According to Asad Qawasmi, representative of the garment, footwear and jewelry industry at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC), thousands of employees have lost their jobs due to the rise of online shopping and other crises. Jordanian clothing stores are on the verge of crisis.
Qawasmi said the Jordanian garment industry urgently needs effective solutions to revitalize the industry and support business owners. Sultan Allan, chairman of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Organization, pointed out that the industry currently employs 69,000 workers. Due to the recent decline in business rates, 82,000 workers have lost their jobs. Almost every employee is the main provider of their family’s economy, which has a significant impact on Jordan’s people’s livelihood and economy.
Qawasmi said that the rise of online shopping is causing serious losses to traditional store business owners. The continued closure of stores and rising unemployment are the result of the current lack of government supervision of online transactions. . Packages ordered online are not subject to the standards and regulations of traditional shopping. Online traders obtain goods through customs in the name of personal use items, and online traders hoard such goods and sell them at profitable prices, resulting in unfair competition between traditional clothing traders and online clothing traders. It is suggested that the government should unify taxes and fees between e-commerce and traditional shopping to compete on a fair basis. However, online business owners disagree, pointing out that there are often hidden costs for e-commerce businesses, such as paying shipping charges, customs and marketing fees, online advertising fees, intermediary fees in other countries, annual fees to the Ministry of Trade, payment to The tax bureau reports sales and other related expenses.
Shatha Mustafa, an online business owner, said that the sharp rise in transportation costs, rising temperatures, false advertising, and the new crown epidemic have all led to the decline in the performance of the traditional clothing industry. However, traditional clothing companies have not Improving the business model in response to the situation and market development is also one of the reasons. Traditional stores need to keep up with global trends.
For any business to thrive, it must provide solutions to problems. The competitive advantage of online shopping lies in understanding consumer needs and people feeling safe when shopping online. The competitive advantage of an online business is customer service, not affordable prices. Consumers tend to shop online because they will pay a fee to receive the service provided, and the service the customer receives is the most important need.
