Germany-based secondary market research company, yStats.com, specializing in B2C E-Commerce and Online Payments intelligence, released a new report titled “Iran B2C E-Commerce Market 2016”. The publication unveils the online retail potential of this emerging country and concludes that B2C E-Commerce in Iran has a bright future.
Since the nuclear deal, Iran has come to the spotlight of the international economy and trade, but little is known about its B2C E-Commerce market. The yStats.com report unfolds the major characteristics of the current state of Internet retailing in Iran and highlights its potential for future growth.
As the most populous country in the Middle East and the second largest economy, Iran already has the region’s largest number of online shoppers, despite the relatively low Internet and online shopper penetration rates. According to yStats.com research findings, the development of online retail in Iran is encouraged by widespread debit card ownership, while credit card penetration is yet to take off. In 12 months to March 2015, or one year in the Persian calendar, online payment transactions accounted for a small one-digit percentage share of all cashless purchase transactions registered in Iran, while its share of the transaction value was twice as high.
A number of home-grown companies are already active on the B2C E-Commerce market in Iran, many of them duplicating the successful models of international companies that could not penetrate the market due to the sanctions. The yStats.com publication reveals that the leading online merchant in Iran is Digikala. Digikala.com is the third most visited website in Iran and enjoys a high double-digit market share. Other prominent market players include the online shopping platform Bamilo.com, daily deals and group buying website Netbarg, online marketplace and auction operator Esam, and online clothing retailers Modiseh and Shixon among others.
Iran’s E-Commerce companies expect a better access to investors, technology and business partners in Europe and the USA following the lifting of major economic sanctions against Iran. From their side, online shoppers await greater availability of products as a result of foreign companies gaining access to the Iranian market. A survey conducted in early 2016, as cited in yStats.com’s report, revealed that electronics is among the product categories most desired by online shoppers. Overall, the yStats.com report finds that the E-Commerce market in Iran had been developing under sanctions and is likely to be further boosted following their cancellation.
