Brick and mortar store owners call for e-commerce regulations

AMMAN — Licensed store owners on Tuesday called for monitoring and regulating e-commerce and finding appropriate solutions to the significant effects the technology has on in-store sales. 

Sultan Allan, head of the Clothing and Textile Merchants Syndicate, called for finding “a radical solution” with regard to the sales tax on basic commodities, especially clothes and footwear.

In a statement Allan questioned the reason behind Jordan’s lack of laws regulating e-commerce, which is competing with traditional stores that pay fees and rent.

To increase sales, he called for revisiting sales tax imposed on goods and services.

According to Allan, the main problem is the tax burden imposed on citizens, as the sales tax does not correspond to the economic conditions of the Jordanian people.

“Since the start of electronic commerce more than several years ago, the percentage of sales began to decrease significantly in licensed markets and stores,” clothing store owner Yazan Mohmoud told The Jordan Times.

Trader Hassan Taha said that people prefer electronic commerce due to the ease of shopping from home, which saves them the time and effort of going out.

“In addition, prices offered by e-commerce are sometimes cheaper than licensed stores, and this encourages people to buy from them,” he said.

“Consequently this affects the sales of licensed stores. I think that the solution is to organise e-commerce,” Taha noted.

Licensed stores come with the responsibility of employing people and paying taxes, he added.

“The number of e-commerce parcels entering the Kingdom in the first half of 2022 increased by 100 per cent compared with the same period of 2021, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, The Jordan Times reported previously.