E-commerce – broadly defined as the sale of goods and services facilitated through the Internet – is a key growth opportunity for Albania. E-commerce is rapidly becoming an integral part of the global economy. Albanian e-commerce is already emerging in several economic sectors, including the tourism industry and business process outsourcing (BPO), which have been quick to embrace online markets.

Albania has a limited e-commerce penetration. In the World Bank’s 2017 Findex survey, only 7% of Albanians reported buying products online, compared to an average of 14 percent in the rest of the Western Balkans region and 70 percent in the US market.

However in 2020, the COVID-19 crisis has also led to a further major push for the digitalization of the Albanian economy. An update of the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2020 reveals that almost 20% of Albanian firms surveyed have started or increased online business activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also in a World Bank survey approximately 55% of Albanian respondent’s report that they have increased their use of online shopping since the beginning of the pandemic.

In order for the use of e-commerce to continue growing, Module 1 has been created, which deals with the regulation of e-commerce, the legal framework related to the creation and management of an e-commerce business, as well as all other information necessary to open an online business.

Also in this module you will find guides that show interactively how to open an e-commerce business, how to protect consumers and what are the laws related to the establishment and management of an e-commerce business.

Module 1 contains:

• Interactive guides explaining e-commerce regulation
• The legal framework of electronic commerce
• Documents and manuals that will serve all potential and existing e-marketers for their online business