Amazon and the economy

Dr Imran Batada

Amazon is one of the best online marketplaces that you can use to sell and buy products. It opens the door to millions of sellers online to help them grow economically and promote their products in international market. As a seller on Amazon, you get a large customer pool to sell your products to expeditiously.

Amazon has recently announced that it will now allow Pakistan sellers to sell their products on Amazon. This great change makes it a right time for any Pakistan seller to build their brand to maximize their reach and exposure internationally.

It has been reported that almost 70 percent of textile products are taken from Pakistan by other sellers from different regions. So, the fact that Pakistan provides one of the best textiles in the world will help local businesses get a boost directly from now on. This will not only benefit sale of textiles but other commodities too. However, in the garment industry, Pakistan may face some issues in breaking into the biggest fashion brands as it competes with Bangladesh, India, China, and Thailand. Pakistan is still a minor player and will need to majorly improve to ensure a better position.

Some of the best products one can sell on Amazon include textiles, electronics, toys & games, books, video games, clothing, shoes, jewelry, fitness items, cameras, home equipment, kitchen utensils, handtools, and much more. If you are planning to start being a Pakistan seller on Amazon, you better choose from any of these niches. With the variety of sellers on Amazon, you just need to have unique products to stand out from the crowd.

Before choosing a specific niche, you need to know what kind of products you can source easily and what you have enough knowledge about. This is because you need to have great products to prevent your seller account from being closed down because of bad products/ reviews. If you start a reputable store it will help build your customer pool and lead to more revenue.

Some of the most in-demand business models you can choose from are Private Label Wholesale, Reselling, Dropshipping, and handmade. Choose a fulfillment methos. It can either be fulfillment by Amazon, in which as a seller you ship to Amazon’s warehouse and they sell the product directly to the customer. Or it can be fulfillment by the merchant where you store your products and send them directly to your customers.

To succeed as an Amazon seller from Pakistan, you need to first study competitors from your specific niche. Get to know what they are doing to be on top of the selling list. Look at the best sellers as well as the best selling products. Do market research before settling for a certain product because if there is low demand, you will go at a loss when no one is willing to buy it, and so it will stay in the warehouse for long. You can use a combined product listing to invite more buyers. To initiate, start with few products, and then with time you can scale up and add more products as you grow. You can start with a unique brand that will help you stand out from the other sellers. To rank better use great product images, optimized titles, and descriptions. This will help your product to be easily visible.

On top of that, you can utilize the Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) that help you create ads for your products so that users can see your products under products related to this item. This brings great exposure. However, you should still be vigilant while selling items on Amazon. If you provide the wrong information, your account can easily be blocked. Pakistan’s government had engaged Amazon last year about the issue, and it has finally succeeded. This great move will lead to favorable outcomes for the youth as well as small and medium enterprises to sell on the Amazon platform. This will add Pakistan sellers into the international market.

Pakistani sellers selling on Amazon will impact the economy in a positive manner. This is because unlike before, where Pakistan sellers used to sell through third parties, they will now be able to sell directly. This will help boost the economy and create more job opportunities. Hence, entrepreneurs will have a greater customer base. With such a change, the capacity of the youth needs to be built so that they can use Amazon and other e-commerce platforms effectively, to maximize their revenue stream. This includes checking the various tutorials that will help empower on how to use the Amazon seller’s account.

Increased empowerment will make more people use Amazon for selling which will create more opportunities. Let’s assume 100,000 Pakistani residents start making money through Amazon selling. With each person earning a minimum of $500 per month, after a year it will have a great impact on the economy. This will lead to a lot of sustainability and efficiency. Statistics show that India ranks at number 5 in countries with the largest numbers of successful Amazon sellers. A 2019 report showed that there were over 209,000 active Amazon sellers from India, and the numbers have risen in 2020. Moreover, there have been over 70,000 Indian exporters selling millions of ‘Made in India’ products on Amazon websites. India’s largest marketplace on Amazon has over 320 million monthly visits. Amazon was approved in India back in 2012 and the Indian government allows foreign companies to sell on their platform. However, selling on Amazon India is only limited to its residents, so brands need to get a local distributor to sell on the marketplace.

Bangladesh is another region that thrives well on Amazon. In 2019, Amazon made a bold move to source goods from Bangladesh for its global buyers. The proposal was for Bangladesh to keep their goods on Amazon warehouses in the US. This was meant to help the small exporters. Small traders could now easily access the global markets through the Amazon online platform.

Thailand is well known for producing high-quality electronics, silk, and much more. In 2016, Amazon introduced the Amazon web service in Thailand and a Thailand global selling team in 2019. This was to bring more manufacturers and retailers in Thailand on board. This led to the Thai government introducing the e-commerce initiatives like the ETDA B2c marketplace that helps drive growth in the region.

Pakistan being approved to sell on Amazon will have a great impact on the economy and will help in the growth of the country. Even with the great move, though, Pakistan sellers need to prove themselves to ensure they remain part of the Amazon community. To keep up with people from other areas, they will need to provide quality items for the benefit of everyone.

The government should start capacity-building programmes for the youth so that they can learn how to use Amazon in the best possible way. There are different on-going youth development programmes, and with this great change, it is the right time to add Amazon selling tricks & tips as a normal course. Universities need to add entrepreneurship and e-commerce selling on Amazon to their curriculum. These initiatives will undoubtedly serve as the stepping stones for the success of our youth and the economic development of our country.

The writer is director of the Centre for Information andCommunication Technology at IBA.

Email: imran.batada@gmail.com Twitter: @imranbatada