PayPal, Aramex launch new online marketplace for shipping, payments

Dubai-based logistics firm Aramex has partnered with payments provider PayPal to launch a new online marketplace aimed as easing cross-border transactions.

Called www.ishoptheworld.com the new marketplace will serve as an integrated shipping and payments solution platform.

Consumers can buy from merchants spread across 15 countries in the Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and Africa and pay for all the items in just one transaction.

The new marketplace will also help companies export to over 60 cities, a statement said.

Senior e-commerce manager at Aramex Mazen Mourad said: “With this innovative marketplace, merchants from across the world – from the United States to China – can list easily and free of charge, with no hidden costs such as transaction fees. This is a unique proposition like no other, in the now cluttered B2C marketplaces.

“The marketplace eliminates all the hassles of cross-border logistics for the merchants, when it comes to export documentation, customs, clearance and costs,” he added.

The global e-commerce industry is estimated to have grown by around 17 per cent to around $1.8 trillion in 2015. It is further anticipated to cross $2.4 trillion by 2017 and touch over $3.5 trillion by 2019 – accounting for 12.4 per cent of total retail sales, according to eMarketer.

PayPal’s regional director for Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, Kivanc Onan said: “Today’s online customers are increasingly discerning when it comes to goods bought online – they search for specific products from specific countries, often unavailable in their home country – and ishoptheworld.com allows these consumers to shop for products from almost anywhere in the world.”