E-commerce taken off in Egypt but needs more achievements: Mashtal founder

CAIRO - 19 September 2019: E-commerce in Egypt has already taken off, however it faces many challenges, Managing Director of Jazmur which owns Mashtal Garden Centers project, Karim Harouny told Egypt Today.

Harouny emphasized the importance of having digitalized business, stating that any business that doesn't have any digital component will not succeed.

"Anything that is involved in retail can be translated to online nowadays, but infrastructure of e-commerce needs more achievements, so internet speed is definitely a very big concern," he also referred to challenges that the sector face in Egypt.

He elaborated that internet speed needs to be improved, adding that another challenge is payment gateways. “They exist but need to be much easier,” he said.

“One of the things that slows this process down is the payment gate, so this is something that I'd love to see improved in Egypt because electronic payment will make the process much faster and easier, and it will be a huge support for e-commerce industry," Harouny stated.

Haroun clarified that the purpose of e-commerce is that people effortlessly will be able to go through shopping experience, pick what they want, click a button and to have it delivered to the doorstep.
As per e-commerce laws and regulation; Haroun commented that at least there is a dialogue and a discussion about how to frame laws regarding e-commerce.

“I don't see that there will be a problem, it's moving forward, a bit slow but as long as there is a discussion and moving forward clearly, I'm optimistic, I think formalizing any business will be everyone's benefit," he stated.

The clear laws and frameworks are; the easier for people to do and conduct their business, according to Haroun. “It's important to have framework controls commerce on internet.”

Regarding Mashtal Garden Centers, Haroun said that the project started two years ago, aiming to serve people who want to have gardening projects or others who already have their existing projects.

“Most of gardening stores are outside Cairo or they are informal business where there is lack of transparency,” he stated clarifying the importance of his project.

According to Haroun, Inspiration for Mashtal is that to be able to give people a beautiful shopping experience, where they can go online and find everything they need from A-Z to start and implement their gardening projects.