Tunisia Ecommerce: COD Market Entry for Shopify (2026)

EasySell
2026-04-11T21:54:46+01:00

Tunisia's ecommerce market hit $215 million in 2025 and is growing 10-15% annually. There are 860 Shopify stores in Tunisia — up 74% year-over-year — but most of the market still runs on WooCommerce (49%) and PrestaShop (16%). For COD merchants looking at North Africa beyond Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria, Tunisia ecommerce is the gap nobody's filling.

Twelve million people. A 70%+ cash-on-delivery rate. A non-convertible currency that keeps international platforms out. And mobile payments that surged 81% in a single year. Tunisia sits at an inflection point where COD still dominates but digital wallets are gaining ground fast. Merchants who enter now get first-mover pricing on logistics and customer acquisition before the market matures.

Why COD Dominates Tunisia (And Won't Disappear Soon)

71% of Tunisian internet users who don't shop online say they don't trust online payment. That's 22 points higher than the global average. The reasons are specific: concerns about product quality matching what was advertised, unreliable delivery timelines, and no regulatory framework for easy refunds.

The Tunisian dinar isn't convertible. Banks issue cards that only work on domestic websites. You can't use a Tunisian bank card on Amazon or AliExpress. This means the entire payment infrastructure is built around local solutions — and cash remains the simplest one.

For Shopify merchants, this isn't a problem. It's your entry strategy. COD is the trust bridge that gets first-time buyers to order. The payment shift comes later, after you've delivered three or four times and built credibility.

Which Logistics Partners Work for Tunisia Ecommerce?

Tunisia has three reliable logistics partners for COD ecommerce, all offering cash collection at the door. The infrastructure is mature — you're not stitching together informal courier networks like in some earlier-stage markets.

MyLerz — Operates across Tunisia with 91-99% delivery success rates (industry average is 82%). Offers COD collection, try-and-buy, and returns handling. They also support credit card on delivery and mobile wallet payments.

Aramex Tunisia — Express and last-mile delivery with warehousing and distribution. Strong for merchants who also ship cross-border within North Africa.

Mallatech — Integrates 15+ shipping companies (including MyLerz, Aramex, Navex, Bestway, Jetpack) into a single dashboard. Useful if you want to split volume across carriers.

The key difference from markets like Iraq or rural Pakistan: Tunisia has reliable addressing and a postal system that works. You won't lose 15% of shipments to "address not found." The delivery infrastructure is closer to Morocco than to Libya.

Payment Landscape: COD Today, Mobile Wallets Tomorrow

Right now, 70%+ of ecommerce transactions settle in cash at the door. But the shift is accelerating faster than most merchants realize.

The Central Bank of Tunisia reported an 81% surge in mobile payments in 2025, driven by e-wallets like D17 and Flouci. There are now 371,000 active e-wallets in the country. Flouci lets users open a basic bank account via mobile, pay via QR code, and transfer money — all without visiting a branch.

What this means for your store: offer COD as your primary payment method today, but build the infrastructure for partial prepayment and mobile wallet checkout now. Merchants who offer a 5-10% prepaid discount alongside COD will capture the early digital adopters while keeping the cash buyers comfortable.

Build for French and Arabic (In That Order)

Tunisia is bilingual. Business and ecommerce lean French-first, but Arabic is the everyday language for most of the population. Your order form, product pages, and confirmation messages need both.

Most Tunisian ecommerce sites run in French as the primary language with Arabic as a toggle option. If you're entering from an English-speaking market, French is non-negotiable — it's not a "nice to have" translation, it's the baseline expectation. Arabic matters for customer service messages, WhatsApp confirmations, and COD verification flows.

EasySell's multi-language order forms support both French and Arabic with RTL layout switching, which handles the bilingual checkout without needing separate stores or custom code. You can configure different form languages per market from a single Shopify store.

The Trust Problem Is Your Competitive Advantage

Tunisia's 71% trust gap isn't just a barrier — it's a moat. Big international platforms can't easily enter because the dinar isn't convertible and the payment infrastructure is local. Local competitors are mostly on WooCommerce and PrestaShop with limited mobile optimization.

The merchants who win trust in Tunisia do three things:

1. Phone verification on orders. OTP verification via SMS drops fake COD orders significantly. Tunisian customers are accustomed to phone-based verification from banking apps — it feels normal, not intrusive.

2. WhatsApp order confirmation. Email open rates are low. WhatsApp is where Tunisian shoppers actually check messages. Send order confirmation, tracking updates, and delivery scheduling through WhatsApp.

3. Try-and-buy options. MyLerz offers this natively. Customers inspect the product at delivery before paying. It removes the quality concern that keeps 71% of potential buyers offline.

Market Entry Checklist: Tunisia on Shopify

If you're running a COD Shopify store and want to test Tunisia, here's the minimum viable setup:

1. Logistics partner. Start with MyLerz for their COD collection and high delivery success rate. Add Aramex if you need cross-border North Africa coverage.

2. Payment setup. COD as primary. Add Flouci or D17 as an alternative for tech-savvy buyers. Offer a small prepaid discount to incentivize wallet payments.

3. Language. French-first store with Arabic support for order forms and post-purchase communication.

4. Fraud prevention. Phone/OTP verification on COD orders. Tunisia's fake order rate is lower than South Asia but still requires basic screening.

5. Pricing. Display in Tunisian Dinar (TND). The average online order value in Tunisia is lower than Gulf markets — price your test catalog accordingly.

6. Delivery expectation. Set 2-4 day delivery windows for major cities (Tunis, Sfax, Sousse). Rural areas may take 5-7 days.

Where Tunisia Fits in Your North Africa Strategy

If you're already selling COD in Morocco or Algeria, Tunisia is the natural expansion. Same region, similar COD dynamics, shared French-language infrastructure. The logistics partners (MyLerz, Aramex) operate across all three markets, so your fulfillment workflow doesn't change much.

Tunisia's advantage over Algeria: better delivery infrastructure and higher internet penetration. Its advantage over Egypt: smaller market means less competition and lower customer acquisition costs. Its disadvantage: smaller total addressable market (12 million people vs. Egypt's 115 million).

For merchants testing North Africa for the first time, Morocco is still the easiest entry point. But if you're already there and looking for the next market, Tunisia offers growth at lower competition with proven logistics — and a mobile payment transition that will make the market more profitable within 2-3 years as COD rates drop.

Start with 10-20 SKUs, a French-language COD order form with phone verification, and a single logistics partner. Test for 60 days. Tunisia rewards merchants who show up early and build trust before the market gets crowded.