To thoroughly appreciate the extent to which the global business landscape has been transformed by the advent of E-commerce you have to immerse yourself in the journey itself. Not ‘many moons’ ago trading was conducted – for the most part – through the physical exchange of goods for cash or cheque payments in what, all too often, were protracted and inevitably time consuming procedures. Some of those procedures could, perhaps, be bearable once they were limited solely to simple, across-the-counter transactions that involved the swift exchange of cash for limited quantities of goods. Weightier buying experiences, however, particularly in instances where there is considerable physical distance between buyer and seller, is an altogether different matter.
Simply put, E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the exchange of goods and services for payment, utilizing the internet to address the administrative/transactional aspects of the process. The practice relies for its effectiveness on the considerable application of what are known as digital platforms, including websites, mobile apps and social media. These tools have dramatically reduced the level of physical ‘hassle’ associated with the practice of trading over long distances. The value of E-commerce becomes even more apparent when one considers the complexities which, not many ‘moons’ ago, used to be associated with trading beyond borders. What the advent of E-commerce has also done is to significantly broaden the entrepreneurial landscape, allowing for the establishment of a new regimen of services as well as service providers who have now embraced E-commerce as an indispensable trading tool.
Here in the Caribbean, an insatiable appetite for technology coupled with an eagerness to grow, have created more than ample space for E-commerce as a trading tool. Not only have traditional business establishments ‘caught on’ and ‘bought into’ the convenience associated with embracing E-commerce, the method of trading has also been particularly appealing to younger ‘tech savvy’ emerging entrepreneurs who have come to see trading as a practice that recruits technology to make life less of a hassle. Created in 2015, West Tech Shipping has, over time, left its ‘footprint’ across other parts of the region, operating in Caribbean countries that includes St Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, St Marten, Barbados, St Vincent, Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda. In June last year, West Tech came ‘a-calling’ in Guyana. Its ‘birth’ was the brainchild of the company’s owners, former MICROSOFT employee, Rashid Jean-Baptiste, and his wife, Amelyn.
What is widely embraced by consumers utilizing the E-commerce option is the role that it plays in helping to reduce (and in some instances to eliminate altogether) the ‘hassle’ of the over-the-counter alternative. Conventional over the counter transactions are now deemed by significant numbers of Caribbean consumers to be irksome and needlessly time consuming, particularly when account is taken of the volumes of goods that are moved these days. E-commerce is about being engaged in pursuing optional important pursuits while letting technology do the ‘hard work.’ As what is, these days, by far the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean, Guyana continues to build a reputation as a ‘luxury home’ for E-commerce as a transactional tool. Enter West Tech, a technology-driven company with ownership roots in the Caribbean that is knocking loudly on the door of a country which, in terms of its development aspirations, is chomping at the bit.
When the Stabroek Business spoke with the company’s local Operations Manager, Aminatha Austin earlier this week, she agreed to share with us aspects of the role that it seeks to play in Guyana. West Tech’s mission, Ms. Austin told the Stabroek Business, is to provide Guyana that is fast acquiring global attention as a key Caribbean business hub, services that burnish the country’s reputation as a country to do business with. “Our growing attraction as the provider of a service that is of critical importance to Guyana is rooted in our application of both the human touch and the available technology as well as in the way we go about our work. What we have also done is to leverage the CEO’s background in seeking to create an image that will attract attention and patronage,” Ms. Austin told the Stabroek Business.
Beyond that, West Tech’s local Operations Manager told the Stabroek Business that the company derives considerable satisfaction from catering to the interests of the country’s continually growing small business community. Its customers include Hair Salon Proprietors, Mechanics, and Boutique Operators who are numbered among the country’s business owners that are continuing to strengthen links with overseas suppliers. Ms. Austin also told the Stabroek Business that the company is prepared to work with the local energy sector. With its primary departure port in Miami, West Tech Shipping’s Warehouse is strategically positioned to facilitate the seamless movement of cargo from Miami to various Caribbean destinations, including Guyana. Mindful of the ongoing and rapid socio-economic transformation that is unfolding in Guyana, the company will be moving to establish ‘outposts’ in Linden and Berbice in order to extend its ‘reach’ into other spaces across the country.
