Business & Money | Monday 20 November, 2017 2:20 am |

E-commerce in the Middle East is coming of age, slated to explode to a 69-billion-dollar industry in only the next two years.1 It’s a market correction long in the making, the result of an advanced, tech-savvy society bridging the gap between the 2% of retail sales conducted online in 2016, and 15% of retail sales during the same period in mature e-commerce markets.

 

Investment is heating up in this space as well, with more VC activity in Middle East e-commerce in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2016. To many industry leaders across the region, however, investment is only the first step.

 

“Beyond investment, e-commerce truly represents a cultural shift in how societies think about consumption,” says Majed Al Tahan, Co-founder & CEO of Danube Online. “There’s an experience to the supermarket. Quality you trust, and a vast selection at your fingertips. With e-commerce grocery shopping, getting people to trust that they will experience the same quality of produce and service with significantly more convenience, takes time.”

 

According to Al Tahan, Danube’s e-commerce grocery platform and app, hosted on www.danube.sa has launched a number of initiatives  to shift public behaviour and the  “Green Friday” initiative is nod to the global shopping sensation known “Black Friday” globally, or “White Friday” in the Middle East. It will see hundreds of best-selling items on the Danube App and e-commerce platform sold at heavily discounted rates from November 24-26.

 

“In a first for the region’s and Saudi’s grocery e-commerce space, we are launching “Green Friday” on Danube.sa and on the Danube App, offering discounted rates on hundreds of items online. We launched danube.sa and the Danube App less than six months ago. Since then, we have seen a huge influx of active monthly customers grocery shopping on our platform, with many repeat buyers.  This is a good demonstration of the trust we are building up with customers in Saudi but many people are yet to try grocery shopping online. Campaigns like “Green Friday” are a great incentive to expose people to the ease of online retail,” adds Al Tahan.

 

In the coming years, industry analysts contend global online retailers will leverage their significant scale and expertise to delve into the region’s relatively untapped market – significant, given they helped lead the e-commerce revolution on a global scale.

 

Between the aggressive discounts and world-class platforms of local players like Danube Online, and the increasing attention of global online retail powerhouses, the next two years will be a remarkable period to witness a 69-billion-dollar industry in the making.