E-Commerce: Will Amazon Help Boost Pakistan's Exports?

[Riaz Haq]

Global e-commerce giant Amazon has recently added several dozen Pakistani exporters to its approved list, according to Eric Broussard, vice president of Amazon International Seller Services. "We are excited to announce that as of today, Pakistani entrepreneurs are eligible to sell on Amazon. We are eager to work with Pakistan's dynamic business community, including small and medium-sized sellers and help connect them with customers around the globe," he said.   

Amazon Global Marketplace. Source: Wikipedia

Amazon e-commerce platform has global reach. As of March 2021, Amazon Marketplace operates and sells in 18 countries, mostly in advanced economies of Europe, Japan and North America as well as in emerging markets like Brazil, China, India, Arab Gulf states and Turkey. It boasts 200 million members for its Amazon Prime program that offers fast free shipping and other benefits, including Prime Video streaming for a fixed annual fee. The company hosts millions of sellers from over 100 countries on Amazon Marketplace. Over 7,000 Amazon-listed sellers from Pakistan's neighbor India have exported goods worth over $3 billion since 2015.    

It has taken the combined effort of thousands of Indian sellers more than 5 years to achieve $3 billion in cumulative sales, indicating that it will take Pakistani sellers a lot of hard work and time  to grow their business. But Amazon e-commerce platform does offer great potential for Pakistani manufacturers and merchants to grow their sales. 

Amazon currently owns about 33% stake in Pakistani e-tailer Clicky.pk through its acquisition in 2017 of Dubai-based online retailer Souq.  Souq acquired this stake in the Pakistani company in late 2016. Amazon operates in South Korea through a partnership with SK Telecom. 

There is already a cottage industry of gig workers that has sprung up in Pakistan to support merchants who have been unofficially selling products on Amazon Marketplace. These Pakistani merchants have registered from countries such as the United Kingdom which are already on Amazon's approved list.

Pakistani gig workers include Amazon Virtual Assistants. These are freelancers providing services such as customer call centers, administrative tasks, fulfillment, and web development. Online freelance marketplace Fiverr lists over 7,000 Pakistanis who advertise themselves as Amazon Virtual Assistants, more than from any other country. 

To become successful on Amazon Marketplace, Pakistani exporters will need to select and learn a lot about their target countries/markets and customer preferences. They will have to design, build or choose products that are in great demand in their target markets. 

Initially, Pakistani exporters will likely need to establish a significant inventory of fast-selling products at Amazon warehouses in the United States and use FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) service to provide quick delivery to Amazon Prime customers. Pakistan exporters will also have to ensure quality to satisfy these customers and avoid negative online reviews. 

Listing of Pakistani sellers on a global e-commerce platform is good news but it is only the first step toward becoming successful exporters. A lot more investment, attention and hard work will be necessary to realize its full potential.  

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[Riaz Haq]

A Mitchell
@aem76us
@haqsmusings

Grants of up to PKR 20M on offer from USAID for Pakistani companies seeking to export to US and to receive FDI.

https://twitter.com/aem76us/status/1551637213628227584?s=20&t=a...

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan a popular seller on Amazon
Over 1.2m vendors of country registered with marketplace


https://tribune.com.pk/story/2363968/pakistan-a-popular-seller-on-a...


ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan has now become the third largest popular new seller on the Amazon marketplace, after the United States and China, with over 1.2 million registered vendors.

Pakistan was allowed to enter the Amazon marketplace in May 2021, a year after talks began in 2020, following the implementation of Pakistan’s first e-commerce policy, Marketplace
Pulse reported.

There are more sellers in Pakistan as compared to India, Vietnam, the UK
and Canada.

The country, which has just registered itself with the marketplace, is home to the world’s three largest Amazon seller groups. These vendors are expected to contribute to Pakistan’s exports of over
$28 billion.

Young entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises across the country will be able to avail the benefits offered by the platform, which will widen and diversify Pakistan’s export basket.

This will not only enhance their revenues but will also help the government in improving the macroeconomic outlook of the country,
it added.

The expansion of the e-commerce industry is important to support the medium and small-sized businesses to operate and make profit with the rising cost of
doing business.

Pakistan’s e-commerce policy is part of the overall Digital Pakistan vision aimed at paving the way for a holistic growth of e-commerce by creating an enabling environment in which enterprises have equal opportunity to grow steadily.

Major exports of Pakistan that contribute to the national economy include textiles, leather and sports goods, chemicals, carpets and rugs. Pakistan also exports significant quantities of rice, sugar, cotton, fish, fruits
and vegetables.

According to eCommerce analysis, Pakistan is the 37th largest market for eCommerce with revenue of $5.9 billion in 2021, placing it ahead of Iran.

With an increase of 45%, the Pakistani eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 15% in 2021.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan e-commerce entrepreneurs stand out in UK market


https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Jun-2023/pakistan-e-commerce-entrepren...


Pakistani freelancers and entrepreneurs are expanding abroad by establishing a company in the US and UK markets, as data shared by UK government on foreign-owned company establishment shows that Pakistan ranks first, especially in E-Commerce industry.

Workhy, which provides end-to-end solutions that facilitate company establishment abroad has started to provide services in Urdu to facilitate opening of Pakistani entrepreneurs, especially those operating in the e-commerce industry and providing freelance services, to global markets. Pakistani entrepreneurs and freelancers export know-how and services to all over the world by using the possibilities of digitalisation. The data by the United Kingdom (UK) government on foreign-owned company establishment shows that Pakistani nationality ranks first in the e-commerce category. In addition, in The State of the Amazon Seller 2023, Pakistan ranks the fifth among the top selling countries in Amazon USA.


Considering the number of company establishments, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Workhy, Kenan Açikelli on Thursday said Pakistan has a great potential in terms of entrepreneurship ecosystem, and added, “In the last five years, we see that most of entrepreneurs operating in field of e-commerce and doing business as freelancers are Pakistani citizens.”

It is known that nearly five thousand (5,000) Pakistani entrepreneurs subscribed to Workhy to establish companies abroad. According to the data shared by Workhy, in economically developing countries such as Pakistan, e-commerce plays a key role in increasing corporate competitiveness and country’s share in global trade.

Pakistani citizens contribute to country’s economy with small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses they have established in countries such as the United States of America (USA) and the UK, promising great potential. “Workhy is a platform that enables entrepreneurs from all over the world to establish companies and manage financial processes online in the country of their choice, without having to reside or travel. Pakistani entrepreneurs can establish companies in the USA, UK, Estonia, Netherlands and Turkey with Workhy or can open a branch in Germany,” Açikelli said. Workhy, which has recently started to provide services in Urdu in consultancy processes, visited Pakistan in 2023 many times and made strong partnerships with the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The company plans to launch Urdu version of its website soon. Launched in 2022, Workhy has created above 20,000 companies for more than 130 nationalities. In addition, it is the exclusive partner of more than 20 global companies such as Payoneer, Wise, Mercury Bank, PayPal, Stripe. It has received investments from international investors and continues to expand to all continents.