toughest and funniest situations that she encountered through buying and selling via Facebook, Abu Jaziah tells us that once it took her one hour to reach a customer in order to deliver a product and two hours to convince her with it because she was hesitant. “But after she bought it, she became a regular customer, always keen to buy our latest products, and our relationship developed into a friendship” Abu Jaziah added.
In less than six months, Yasmine Ibrahim – a student- succeeded in attracting more than 95,000 followers to her group. About the hardest situations she encountered, she recalls that once a client inquired about so many things related to a product for over three hours then after sending it to him he refused to receive it and denied having made the order.
However, it’s really fun when sometimes while delivering a product you find out that it’s been ordered by an old friend of yours.
Youth Demands
Ezz El-Din urges the Egyptian government to provide workshops free of charge for youth to help them master different crafts that could help provide them with an additional income as attendance fees of such workshops is too expensive; especially after the recent hike in prices.
Abu Jaziah emphasized the importance of including such craftsmanship skills in educational curriculums in order to raise a skilled generation that is capable of raising their incomes through establishing their own workshops or working for others who have already established businesses. She also pointed out that many young people just need an opportunity to start a business, and suggested that the government provide those eager calibers with a small loan around LE 5,000 for example to start a project.
Ibrahim proceeded to point out that “Youth do have ideas for brilliant and innovative projects, however they lack the necessary tools needed to achieve their projects and dreams”. She continued to underline that she urges the government to provide youth with all means of support.
Consumer Protection Agency
Head of the Inspection Division at the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), Gamal Abd El Hamid said that the authority is overlooking closely the myriad of goods and products sold via Facebook through a proactive plan.
The plan includes new techniques to deal with e-commerce, one of which is contacting page administrators from different phone numbers or through fake Facebook accounts, order their products, our aim is to check the quality of the products as well as get to know the representatives eventually do deliver the products, and whether the whole process is undertaken in compliance with the legal procedures governing e-commerce transactions.
As a result of this plan, CPA arrested a lot of copies of watches and phones of international and local brands, in addition to some unauthorized medications and dietary supplements. CPA owns an extensive database with all companies’ and shops that operate websites or Facebook pages.
Discussing Facebook pages whose owners promote services or handicrafts, CPA official expressed his optimism vis a vis young people who are keen on making handicrafts that raise the standard of Egyptian industries since Egypt is renown for its skilled labour and handicrafts. Abd El Hamid also said that he hopes for a government plan to develop such industries and handicrafts.
The role of CPA is to watch over, and monitor the quality of these products, and services, however, it cannot do its expected service without consumers input through forwarding complaints upon receiving bad quality goods or low quality service stated Abdel Hamid. He further proceeded to point out that the authority is intent to resolve disputes arising between complaining customers and those selling goods, and services.
Abd El Hamid: no governmental authority has the power to monitor prices of unsubsidized goods
Many of the handicrafts and industries’ owners urged markets supervisors to fix raw materials prices as price fluctuations pose a problem to pricing goods.
“Neither CPA nor any other governmental entity is responsible for watching over prices of goods available in the market since the Egyptian constitution stipulates a free market policy, and is not based on State owned markets,” pointed out Abdel Hamid, adding that the State determines the prices of subsidized foods only, in addition to the price of fuel and electricity, as per the issued laws and regulations.
Abd El Hamid, CPA’s official advised young people who are keen on raising the standard of Egyptian industry and solving the problem of unemployment, to form a union through which they can compete with powerful merchants through importing on their own or having direct agreements with factories that manufacture their needs from raw materials, so as to reduce their products’ production.
Last but not least
Arising from its responsibility towards readers, the Middle East Observer (MEO) would like to warn online buyers from purchasing medical and other weight loss products, and dietary supplement as such one must be approved by the Ministry of Health.
