Amazon added Pakistan in sellers list

 

The US e-commerce giant Amazon decided to add Pakistan to its approved Seller List,  Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood announced on Thursday. He further said it is a great opportunity for Pakistani youth, SMEs and women entrepreneurs. They have been engaged with Amazon since last year and now it’s happening. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs (SAPM) Shahbaz Gill said Amazon has added Pakistan to its approved seller list.

According to TechJuice.pk, after Pakistan's addition to Amazon approved selling countries, accounts can be made using Pakistani details. This milestone will drastically change the game and result in a new era of economic growth as more sellers will visit the platform than ever before.

A webinar was also organized by the Consulate General of Pakistan, Los Angeles and Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan with senior executives of  a few Pakistani companies. Omar Gajial, former senior executive of Amazon, shared with the participants what sort of opportunities will be available to Pakistani business to sell their products on Amazon and how they can derive maximum benefit from this opportunity once Amazon opens its Seller Registration for Pakistan. Pakistani sellers can now create their IDs on the e-commerce platform to sell their products worldwide.

Last year, Dawood announced that Pakistan is in the process of registering the country’s goods sellers with US e-commerce giant Amazon and has sent a list of 38 exporters for registration and finally it is happening. He had mentioned that the initial list of 38 exporters would comprise surgical and sports goods, and home textile sectors and the list will be expanded to other sectors in the near future, after a successful trial of the shortlisted companies.

 

Extreme Commerce, Pakistan’s leading e-commerce platform credited Aisha Morjanj Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Shoaib Sarwar, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General Pakistan, Los Angeles, Omer Gajial, Former Amazon Category Development Head for Amazon North America division, team members of NECC (National Ecommerce Council) and Badar Khushnood from Pakistan Software House Association for working on this project and getting Pakistan added in Amazon's approved sellers' list.

 

A Pakistani business company of  jackets under the brand name Price Right, is one of a number of Pakistani companies selling goods on Amazon’s global marketplace. But while Amazon has established a sizable presence in neighboring India, the company says it exported $1 billion in goods from the country and created 300,000 new jobs there since January 2020  in Pakistan, the tech giant has officially allow sellers onto its platform.

Amazon hosts millions of independent sellers on Amazon Marketplace, who are required to provide banking details and other identifying information in order to sign up. While independent estimates indicate that most third-party sellers are from the United States and China, Amazon often touts how it helps small businesses from all over the world reach their customers. The tech giant allows merchants with companies registered in over 100 countries to sell goods on its website, but some places remain excluded, including heavily sanctioned nations like Iran and North Korea. 

Last year, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ranked Pakistan 116 out of 152 nations on its B2C E-commerce Index, which measures an economy’s preparedness to support online shopping, behind countries like Namibia and Sri Lanka. The Pakistani government also only passed its first official e-commerce policy in 2019, which was designed to introduce banking services and other infrastructure needed for digital commerce.

“I would imagine Pakistan is a few years behind China in terms of expertise in selling to the West directly,” said Juozas Kaziukėnas, founder and CEO of the e-commerce research firm Marketplace Pulse. “The explosion of Chinese sellers came in 2015 and is still continuing, but that is a snowball effect that was accelerated by successful local sellers, local support, etc.” 

According to government officials and reports, Amazon representatives have been providing one-on-one business advice to large-scale sellers in Pakistan’s textile, medical equipment, and sporting goods industries, helping them with digital on boarding and incorporating their businesses in countries like the United States. Amazon has provided similar hands-on help in countries such as China, but this is the first program of its kind in Pakistan.

Aisha Moriani, joint secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, said the 38 chosen manufacturers are part of a pilot program, which, according to her, is Amazon’s method of testing the waters in Pakistan. “Our goal, throughout, has been to open up seller registration for Pakistani sellers,” she told Rest of World, “so that our banking channels are used and so that local companies are able to access Amazon’s services.” Moriani added that the Ministry of Commerce has been trying to encourage business-to-consumer exports in the last year. In December, the Pakistan state bank lifted a tedious bureaucratic step for businesses that made it easier to export up to $5,000 worth of goods. 

There are enough unofficial Pakistani Amazon sellers that a cottage industry of gig workers has sprung up to support them. It includes Amazon Virtual Assistants (freelancers who aid with everything from customer service to administrative tasks), fulfillment consultants, and web developers. They gather together in Facebook groups with names like “Extreme Commerce” and “eCommerce by Enablers” Although they help clients in many countries, the online freelance marketplace Fiverr lists over 7,000 Pakistanis who advertise themselves as Amazon Virtual Assistants, more than from any other country. Although similar Amazon seller communities exist all over the world, it’s surprising that Pakistan’s support industry has grown so robust, considering the country’s sellers can’t officially use the e-commerce platform. 

E-commerce giant could  help usher in a wave of economic growth in Pakistan. With the jugaad no longer needed, more local investors will flock to Amazon than ever before. And it will boost the career opportunities as a freelance virtual assistant.