It’s Official: Amazon And Souq Have Sealed The Deal- Valutrics
The global e-commerce giant Amazon has completed the acquisition of Dubai-based online retailer Souq.
In a joint statement, the companies said that they have taken the first step of integration, allowing customers to log on to souq.com using their Amazon credentials.
Together with Amazon, Souq aims to offer customers the widest product selection, great prices, improved delivery times and first-rate customer service, said Souq chief executive and co-founder Ronaldo Mouchawar.
The integration of Amazon’s technology and global resources with local expertise will help offer a great service to customers, said Amazon senior vice president, international consumer, Russ Grandinetti.
Amazon is working to quickly integrate souq.com and Amazon capabilities, in terms of both customer experience and fulfillment, to provide an ever-improving shopping experience for customers in the Middle East, Grandinetti said.
The two companies will move into the next phase of the integration to bring more products and offerings to the region’s customers even faster, the companies said in the statement.
Two months ago, Amazon agreed to acquire Souq in a deal that will give the US-based e-commerce giant a footprint in the high-growth Middle East market.
While the financial details were not disclosed, a SEC filing made by Amazon in the US said that the purchase cost it $580 million.
Souq claims to command 78% of all e-commerce traffic in the MENA region, and with online purchases accounting for only 1% to 2% of regional retail sales, there is a tremendous opportunity for growth.
The Dubai-based firm offers 8.4 million products on its site, has recently begun selling books and groceries.
Amazon, a global giant, offers an estimated 40 million products.
The online retail industry in the Middle East has been seeing strong MA activity in recent months.
Last month, Dubai’s Emaar Malls said it is buying a 51% stake in e-commerce fashion website Namshi.com for $151 million.
The deal is expected to provide much-needed support for Emaar Properties founder and chairman Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar’s technology vehicle Noon.com.
Also recently, Jadopado was acquired by Alabbar’s technology fund.
Alabbar said that his e-commerce platform Noon.com, which was originally expected to be launched in January this year, is now expected to start operations before the end of 2017.
Noon.com was said to be launching in April this year, after missing its originally announced launch date of January 2017.
This coincided with additional drama in the e-commerce space after Emaar Malls, which like Alabbar Enterprises is headed by Mohamed Alabbar, also jumped into the fray to buy regional e-commerce giant Souq.com for $800 million.