What is different on the ground
Payment. A large share of online orders in Egypt are paid in cash at the door, and part of those are refused. Your funnel needs order confirmation before shipping, not just a checkout.
Price. Show prices in Egyptian pounds, with delivery included, and expect the customer to compare against local alternatives. A Gulf price converted to EGP is not a price.
Dialect and tone. Egyptian Arabic in ads, on the page and in the WhatsApp replies. Gulf or formal Arabic reads as foreign and slows the decision.
Channels. TikTok and Instagram for discovery, WhatsApp for the actual sale and support, Meta for retargeting. A local phone number is not optional.
Set up before you spend
Ad accounts and pixels in your name with Egypt as the market, a local delivery partner with a stated delivery time per governorate, a returns policy in plain Egyptian Arabic, and a WhatsApp line answered during Egyptian hours. Then test three products, not thirty.
A seven-point launch checklist
- Price in EGP, delivery included
One number the customer can compare. Fees discovered at the door become refused parcels.
- Confirm every order before shipping
A WhatsApp confirmation within the hour cuts refusals and catches wrong addresses.
- Rewrite the creative in Egyptian Arabic
Not a translation: a rewrite by someone who sells to Egyptians. The hook, the offer and the objections are different.
- Start on TikTok with three products
Short native video, the price on screen, a real Egyptian voice. Find the product that moves before you scale the catalogue.
- Give delivery a number
Days to Cairo, days to Alexandria, days to Upper Egypt. Vague delivery is the second reason parcels come back.
- Answer on WhatsApp in Egyptian hours
Evening is peak. A reply the next morning is a lost sale.
- Measure delivered orders, not checkouts
Judge the launch on parcels delivered and paid per campaign. It is the only number that survives cash on delivery.
The short version
Localise price, payment, delivery and dialect before you localise the ads. Launch with a few products on TikTok and WhatsApp, confirm every order, and judge the launch on delivered orders.