E-commerce has been a growing trend in Georgia since COVID-19. According to a report titled ‘E-commerce in Georgia’ from Galt and Taggart, a Georgian investment bank, the e-commerce market grew from 11% in 2018 to 23% in 2020. By 2025, the report predicts that online shopping will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 52%, yielding a penetration rate of 4.7%.
The report states that the biggest online shopping sector in 2020 was comprised of electronics and household appliances, accounting for 65% of the total sales. The second-highest category was apparel and accessories.
Davit Phanjakidze, a student in Georgia, like many of his friends and acquaintances, regularly uses shipping companies when he buys items online. He says that buying things through platforms in different countries, and paying the additional price to ship them here, is worth it, primarily because of the variety it offers.
“In the past, people had to travel to find high quality goods, and sometimes they would go somewhere without knowing what the quality was going to be,” said Phanjakidze. “It might be bad, and they made the trip for no reason. With online shopping, it gives us choices. On a website, there are multiple options, but if you go in person there might only be two.”
Although Georgia’s average is still significantly lower than that of countries in Europe, according to the Galt and Taggart report, e-commerce will continue to increase due to several factors: Users will become more inclined to shop online, people will begin to spend more annually, and local online retailers will rack in more funds through international spending.
Several shipping companies have sprung up to take advantage of this growing e-commerce trend, and regularly seek to introduce innovative novelties to spur the growth of the sector.
Among them is Georgian shipping company USA2GEORGIA. Founded in 2008, USA2GEORGIA is a part of the International Air Transport Association, which allows shipments to/from different countries worldwide. The company has added three top trading partners, including China, the United States, and Turkey, over the past few years.
On May 28, the company announced the launch of its new brand, CARGO2GEORGIA, which will allow customers to be able to receive full and group ocean shipments from China and the US, and road shipments from Turkey.
“CARGO2GEORGIA aims to optimize the international cargo transportation system by providing a wide range of services for small, medium-sized, and large businesses,” the company wrote in its press release. “This includes cargo transportation from the company’s warehouses or off-site loading, along with customs services in Georgia.”
According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), an online distribution platform based on geographic economic activities, Georgia’s imports in 2022 were primarily from Turkey, China, and the US, along with Russia and Germany. These observations align with USA2GEORGIA’s statement, which explains that the number of products imported from these top three countries continues to increase. Due to this consistent rise in imports, CARGO2GEORGIA was created for people to buy more products internationally, at a competitive rate, with greater efficiency.
Under the USA2GEORGIA name is LOCKER.GE, TURKEY2GEORGIA, CHINA2GEORIGA, and now CARGO2GEORIGA. Presently, the amount of cargo that is transported internationally is nearly eight million units, according to the brand’s website. With its new venture, the company hopes to use its experienced logistics team, paired with international partners and technology, to promptly deliver services at a reasonable price.
“By introducing CARGO2GEORGIA, USA2GEORGIA further expands its service offerings, providing complex logistics solutions for international cargo transportation,” it wrote in its press release. “These new services contribute to the growth and diversification of products available in the Georgian market, benefiting both businesses and individual consumers.”
Other companies in Georgia, such as DHL, a German logistics company, also deliver shipments worldwide. Through this service, items can be bought and brought to any country, using the customer’s transportation of choice, be it road, air, or ocean. Another service, KiwiPost, is also increasingly popular in Georgia, delivering packages to and from the US, United Kingdom, Turkey, China, and Greece.
USA2GEORGIA originally opened its branches in Tbilisi, but in recent months has been expanding to other areas of the country. At the moment, there are 11 branches in Tbilisi, one in Batumi, and one in Kutaisi. One thing the company prides itself on is the development of self-service terminals, first introduced here a decade ago, to decrease the time spent picking up shipment orders, a feature which has since been taken up by others in the business, KiwiPost among them.
“Recall that the idea of self-service terminals did not exist in the world until 2015. It was first developed by the company USA2GEORGIA and successfully implemented in our country. Thanks to this novelty, the reception of parcels became even easier and faster,” the company boasts.
By Shelbi R. Ankiewicz
