Syria today witnesses increasing interest in website design and digital store creation among entrepreneurs and small businesses, despite the challenges they face. According to data from Aftership, a specialized e-commerce platform, the number of e-stores in Syria in 2025 reached only about 146 stores, a modest number reflecting the beginning of the digital journey in a country that suffered from years of war. Although launching these stores was officially unlicensed for a long time, e-commerce infiltrated the Syrian market driven by living hardship conditions and high unemployment, pushing many – especially from the youth and housewives category – to start online selling projects as a source of income. This reality produced two models of platforms: the first relies on social networks and commission marketing with limited resources, and the second began to appear recently with support from larger traders and market openness to foreign goods (such as products from the Chinese Shein platform). Despite the novelty of the experience, it revealed Syrian consumers' enthusiasm for online shopping and product diversity, met with trust obstacles and infrastructure, most notably the absence of legislation and weak electronic payment systems.
Reality of E-commerce Stores in Syria
and Their Challenges
Digital infrastructure in Syria remains modest after the war, directly reflecting on small businesses' ability to build effective digital presence. Internet penetration is estimated at only about 35.8% of the population, with low connection speeds (average 4 Mbps for fixed lines). This limited penetration means that the local e-commerce audience is still relatively small, and many small businesses find their primary audience through social media platforms rather than independent websites. Indeed, Facebook and Instagram pages have become parallel digital markets in both Syria and Lebanon, where entrepreneurs market their products directly without website creation costs. This flexibility enabled many home-based and micro businesses to launch, but it was accompanied by fierce competition and concerns about product quality and seller reliability. Additionally, online shopping in Syria faces major logistical obstacles; with the absence of reliable local payment gateways, most transactions rely on cash on delivery or through intermediaries requiring advance transfers, weakening consumer trust and limiting digital commerce spread. Despite these difficulties, recent years' experience shows that the Syrian market has gradually begun accepting the idea of online shopping. Young people who got used to buying clothes and electronics online – even if it required waiting weeks for shipping – contributed to spreading a new shopping culture. It can be said that the absence of regulatory legislation did not prevent e-commerce from growing spontaneously, but it keeps this growth limited and accompanied by risks related to consumer and seller rights alike.
On the other hand, local and regional initiatives have emerged to bridge some gaps. In neighboring Lebanon – which shares with Syria the suffering from infrastructure and weak platform trust – banking institutions have provided solutions that facilitate small businesses' entry into the world of e-commerce. For example, Bank of Beirut launched an e-commerce platform that allows merchants to easily create their digital store and accept card payments locally and internationally directly into their accounts. This platform attracted a large number of startups and charitable organizations in Lebanon during the COVID crisis, enabling them to collect their revenues safely and systematically without needing high technical expertise. Such solutions confirm that financial innovation can support small projects in difficult environments like those experienced by these countries. In Syria, local banking alternatives remain very limited, but the Lebanese experience may carry important lessons: adopting simple and secure electronic payment methods – in cooperation with the banking sector or financial technology companies – may raise e-commerce trust levels and encourage more small businesses to design their own websites instead of relying exclusively on social platforms.
Comparison with Saudi Arabia
and Lebanon:
Where Does Syria Stand?
When comparing the Syrian scene with its counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, sharp contrasts emerge that clarify the extent of economic and regulatory environment impact. Saudi Arabia represents a regional success story in adopting e-commerce on a large scale; the Saudi e-commerce market value reached about $16.75 billion in 2023, with annual growth rates approaching 18%. This recovery is due to clear government support and a range of initiatives within Vision 2030 to develop the digital economy. For example, the Kingdom launched in 2025 an initiative through the Saudi E-commerce Council to provide 650 free e-stores for very small and small companies, aiming to stimulate them to enter the digital commerce world and reduce technical and financial obstacles. The initiative – in cooperation with an Italian software company – only requires that the establishment be Saudi and small and does not have a previous store. These steps show how Saudi Arabia managed to integrate startups into digital transformation and made e-commerce an essential part even for the smallest businesses.
As for Lebanon, despite having digitally experienced human cadres and high internet usage rates, its recent economic crisis hindered institutional e-commerce development. Estimates indicate that the Lebanese e-commerce market size did not exceed $60 million in 2023, a very modest figure reflecting declining purchasing power and weak investment in this field. Lebanon witnessed a temporary boom in online shopping during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and beyond, where necessity pushed many youth to launch online selling projects as a reaction to economic collapse and unemployment. But this boom relied almost exclusively on social media platforms and cash-on-delivery service, in the absence of legal and regulatory infrastructure to organize e-commerce. Therefore, the Lebanese experience remains dual-faced: on one hand, it proved that small businesses can quickly adapt to reality by transitioning to digital selling as a survival option, and on the other hand, it highlighted the urgent need for government support to improve infrastructure (such as internet networks and logistics services) and enact laws that protect consumers and regulate the market. Without that support, e-commerce remains an attractive but challenging option, which closely resembles Syria's current situation.
In conclusion, it becomes clear that Syrian small businesses stand at a digital crossroads. On one hand, they have the example of prosperous Saudi Arabia where electronic payment is widespread and infrastructure is integrated, allowing any emerging store to reach a wide segment locally and internationally. On the other hand, they see in Lebanon a picture closer to their reality, where individual and youth initiatives led digital growth amid weak official support. Bridging the gap requires multi-level measures in Syria: developing local payment and delivery services, updating legal frameworks to protect electronic transactions, and spreading a culture of trust in online shopping among the public. With the recent relative lifting of economic sanctions and the return of some commercial openness, Syria has an opportunity to benefit from regional experiences and avoid others' mistakes. Ultimately, designing a website or digital store is not just a technological luxury for the Syrian small business, but may become a lifeline that expands its markets beyond narrow local borders and gives it the ability to compete in the era of accelerating digital economy.
References
- Al Jazeera Net – Challenges Facing the Launch of E-commerce in Syria
- Leb Economy – E-commerce in Lebanon: Fierce Competition and Lost Trust
- Wafaa Magazine – Bank of Beirut E-commerce Platform and Empowering Small Businesses
- Arabian Business – Middle East E-commerce Market Report 2024
- Arabian Business – Saudi E-commerce Council Initiative to Support Small Stores
- Al-Araby Al-Jadeed – War Hinders E-commerce in Lebanon