Can you make money out of Lebanese e-Commerce?

Natasawak in Arabic means “we shop,” explain Imad Karam and Rami Audi, co-founders of the Lebanon-based online shopping platform of the same name. Their challenge is to push Lebanon’s shopping trends online. Lebanon’s e-commerce market is hardly mature. According to a recent Ipsos poll of the 1,700,000 internet users in the country, less than 1 percent make purchases online. Compare this with the United Arab Emirates – where that figure is over 7 percent – and it is clear Lebanon’s market is still in its infancy. Moreover the country’s regulatory framework makes for me challenges. “Let me be honest with you – Lebanon is not the best country to operate an e-commerce website from typically because you have high customs, and you have high delivery fees, and you have certain obstacles that are not present in the UAE,” says Karam. This did not stop them from launching Natasawak in Lebanon