On Wednesday, 10th May, Creative Zone organised a webinar on setting up E-Commerce businesses in the wake of COVID-19 and how the Internet is filling the structural gaps created by social distancing. The panellists comprised Ben Mclean, Head of E-commerce, DHL, Francisco Pellegrini, CEO, Eureka Labs, Khalil Alami, CEO, Telr, Roni Fares, Cofounder, DXBEE and the webinar was moderated by Lorenzo Jooris, CEO, Creative Zone.
The webinar was especial also because all the four participating entities have joined their forces to provide a robust and an integrated platform to SMEs, Start-ups and solo entrepreneurs to operate better in today’s digital world. Statistics show that E-Commerce businesses increased by 49% in the UAE last year, in 2020 with the pandemic disrupting the normal life the already developing technology will be pushed harder and faster and it is expected that the year of 2020 and beyond will undergo enormous changes in terms of consumer behaviour, nature of businesses and life in general.
Khalil Alami, CEO of Telr corroborated that the current situation has been stimulator for his business as a lot more – people are now going online and need a payment accepting method.
Ben from DHL also presented his supporting views on the fact that this period is a very interesting time for start-ups and SMEs as there are plenty of opportunities in the field and if one can ensure the fundamentals right, they will surely succeed. Ben also explained that in the UAE’s roadmap there is a concrete plan to make the economy cashless and hence more transparent, there is however a lot of dependence on cash which has to be managed but the UAE’s infrastructure does support this vision and is continually evolving.
Roni Fares, talking about people starting on their own said that Humans are creative and have always evolved their skill sets, and the current situation could be a blessing in disguise. Soon people will become nomads who are walking & talking businesses themselves because of the tools, the skills and the world that is being compressed every day.
The ease of making payment has made lives easy for many businesses and individuals explained Khalil. To start with Telr all you need is a trade license and the company provides an entry level plan for small startups irrespective of what technology you want to use, it can be connected to shopify, most of the plug ins etc.
Doing their part in helping businesses operate in this time is DHL. The company through its smart analytics tells you which sales channel to select, which geographical areas are doing better by understanding the demographic structure better, how speedily accessible is the market, if free delivery can be possible etc. These factors help companies to make better choices, prepare their operations to deal with things in a more effective manner and attain success.
