Ekonomia

E-commerce, what percentage of online products are Albanian?

E-commerce, what percentage of online products are Albanian?

The products that are part of the e-commerce in the country are almost completely foreign. Only 5 percent of them belong to local producers.

According to market operators, this is related to several aspects where the lack of sophistication of products produced in Albania is mentioned first.

"From the meetings with e-commerce businesses, they reported that 95% of the products and services offered through their platforms in Albania, were not Albanian products. According to them, this is related to the lack of sophistication of products produced in Albania, quality certification and low marketing skills of manufacturers. For this purpose, according to them, Albanian products (with some exceptions of market segments), are less competitive in foreign markets. Moreover, the low quantities and skepticism of manufacturers in e-commerce as a means of trade to expand in foreign markets, has not helped to create a business model for sharing costs and profits between manufacturers and trade operators electronic ”is stated in the document of the Investment Council for innovation.

He points out that according to businesses operating in the field of e-commerce, there is a lack of awareness of the potential of e-commerce and difficulties from public agencies to understand their operating model.

“Some issues raised relate to frequent fiscal visits / tax inspections and the perception of their model as dangerous by the Tax Risk System, non-deductible costs (eg purchase of software downloaded by foreign companies ). Furthermore, it is acknowledged that the sector has had an informal development given that in many cases it is based on the cash model business model and the delivery of informal service payments. As in the case of BPOs, the e-commerce segment is not well identified in the country's statistics for its number of operators and its real impact on the economy, "said the Council.

The pandemic caused the e-commerce industry to experience an immediate boom, especially in the months of quarantine. But this, according to market operators, faded as soon as the opening of the economy began to take place gradually and return to normal with physical stores open.

* Received from Monitor.al