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Egypt - eCommerce

Describes how widely e-Commerce is used, the primary sectors that sell through e-commerce, and how much product/service in each sector is sold through e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retail. Includes what a company needs to know to take advantage of e-commerce in the local market and, reputable, prominent B2B websites.

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Last Published: 7/27/2017

Egypt's Electronic Signature Law 15 of 2004 established the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to act as the e-signature regulatory authority and to further develop the information technology sector in Egypt. An e-government initiative has been implemented to increase government efficiency, reduce service-provision time, establish new service-delivery models, reduce government expenses and encourage e-procurement.  In 2009, the government implemented the e-signature service, allowing public and private companies to offer e-signature authentication.

The Egyptian market has the largest population of internet users in the MENA region. There are around 48 million internet users, of which 8% make online transactions.  Most online transactions are in the categories of electronics, entertainment, airline tickets and fashion. E-commerce faces numerous challenges in the Egyptian market: there is a low number of credit/debit card holders - around 10 million - hence 80 percent of e-commerce in Egypt relies on cash on delivery.  However, the rate of credit card issuance is growing annually by around 40 percent, which indicates that cash dependency may decrease.
 

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.

 globalsources.com 

 payoneer.com 

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redbubble.com 

Egypt is home to the highest number of Internet users in the Arab world, with over half the population online, accounting for 48 million users.

Alia el-Mahdy, Professor of Economics at Cairo University, said,

 “There is a lot of potential in the e-commerce market in Egypt. It is a large country with a huge population and a lot of untapped resources.”

Payfort’s report on the State of Payments in the Arab World, says that eCommerce will reach 2.7 billion USD by 2020, showing steep growth given that in 2014 it was worth just 1.4 billion USD. The leading age group for online purchases are 26-35 years old.

Mahdy claims that eCommerce will continue to grow for a number of reasons, “A large percentage of Egyptians are under 30 years old. There is huge government support for technology. There is an unprecedented growth on smartphones, and there is also a greater demand for branded products,” she said.

Egypt is not without its challenges, 72% of customers use cash for their eCommerce purchases, and currently only 8% of internet users are online shoppers.

Sherif El-Rakabawy, founder of Yaoota, says,

 “Egypt remains a cash-based economy, if we move beyond the domination of cash society, the growth of e-commerce in Egypt would accelerate even more.”