Leading bookshop chain Diwan Bookstores has forged a strategic alliance with Souq.com, the largest e-commerce marketplace in the Arab world, as part of efforts to benefit from the numerous online marketing opportunities and extend its reach beyond its traditional customer base.
The unique partnership has paved the way for Diwan Bookstores to launch its online store on Souq.com (www.souq.com). Within weeks of its integration online, the e-store of Diwan Bookstores has witnessed extensive traffic from Egyptian readers and those interested in books, music CDs and movie DVDs from all age groups.
Diwan Bookstores is one of the leading distributors of books and cultural products in Egypt. Its tie-up with Souq.com is aimed at developing online marketing of books and cultural products by utilizing the technical and logistics capabilities of souq.com, which ranges from complete transactional security through Souq SafePay to purchases delivery to customers. To browse and buy from Diwan Bookstore's new online e-store, log on to: http://stores.souq.com/Diwan.
Omar Soudodi, General Manager of Souq Egypt, has expressed immense pleasure in working with Diwan Bookstores to provide innovative services to the cultural and educational sectors in Egypt.
"Souq.com is pleased to join hands with Diwan Bookstores to launch this strategic marketing approach. Our mutual cooperation provides an opportunity to serve new segments of the market, especially intellectuals and those interested in broadening their horizons. This tie-up is in line with our commitment to delivering diversified products and services to our customers in different categories ranging from IT and electronics to accessories and home appliances", said Mr Soudodi.
"25% of Egyptians use the internet to learn about the products they would like to purchase and 12.5% actually buy the products online so for Diwan Bookstores it is essential to establish a presence online to cater to this growing segment in Egypt", Added Mr. Soudodi
Through its e-store on souq.com, Diwan Bookstores offers customers all products that can be found at its bookshops – an extensive collection of books covering many topics including literature and specialized subjects such as investment, financial services, food, sports, vocational development, nursing or family issues, as well as music and movies.
Nihal Shawky, board member of the mother company that owns Diwan Bookstores, said: "There's an exponential growth in online e-commerce in Egypt, primarily due to the rapid increase in internet users along with other local factors like traffic congestion and construction projects in different cities. Also, the new generation of youth prefers modern methods and access to different services, and online shopping is fast becoming their favorite. Our partnership with souq.com is part of our efforts to reach out to more customers and give existing customers a hassle-free experience and the choice to visit us quickly and make purchases instantly".
She added: "As we strive to make our books and cultural products easily accessible and available to all in Egypt, we identified souq.com as an ideal partner, especially because it is equipped with the technical and logistics expertise, as well as a large and growing customer base. Souq.com offers us an exciting platform from which we can better serve our customers, improve our competitiveness and increase our sales and customer base".
Souq.com Egypt provides complete transactional security through Souq SafePay, a distinguished service that verifies all transactions between buyers and sellers ensuring it is 100 percent secure for complete peace of mind, as well as speedy delivery to customers through a network of partners in Egypt.
Souq.com is enjoying unprecedented growth in Egypt since its launch earlier this year. Souq is currently the fastest growing e-commerce site in Egypt. It has moved up to be ranked the 255th most popular website in Egypt on the list of most popular websites updated regularly by Alexa Internet Inc. This is a sharp improvement to the list released by Alexa earlier this year, which ranked Souq at 7,000. Souq.com's exponential growth is being driven by its popularity as the premier online marketplace for people looking to buy or sell new and used goods over the Internet. Souq is currently tripling its registered user base every month, and doubling the volume of goods sold online every month.
