EZStore.me Launches in MENA to Help Small Retail Businesses Go Online

Joint initiative by Aramex, Google, PayPal and ShopGo to boost the growth of SMBs in MENA by providing a one-stop-shop solution to help small retail business owners set their businesses on the Web

07, October, 2013 – Dubai, UAE – EZStore.me, an initiative which aims to help boost SMBs by empowering them to go online was launched earlier today. EZStore.me is a result of the joint collaboration between global and regional ecommerce leaders Aramex, Google, PayPal and ShopGo. The initiative works by empowering small business owners to take their businesses online and harness the power of the Web in expanding their sales channels, boosting their growth and expanding their customer base.

EZStore.me aims to offer a “minimum risk online store” one-stop-shop solution to help offline merchants and startups debut their eCommerce journey in MENA. The initiative empowers small business owners by providing them with the necessary skill sets and tools to go online and removing all payments and logistical challenges; making a seamless the beginning of their online journey.

The initiative will additionally focus on the education and support to the local entrepreneurs about eCommerce challenges and opportunities such as creating an e-store, selling online, receiving money, logistics and shipping and online marketing. Workshops will be organized across MENA to bring store owners and entrepreneurs to meet with key online service providers such as Aramex, Google, PayPal and ShopGo, to demystify the eCommerce process and kick start their e-store.

Small business owners will receive many benefits by signing up for EZStore.me.

Aramex will offer credits and competitive prices designed specifically to boost ecommerce opportunities in the region. Hassan Mikail, Global Director Ecommerce stated: “This is a very unique project we’re backing, since it completes the loop for anyone to go online swiftly; whereby the technology, logistics, payments and marketing are part and parcel.”

Google will provide EZStore.me customers with vouchers for AdWords, videos and tutorials to learn how to best use AdWords and the fantastic Google tools available to merchants to help them bring traffic to their website. “With millions of small businesses in the MENA region and only a small fraction of them having websites the technological gap between offline and online is huge.” said Mohammed Mourad, Regional Head of Google in the Gulf. He added, “Various studies indicate that SMBs make significant contribution to country GDPs with the Internet and eCommerce as the main driving force behind this. We aim in our collaboration with our partners to provide small business owners with the incentives and know-hows to establish their business online.”

PayPal will offer EZStore.me customers discounted transaction fees within the first 3 months of launching their e-store allowing them to seamlessly and securely process payments online. Elias Ghanem, Managing Director of PayPal Middle East and North Africa added: “PayPal is very excited to co-found this initiative as it perfectly fits with our mission to enable commerce across the world and help entrepreneurs in MENA to take their business online. PayPal will provide simple, convenient and safe payment solutions that will complement EZStore.me’s offering and allow both retailers and consumers the necessary flexibility and security to enjoy online shopping.”

ShopGo’s contribution to businesses which sign up to for the EZStore.me package include building out their e-Store, providing MENA localized payment and shipping solutions, ready-made responsive themes, and a user-friendly platform that allows business owners to manage their entire operation on their own. ShopGo’s Marketing Specialists will also provide support for Google Adwords. “ShopGo helps retailers to become e-tailers” stated Moe Ghashim, CEO of ShopGo.

This is the first initiative of its kind in the MENA region to take on this unique approach in empowering small businesses to go online and boost their growth. In addition to adding a new list of skill sets to their repertoire, SMBs who make use of EZStore.me’s services will be able to harness the power of the Web as a new channel to offer their products and services to customers in MENA and around the world.

About EZStore.me
EZStore is a joint initiative launched by four pillars of e-commerce in the Middle East and North Africa: Aramex, Google, PayPal, and ShopGo. To enable offline merchants to go online, EZStore will provide an integrated e-commerce platform, a sets of benefits and services, and a series of workshops and educational resources, all designed to ease the process of setting up an e-commerce store.

For more information, please visit www.ezstore.me

About Aramex
Aramex (DFM: ARMX) is a leading provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions. Established in 1982 as an express operator, the company rapidly evolved into a global brand recognized for its customized services and innovative multi-product offering. Traded on the NASDAQ from 1997 to 2002, Aramex today is a publicly traded company on the Dubai Financial Market, employing more than 13,900 people in 354 locations across 60 countries and leads a strong alliance network providing global presence, and bringing together 40 independent express companies from around the world. The range of services offered by Aramex includes integrated logistics solutions, international and domestic express delivery, freight forwarding, secure records and information management solutions, and e-services, including e-business solutions and Shop and Ship.

For more information, please visit us at www.aramex.com

About Google Inc.
Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information. Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top Internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

For information about Google in the Middle East, please visit our Official Google Arabia Blog: http://google-arabia.blogspot.com/

About PayPal
PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online, via a mobile device and in store. The service gives people simpler ways to send money without sharing financial information, and with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With 132 million active accounts in 193 markets and 26 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global commerce, processing more than 7.7 million payments every day. Because PayPal helps people transact anytime, anywhere and in any way, the company is a driving force behind the growth of mobile commerce and expects to process $20 billion in mobile payments in 2013. PayPal is an eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) company and contributed 40 percent of eBay Inc.’s revenues in 2012. PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

More information about the company can be found at www.paypal-media.com

About ShopGo
ShopGo is the first platform that enables businesses in the Middle East and North Africa to easily and quickly set up and start selling on their own branded e-commerce stores. ShopGo is the only platform that has deep integrations with all of the relevant providers in shipping and payment in the Arab world; via its partners and proprietary software, it offers tools for marketing, sales campaigns and catalog management.

For more information, please visit www.shopgo.me