Innovative Marketing Through The Web

1. Innovative Marketing Through The Web Presented By Dr. Amany Asfour President of Egyptian Business Women Association (EBWA) President of Business and Professional Women –Egypt (BPW-Egypt) President of African Society of Women Empowerment Representative of Civil Society for North Africa in African Union Member of Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) Member of international federation of Business and Professional Women (BPWI)

2. Introduction “The emergence of electronic commerce over the past decade has radically transformed the economic landscape. For developing countries, the digital revolution offers unprecedented opportunities for economic growth and development, as entrepreneurs from Bangalore to Guadalajara to Dakar can testify.” Kofi A. Annan

3. Objectives of ICT Applications • Mainstreaming of gender in global market. • Economic empowerment of women. • Women entrepreneurship promotion.

4. E-commerce and Women Entrepreneurship Promotion • E-commerce Definition: • Any use of information and communications technology by a business that helps to improve its interactions with customers or suppliers. • The definition encompasses both domestic and international business. SME’s may find beneficial ways to use e-commerce to enhance relationships with their domestic customers and suppliers as well as internationally.

5. Creating class of women entrepreneurs • One of the most powerful applications of ICT in the domain of knowledge networking is electronic commerce. Electronic commerce refers not just to selling of products and services online but to the promotion of a new class of ICT-savvy women entrepreneurs in both rural and urban areas. • Women over time have learnt the advantages offered by ICT and its potential in opening up windows to the outside world. This has put them in a greater control over the activities performed by them- laying the foundation for entrepreneurship development

6. Potential Gains from e-Commerce • Find new customers – and partners and suppliers – domestically and internationally • Serve current and new customers better, hence offering more value to them • Improve the efficiency of their business processes • Offer entirely new services and products – even start entirely new businesses.

7. Marketing • Marketing is always an obstacle facing women entrepreneurship. ICT is crucial for marketing of products.

8. ICT Benefit For Women Owners Of SMEs • E-commerce may offer them comparatively more advantages to find new customers and suppliers especially in markets they have not easily been able to reach before – either internationally or regionally. • Access to Information: • The most valuable application is information accessing to facilitate their business and generating and disseminating information about it. Women entrepreneurs globally have said that access to information, especially market information, is their first priority in accelerating the growth of their businesses5.

9. Marketing Via The Web • What can we do as Business Women Organizations in this aspect?

10. E-Marketing • During the 2nd Pan AfroArab Congress of Business and Professional Women held in Cairo, April, 2003, it was recommended to establish an E-Catalogue gathering the products and services of women entrepreneurs in the Arab World and Africa to achieve economic integration in the region and open international markets which acts as a marketing tool to empower women economically.

11. Business pages of BPWI A Tool for Marketing

12. Just put into the address bar the URL for a home page http://www.bpw-business.org

13. And there you are! With all 6 languages You choose a language and then you choose “Search”.

14. If you want to search for a holiday If you want to buy handicrafts If you wish to learn Belly Dancing

15. Whatever you want to buy! • Wherever you want to go! • Whenever your time allows. • You just click and you are there. http://www.bpw-business.org

16. Any business woman can subscribe and then her product will be accessible to 50000 members of BPWI in 100 countries.

17. Imagine how powerful is E-Marketing.

18. During a Brain storming session in Addis Ababa with his Excellency President Alpha Conare, President of the African Union Commission. The issue of Economic Women Empowerment was addressed, and E-marketing was a crucial factor for the support of women owners of Small & Medium Enterprises in Africa to achieve economic integration in Africa and open new market for the African Continent.

19. Hence the African Union is starting, in collaboration with the Egyptian Business Women Association and The African Society of Economic Women Empowerment, a program for marketing African products via the internet.

20. Partnership between: • Government And • Civil Society Organizations.

21. In Egypt • Real Partnership between National Council of Women (NCW) headed by Her Excellency Mrs Suzan Mubarak and Egyptian Business Women Association. • The NCW is starting a project for marketing through the web and the Egyptian Business Women Association will work in close collaboration with NCW regarding this aspect.

22. Goals & Objectives of E-Marketing • Economic Women Empowerment. • Main streaming of gender in the global market. • Supporting small and medium enterprises. • Achieve economic integration within the region.

23. E-Marketing is a MUST in a global world

24. Thank You