This COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the health of the public, as well as affecting the health of businesses and impacting the economy and it has a great impact on eCommerce in Egypt and all over the world.

A recent study revealed that a double-digit share of online shoppers worldwide was buying more digitally due to COVID-19, and some of them have purchased online for the first time during the outbreak. The share of global retail sales generated via eCommerce is rising, as a result, predicted to reach one-third by 2024.

This article discusses the impact of COVID-19 on eCommerce in Egypt, and how businesses can survive depending on eCommerce.

Let’s get started…

Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels

Egyptian Consumers Won’t Be the Same After COVID-19

Since the mid-February announcement of the first infection of coronavirus in Egypt, and since the Egyptian government has issued stay-at-home orders in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease, many Egyptians are now self-isolating while turning to technology for education, work, communication, and shopping.

As a result of the store closures and lockdown regimes, Egyptian consumers turn to online and mobile shopping to buy their daily necessities.

Ahmed Nagy, the managing director of eMarketing Egypt, the leading digital consulting agency in the Middle East, emphasized that saying “We’re witnessing a great shift in where consumers are spending, with a dramatic shift towards eCommerce. We can say that eCommerce sales have doubled for Egyptian merchants since March 11; the day the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 is a global pandemic.”

How Egyptian Businesses Have Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic

There is some confusion in the scene, and in this case, we resort to some experts to clarify their vision regarding the current situation and what the future of eCommerce in Egypt will look like as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Nagy said “Egypt is on the digital tipping point. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed every Egyptian business to its limits and have put the businesses’ maturity into a hard test. Businesses in Egypt and all over the world are facing a great challenge and the winner is who can cope up with it.”

Related Article: Effective Tips and Tools Help Your Business Survive COVID-19 Pandemic

For small and medium businesses, COVID-19 is a disaster. Most of these businesses lack the cash reserves to weather a month-long interruption. There is also the possibility of a startup depression, wherein new companies don’t enter the job market as a result of the pandemic.

How to Get Out of This Crisis?

The answer lies in digital transformation…

Let’s learn why?

eCommerce in Egypt Are Seeing a Rise in Demand

The eCommerce sector in Egypt has been forecasted to see a boom in recent years, even before the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak.

According to “Islam El-Saadany”, the Egyptian strategic consultant and market trends analyst, it is going to take 18 months for the COVID-19 impact to be visible in the economic and business sectors in Egypt and around the world.

He also stated that the eCommerce in Egypt is one of the highest growing business sectors amid the Coronavirus pandemic and it witnesses a growth of between 300 to 500%.

Egypt is a rising star of MENA’s B2C E-Commerce, with growth rates of more than 30% between 2019 and 2022, according to a report by MENA B2C E-Commerce Market in 2019.

Organizers of Egypt’s eCommerce Summit said last year that the electronic financial transactions in the country are expected to be worth $2 billion, including online direct purchases and hotel and airline bookings on the internet.

Related Article: Why Egypt Is an Ideal Destination to Outsource Digital Marketing Agency?

Why It Is the Time to Invest in eCommerce!

For brands who are seeing a slowdown, eCommerce is a great solution to stand out the scene without worrying as much about disruptions. When the worst is over and the pandemic end, eCommerce will most likely grow on as the habits of shoppers will have been irreversibly shaped by the pandemic.

Online sales in Egypt are projected to overtake physical retail while traditional stores will most likely never return to former glory.

So, it’s time for new strategies and innovative new approaches. Whoever wants to survive must observe how consumer habits are shifting the business landscape and cope up with these changes.