Don’t be afraid to start an e-commerce website in Trinidad & Tobago, Part 1

Now that there is a local online payment solution available to the masses— and I’m referring to the First Atlantic Commerce payment gateway— I’m not too surprised at the still ‘slow-out-of the-gate’ response. The reason has nothing to so with the gateway itself, and while it may be perceived as expensive, to a bona fide businessperson it’s absolutely within the range of typical business expenses. Given that Paypal and 2Checkout were always at one’s disposal anyway, there was never a mad clamor even then to establish online stores (and that’s still the case now).

So what’s the reason for this apparent shortage of enterprising Trinis? If all the technical requisites for online business in Trinidad & Tobago exist what’s stopping everyone? To be thorough, let’s check off said requisites, you need:

E-commerce ready website, i.e. with shopping cart- CHECK!
Secured website to protect buyer’s info via SSL certificate- CHECK!
Payment gateway in TTD especially for T&T- CHECK!
Delivery options- local couriers, TT Post, Own vehicle- CHECK!
Products to sell- CHECK!
People to buy- CHECK!

Ahem…so why so few stepping up to the plate? It’s not for lack of will, many a Trini dream of having their own business and many a Trini who already have their own businesses dream of having an online version. The trouble is that we have too many dreamers.

May 24, 2013 / Uncategorized

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About the Author

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I am Zaf Rahaman, owner of Forward Multimedia Ltd, a Trinidad based digital agency now in our 13th year. Through my experience acquired on the ground since 2011, I’ve become known as one of the foremost authorities in E-Commerce, especially as it pertains to Trinidad & Tobago.

I began writing blog articles on various topics after observing the lack of online information about local E-Commerce. These articles quickly propelled the Forward Multimedia to the number one position on Google for all major industry keywords, a position consistently held since without challenge.

In 2018 I was an invited panelist in the annual Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum. Also in 2018 I was an invited speaker for the launch of the Virtual Caribbean DNS Entrepreneurship Center (VDECC) an initiative of ICANN- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body that that coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS) worldwide.

I was also a stakeholder consultant for the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s National E-Commerce Policy which was passed in December 2018, with many of my recommendations making it to the final policy.

Most of all, I love to write AND love to write on everything website and E-Commerce related to help business owners in Trinidad & Tobago get the most out of their online presence.

ALL articles and pages on my site are written by me, in my voice, from the ground up, and for you, from a Trini perspective, using local examples and applications.

Comments (2)

Jose – June 14, 2013 - 12:58 pm:

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nice articles.. In my experiences, small businesses barely want to pay TT$3,000 for a whole website.
- Zaf Rahaman – June 14, 2013 - 1:58 pm:
  
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  Nice of you to write Jose. I agree with you but we both are looking for those who want to anyway. I’m long past the point of convincing a business owner that he needs a website and that it shouldn’t be an expense but an investment. It’s the ones who are willing to pay $3,000+ who we have to convince to make the choice of who to go with. I’d love to have your feedback on other topics for future articles.