Earlier this week, e-commerce giant Amazon announced that it will be launching an Egypt-based website, Amazon.eg, later this year.
According to an official statement, the Egyptian website will give local businesses the chance to reach more customers all over the country.
The company has started the registration of local brands through the Amazon Seller Central, through which they can set up their accounts in order to become sellers on the new website.
“The introduction of Amazon Seller Central in Egypt is a key milestone in our journey to continue supporting local Egyptian businesses of all sizes, delivering greater opportunities to help them grow and connect with millions of customers,” Omar Elsahy, the general manager of Amazon and Souq.com in Egypt said.
But despite launching Amazon.eg later this year, the company has been present and operating in Egypt since 2017 through Souq.com.
Amazon also established corporate and customer services offices, and has accumulated a total local workforce of over 3,000 employees in various sectors, corporate, customer service and operations in Egypt.
“With a wealth of great retailers, sellers, brands, and handicrafts, we are excited to be working hand-in-hand with the industrial sector in Egypt to continue serving customers across the country. Their success is our success, as we remain committed to providing customers with a great shopping experience supported by what they tell us they value the most—low prices and vast selection, paired with fast delivery,” Elsahy added.
Although the company is aiming to help small local businesses reach a wider range of customers, it is doing so at a hefty price. Amazon will be charging businesses a referral fee of no less than three percent and, depending on what category and fulfillment channel the business uses to deliver its orders, the costs will vary.
It could cost some businesses EGP 5 per item sold below EGP 100, no less than EGP 26 per shipment, and businesses could also be charged no less than EGP 4 per unit.
These fees come on top of a monthly storage fee and a long-term storage fee.
So, although it may seem ideal to have your business’ products sold on such a well-known and regularly visited website, the whole process is pretty costly, especially if you’re used to handling things yourself to decrease the business’s expenses and increase its profit.