Close on the heels of Souq.com reporting over AED 2 million in transactions conducted on its portal last month, the online auction marketplace launched by Maktoob.com has painted an positive picture for the healthy growth of e-commerce activities in the Arab world.
A top official of Souq.com, which has emerged as the premier destination for online auctions in the UAE and Jordan, said that the high number of transaction activity conducted on souq.com was an indicator of the trust of people in the platform. At any given time, over 5,000 products were being sold on souq.com simultaneously.
“Currently, hundreds of small businesses and individual sellers and buyers in the UAE are using Souq.com as a reliable interface for their transactions,” explained Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO of Souq.com. “This positive trend is driving us to introduce more and more interesting features to encourage new and existing users to trade online.”
Mouchawar attributed the high level of Internet awareness among UAE residents and the progressive policies of the government for the rapid growth of internet use in the region. In addition, the growing confidence of Internet users in e-commerce transactions was another important factor for the success of souq.com, he added.
Through the website, Souq.com users can browse and bid for a wide range of products and services being put up on auction by individual sellers. The products include computers, mobiles, software, books, fashion accessories, music CD’s, automobiles, real estate, home décor, and furniture, among others.
Users are also offered a variety of payment options such as the Cash on Delivery (COD) and the CashU prepaid card. Souq.com acts in the capacity of an escrow and holds onto the payment until the goods are received by the buyer. The payment is released after the buyer confirms the delivery of the goods.
“We have tailored our system to suit the interests of the local community,” explained Mouchawar. “Since the majority of UAE residents are still not comfortable with the idea of revealing their credit card details online, we devised a method whereby users could execute transactions as securely as possible”.
Another example of the local flavour of Souq is its ‘mobile alert’ feature. “The UAE has one of the highest percentages of mobile penetration in the world. We decided to use this to our advantage and alerts regarding bids are sent to Souq.com users via mobile,” said Mouchawar.
To avoid the time lead time between the sale, and the seller actually receiving the payment in bank account, Souq.com has recently added another innovative feature on to its portfolio of services. As soon as Souq.com receives the payment, an equivalent sum will be credited to the seller’s ‘MyWallet’. The user will be able to withdraw funds from his ‘MyWallet’ at any time upon request.
A unique characteristic of Souq.com is that all its employees have got to be registered Souq.com users themselves. They are required to use the interface to buy and sell products and each must have a rating. “This will give each employee an understanding of the way the website functions as well as allow him to be intrinsically involved in the passion that has become Souq.com,” added Mouchawar.
“Our objective with Souq.com has been to serve the residents of the UAE, irrespective of nationality,” explained Sameh Lutfi, the Marketing Manager of Souq.Com. “This is one of the reasons that every item is monitored as soon as it is listed on to the website. It is also a matter of policy that a new user can only bid on a limited number of items online; only once he garners positive rating, will he be allowed to do more on Souq.com.”
By providing a platform allowing other companies to drive their own businesses, Souq.com has played an important role in boosting e-commerce in the region. Individuals and small businesses have been able to entirely bypass the difficulties that come with setting up new businesses and have been able to profit with greater margins than they would have been able to in normal trading channels.
“We continue to gain impetus thanks to the tremendous enthusiasm of our local community and hope that by continuous improvements and increasing features we can benefit our customers even further in the months to come,” concluded Lutfi.
About souq.com:
Launched recently, souq.com (www.souq.com) is a comprehensive people-to-people online marketplace offering a range of consumer items to a discerning market of buyers. The company is backed by Maktoob.com, the leading and most popular online community in the Arab world. Souq.com is headquartered in the Dubai Internet City and is managed by a team of highly qualified professionals with experience in Internet and auction management.
