The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Bahaman information technology (IT) provider yesterday backed the proposal to create a National Digital Marketplace, but warned that transaction security and product quality are key issues to address.

Philip Darville, SolveIT Bahamas' managing director, told Tribune Business that the suggestion by the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) was "a good initiative" that mirrors digital and social media marketplaces springing up throughout the world.

Establishing the National Digital Marketplace was among seven proposals the Government-appointed committee believes will have an "immediate" impact on The Bahamas' post-COVID-19 economic growth and recovery prospects.

"Provide direct government support for the immediate establishment of a Bahamian national digital marketplace to provide an online platform for the buying and selling of local goods within The Bahamas and internationally," the ERC said.

"This e-commerce platform will not only allow the public to maintain social distancing measures but will also allow for local businesses to benefit from sales even when social movement is restricted. In addition, a digital market will allow for global sales, thereby earning foreign currency inflows for the country."

The Prime Minister flagged the proposal in his House of Assembly address yesterday, saying: "COVID-19 has sped up the digitisation of our economy, with many services having moved online. We must go even further and faster to build a broader digital economy.

"Toward this end, we will promote the development of a National Digital Marketplace. This e-commerce platform can provide an opportunity for small businesses and Bahamian entrepreneurs to buy and sell goods online across The Bahamas and provide opportunities for global sales."

Mr Darville said the creation of such a facility would enable The Bahamas to keep pace with global e-commerce and digital trends. "I think the shift worldwide has been to deploy marketplaces as you see on social media, like Facebook in particular, with all of the main social media platforms having enabled marketplaces," he said.

"Already, right now, there are marketplaces on Facebook that are primary shopping mediums for a lot of small business owners, vendors and a lot of individuals who want to come and connect with smaller, more personable brands instead of going to a big brand or a big store.

“I personally shop on it as well, so it’s a good initiative and in the advent of the introduction of the Sand Dollar project it will create an excellent opportunity to really promote e-commerce within the frame of things from a business standpoint. So I think it is an excellent initiative.”

Few details have been released, though, on how this National Digital Marketplace will function, and who will own and.or operate it. Asked whether it would be a Bahamian version of Amazon.com, Mr Darville replied: “So the way Amazon is designed, Amazon is the authority. Amazon doesn’t necessarily always sell products, and they are not always in a competing space.

"Amazon is almost a collection of sellers, and what happens is Amazon handles the logistics for these sellers. They have two different strategies. For one they offer their products, and that is why they have built out a massive warehousing infrastructure and distribution centres all over the US, and all over the world, because what happens is when you decide to become a seller with Amazon, Amazon is handling the logistics for you.

"There are surcharges that each seller must pay on every sale, and besides that there are monthly costs associated with Amazon’s logistics. So it depends on how the Government implements the marketplace and whether they want to have a nationally-managed warehousing facility for storing all of the sellers’ products, or if they want to be able to allow sellers a 'B to C' environment.”

Mr Darville said the latter would require a more loosely-arranged system, where if sellers are authorised vendors on the government-provided website, they would have to decide: “Do I have to give my products to the government to re-sell for me, or do I just list my products there and deliver in a safe manner to my end consumers?”

Turning to potential issues that will have to be resolved before the National Digital Marketplace launches, he added: “Logistics is going to be a huge issue, and safety is going to be a huge issue, because on a lot of the public platforms like marketplaces on Facebook and Instagram, a lot of people are susceptible to crime. Persons are either getting robbed or you are getting fake or damaged products.

“There is going to be some manageability aspects from a logistics standpoint that need to be factored in. I’m leaning more towards the Government having some entity created where they have warehousing and so forth, but there has to be a balance where you promote this as an avenue.

"You have to factor in that there are a lot of small businesses that have storefronts already, so how do you balance not trying to destroy their traditional footprint but also provide that supplemental support for those that don’t have that storefront.”