September 15 (SeeNews) - Public acceptance of new technologies remains the main challenge to the development of e-commerce companies in North Macedonia, Aylin Sheali, operations manager at local classifieds advertising site Pazar3, told SeeNews.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced many local shoppers to learn how to use online services, increasing the use of online technologies, Sheali told SeeNews in an interview.
"The pandemic stopped business operations for some time, but it also educated many people about the benefits of conducting online operations. A lot of people who didn’t know how to use the internet for performing some operations like paying online with a credit card, learned how to do that, so now they are ready and trust more the online world," Sheali said.
Pazar3.mk is an advertisement site for classified ads, offering companies and individuals a platform where they can buy, sell and exchange products and services. The platform has 70,000 visitors posting 1,600 new ads per day, according to its website.
The platform was initially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as users were shopping only the most needed items and businesses were only investing in the most necessary operations, Sheali went on to say.
"However, this situation didn’t last long. Pazar3 soon started working as usual, and even introduced more interesting solutions for its clients that brought back many more companies and individuals."
The company expects to improve its financial performance in the coming years. At the same time, it plans to contribute to the development of the online market in the country by continuously introducing new services to its users.
"Covid has increased the use of online technologies and that motivates us to invest more in development and provide our clients with the newest technology options," Sheali explained.
"Soon we will present to the public a new service that will make buying and selling on Pazar3 even an easier process," Sheali said, without providing details.