Showing posts with label online shopping site. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online shopping site. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Celebrate Ramadan lift - Online retailers

ECommerce in the region is expected to reach $15 billion this year

Global eCommerce providers such as Amazon do not have a presence in the Middle East,allowing local names to build strong regional franchises.

Dubai: As Gulf Arabs jetted off on their Eid holidays to mark the end of Ramadan on Friday, the region’s online retailers are celebrating a shift to shopping via mobile devices.


The retail haven of the Gulf may be lagging behind the world in digital consumer patterns, but the shopaholic region is catching up — and the lunar month when Muslims forgo food and water from dawn to dusk has been a boon for online sellers.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, chief executive of Souq.com, a market-leading shopping platform, says the proliferation of smartphones in large local markets, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is helping push shoppers online.

Souq.com, which is doubling sales every year and has financial backing from Naspers, the South African media group, expects a 20-25 per cent increase in traffic during Ramadan as people shop for Eid gifts, including expatriates buying presents for relatives back home.

“We see a big see push online and [changing] consumer habits due to mobile,” says Mr Mouchawar.

eCommerce in the region is expected to reach $15 billion this year, only 1 per cent of retail spending across the Middle East, according to Criteo, an online marketing company.

But that is a two-thirds increase since 2012, and the region is now regarded as one of fastest-growing online markets in the world — up 30 per cent year on year, compared with a worldwide average of 17 per cent.

Studying digital consumer patterns last Ramadan, Criteo reported a 23 per cent rise in retail sales and 42 per cent increase in online travel transactions for the most important month in the Muslim calendar.

“Some merchants are up 300 per cent in the first 10 days,” says Omar Soudodi, managing director of Payfort, an online payment platform that services the region’s largest eCommerce brands.

As the holidays start at the end of the month, however, buying patterns shift from computers to phones, with mobile purchases up 29 per cent in this period, according to Criteo. In Bahrain, almost half of all eCommerce transactions are made via a mobile device.

The fasting rhythm of Ramadan also has a big impact on buying patterns.

Fatma Al Mulla, an entrepreneur who runs one of a growing number of online cottage industries set up by Gulf women, sees strong orders through the night for her range of clothing and accessories as locals become more nocturnal.

The region’s shopping lifestyle, focused on the mall, also shifts. “We like to invite people into our houses, people don’t go to the mall — it’s time for the family,” says Ms Mulla.

Ulugbek Yuldashev, managing director of Awok, an online retailer, says online shopping jumps 35 per cent between the 7pm breakfast, known as iftar, and the night-time suhoor meal, a feast intended to sustain individuals through the next day’s fast.

Demand for kitchen gadgets has prompted UAE-based Awok to stock up on blenders and rice cookers used for family-sized meals.

Ramadan, renowned for family-oriented consumption, drives subscriptions to Netflix and Icflix, a regional streaming platform. Media channels save their best dramas and comedies for the family-focused month.

Despite the rise of online in the region, cash remains king, with about 70 per cent of eCommerce purchases settled with cash on delivery, owing to latent suspicion of online transactions.

That is one of several barriers to the growth of online retail in the region, says Saygin Yalcin, an internet entrepreneur who runs Sellanycar.com.

Limited logistics capacity is another factor, forcing successful retailers to build up their own delivery capacity within individual markets.

Tough laws that threaten jail for business operators who cannot repay debts have crimped the industry’s development, says Mr Yalcin, who sold his shopping club website to Souq.com in 2012.

Global eCommerce providers such as Amazon do not have a presence in the Middle East, allowing local names to build strong regional franchises.

“Local guys were quick to set up strong local presences, whereas big international ones went for global platforms,” says Dirk Henke, Criteo’s managing director for eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Now locals literally rule eCommerce here.”

Source: awok.co/ACPWP2
Website: www.awok.com
Post By: Ramiz Ali Khan

Ramadan car hunt: Models grabbing UAE residents' attention

Cash discounts, free insurance, extended warranties on offer


Most car dealers try to wow those looking for a new set of wheels during the holy month of Ramadan. The offers include cash discounts, free insurance, extended warranties and service packages to lure customers into changing their old cars.

This urge to change/upgrade cars is not only seen in the brand new category, but also in the used car segment.

According to Dubizzle, a classifieds website in the region, several residents surf and scout for a good deal on wheels during this time of the year.


Its data shows that during Ramadan 2014, the top three searches for used car brands were BMW, Honda and Jeep; while the top three searched car models were Ford Mustang, Mercedes C63 and Honda Civic.

Toyota tops the most listed sedan cars in the country. The findings show that Toyota came first with its Camry model at an average price of Dh32,172.24 with an average mileage of 114,192km and model of the year 2008.

The second and third places went to Honda Civic 2009 and Accord 2010. Luxury cars were among the top three most searched sedan cars in the UAE. Mercedes and Porsche took the first and second place with their AMG C63 and Panamera models, while the third place went to Toyota Camry.

Among the German models in the UAE, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class took the first place, followed by Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW came third with its 3-Series models. For the top three most searched German models in the UAE, Mercedes-Benz C63 came first, Porsche 911 4S came second, and Mercedes-Benz G63 & S63 AMG came third.


Convertible cars were also something that people looked up on the website with the most searched being the Mini Cooper convertible, Audi A4 convertible and BMW M3 convertible.
The number one searched car throughout the year was the BMW 3-Series, followed by Land Rover’s Range Rover HSE and Jeep Wrangler.
Most people who took to Dubizzle to look for used cars performed the most searches at around 1pm and then the traffic dropped until after iftar, says the classifieds site. However, search activity went up again after iftar with a drop witnessed again during the night with the lowest search volume after imsak, around 6am.
A previous research by UAE-based online retail company, Awok.com, revealed that the hours between iftar and suhour are the most popular time to shop online in the country during this month.

Source:awok.co/MWTBnF
Website: www.awok.com
Post By : Ramiz Ali Khan

Monday, May 4, 2015

UAE Online Retail Showing Exponential Growth - PRNEWSWIRE

AWOK.com sees triple figure sales increase since its inception in 2013 


By 2020 experts predict that e-commerce sales in the GCC are expected to touch $41.5 billion, one of the highest growths across the industry worldwide1. Internet spending in the Middle East is on the rise and GCC countries are expected to experience a 40% growth in e-commerce by 2020 according to industry research analysts Frost & Sullivan. In the two years since the company was first created, AWOK.com has grown substantially, initially dealing in electronics and gadgets and now selling a wide-ranging versatile product selection of household appliances, jewellery, consumer electronics and health and beauty products with new products added to the website on a daily basis. The site was first established in April 2013 with the intention of bringing reliable, quality products sold at the most competitive prices to consumers in the UAE.



AWOK.com, the UAE-based online shopping platform hits the two-year mark in April 2015, boasting a phenomenal 500% increase in sales compared to its first year of trading. The online platform also announced it will be launching a mobile app for consumers to be released later on this year. Since its launch, the website has witnessed strong year-on-year growth as well as increasing its portfolio of consumer goods. The company has grown to employ over 200 staff in the UAE and looks to increase its offerings to other countries in the region. The company's success is a testament to the rapidly growing e-commerce industry in the region.

"AWOK.com's solid growth is testament to the brand's commitment in providing quality products at consistently low prices. Reaching this two-year milestone is a great achievement for AWOK.com and we look forward to achieving future growth in line with our third year targets. We are grateful to our loyal customers and are always striving for ways to identify and meet our consumers' needs. 2015 marks a big year for us with the introduction of our mobile app being made available to consumers later on in the year. Our consumers already understand that online shopping is safe, easy and fast, and with our new mobile application they will be able to order must-have products directly from their mobile devices," said Ulugbek Yuldashev, Managing Director of AWOK.com.

With a vast warehouse, speedy delivery across the UAE and one-on-one customer service, AWOK.comprides itself on being a leader in the Middle East's growing online market. Setting itself apart from other online shopping websites, AWOK.com operates all logistics in-house, allowing it to keep prices continuously low through sourcing directly from manufacturers, distributors and re-sellers. AWOK.com runs its own warehouse, a fleet of delivery vans as well as an in-house customer service team meaning that savings are passed directly on to the consumer. A promise to deliver to customers in the UAE within 12-24 hours and a dedicated aftersales tech support service on-hand ensures the company's goal to attain 100% customer satisfaction is on track.

For more information on AWOK, please visit www.awok.com


About AWOK.com
AWOK.com is the UAE's leading online shopping platform. The e-commerce site is home to reliable, quality products sold at the most competitive prices. Founded by Ulugbek Yuldashev in April 2013, AWOK.com initially sold electronics and gadgets however the company has grown substantially since, now selling a wide ranging, versatile product selection including consumer electronics, health & beauty, household appliances and jewellery with new items added to the website daily.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/uae-online-retail-showing-exponential-growth-498428891.html
Post By: Ramiz Ali Khan