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While eCommerce in the western part of Europe is a topic to be discussed in the level of what to sell, how much to earn, which platform to use, etc, back in a small country of the Eastern part of Europe, discussions around the beginner level of eCommerce are still present. While there is a good internet infrastructure, a large number of young people that have a good knowledge around the IT, only during the last two years, there has been some change in the market, while just recently during 2012 more than five companies appeared on the web directly working as an eCommerce business.
So while we previously had some names on the list like shitblerje.com, blej24.com or eBlej.biz, their main focus as usually for a local startup in Kosovo, is the local market, and after one or two month they drop out of putting quality content online and jump onto another journey. Later this year, Telegrafi (the biggest online portal in the Albania speaking part of Eastern Europe) brought to the market Smard.info, an eCommerce site offering products from office materials to smartphones, watches and desk that can be ordered online and paid sort of online (some details about Smard.info on digjitale.com)
When we mention the online payment, what always comes to the mind of locals is the issue that it doesn’t work and local online payment is not possible. What you can currently do, is only eBanking (transfers) and pay at the door option, which for some of the folks in the western part of the world should bring a “surprised” face, here it’s a reality. Political issues, technical issues and security issues are the hurdles of the online payment, and since this is not the topic of this blog post, you can read more about some challenges of being a start-up in Kosovo that I wrote about in a previous blog post, and on the other hand there are some reports that mention the eCommerce market of Kosovo in the level of “online banking transfer” possibilities, through something known as eBanking!
Back to Smard.info
While having Telegrafi on top of the most visited web sites in the Albanian speaking region, it was obvious that they will bring some ideas to the market how to leverage the user base even more. After a couple of months of marketing through the channels of Telegrafi, Smard.info came to the market being pioneered as a leader and as the first eCommerce business in Kosovo, which in fact was not true. On the other hand they were constantly adding new products to its online marketplace being promoted towards customers, and trying to educate them that “buying online” is possible even in a market like Kosovo. While they are still online and the offer of products has expanded, in a series of blog posts I will go onto details related to Smard.info, it’s eCommerce approach, problems and opportunities.
Lexo tek faqja e tij...
So while we previously had some names on the list like shitblerje.com, blej24.com or eBlej.biz, their main focus as usually for a local startup in Kosovo, is the local market, and after one or two month they drop out of putting quality content online and jump onto another journey. Later this year, Telegrafi (the biggest online portal in the Albania speaking part of Eastern Europe) brought to the market Smard.info, an eCommerce site offering products from office materials to smartphones, watches and desk that can be ordered online and paid sort of online (some details about Smard.info on digjitale.com)
When we mention the online payment, what always comes to the mind of locals is the issue that it doesn’t work and local online payment is not possible. What you can currently do, is only eBanking (transfers) and pay at the door option, which for some of the folks in the western part of the world should bring a “surprised” face, here it’s a reality. Political issues, technical issues and security issues are the hurdles of the online payment, and since this is not the topic of this blog post, you can read more about some challenges of being a start-up in Kosovo that I wrote about in a previous blog post, and on the other hand there are some reports that mention the eCommerce market of Kosovo in the level of “online banking transfer” possibilities, through something known as eBanking!
While having Telegrafi on top of the most visited web sites in the Albanian speaking region, it was obvious that they will bring some ideas to the market how to leverage the user base even more. After a couple of months of marketing through the channels of Telegrafi, Smard.info came to the market being pioneered as a leader and as the first eCommerce business in Kosovo, which in fact was not true. On the other hand they were constantly adding new products to its online marketplace being promoted towards customers, and trying to educate them that “buying online” is possible even in a market like Kosovo. While they are still online and the offer of products has expanded, in a series of blog posts I will go onto details related to Smard.info, it’s eCommerce approach, problems and opportunities.
Lexo tek faqja e tij...