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Souq.com was the largest
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
platform in the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. The company launched in 2005 in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
,
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
. On March 28, 2017, Amazon.com Inc. acquired Souq.com for $580 million as a subsidiary. On May 1, 2019, Souq.com UAE became known as Amazon.ae, while on June 17, 2020, Souq.com KSA became known as Amazon.sa. Lastly, on September 1 2021, Souq.com Egypt became known as Amazon.eg and officially marking the end of Souq.com, however some blog posts, pages, and the Sign In/Log In Page have not been changed to
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
so they are the last remaining pages of Souq.com.


History

The website was founded in 2005 by Ronaldo Mouchawar and was originally a consumer to consumer auction site part of Maktoob Group. In 2010, Wisam (Sam) Daoud joined Souq from
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
as Chief Technology Officer and led the transformation of the business from auctions to a fixed price catalog based business similar to
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
. In late 2012 Asif Keshodia joined as CFO on the heel of Souq's first major funding round led by Cape Town, South Africa-based
Naspers Naspers Limited is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its ...
and NYC hedge fund
Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management, LLC (often referred to as Tiger Global and formerly known as Tiger Technology) is an American investment firm. It mainly focuses on Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries. Background and histo ...
. In March 2014, Naspers invested another $75 million in the company, bringing to $150 million the total Souq.com raised since its inception, the largest amount raised by any internet-based business in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. The company was backed by Tiger Global Management and Naspers Ltd. as of 2015, among other companies, and headquartered in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. In October 2015, it was reported that in a round of fundraising, the company was valued at around $1 billion. At the time, it had around 10 million visitors monthly in the 2nd place after Digikala by 51 million visitors monthly. On March 27, 2017, Emaar Properties made an offer for Souq of $800 million. On March 28, 2017, Amazon.com Inc. confirmed it would be acquiring Souq.com for an unknown value. A source told ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' the deal was worth around $700 million, while the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
'' reported that the deal was "understood to be worth more than $650m". The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
also reported that Amazon might be paying about $650 million. The deal was expected to be completed later in 2017. With the acquisition, Souq.com is now a subsidiary of Amazon, acting as Amazon's arm into the Arab world. In May 2019, Souq.com UAE became Amazon.ae, in September of the same year Amazon launched the Amazon DSP in the UAE and in June 2020, Souq.com KSA become amazon.sa and in September 1, 2021 Souq.com Egypt became amazon.eg and officially marking the end of Souq.com.


Overview

As of March 2017, it sold over 8.4 million products in 31 categories, including "consumer electronics, fashion, health and beauty, household goods and baby." It also had around 45 million visits per month. It was the largest e-commerce platform in the
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
as of 2016, often described as the
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
of the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. As of 2014, the site delivered to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, and
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
. By March 2017, Souq.com had localized operations in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which as of 2014 equated to semi-automated modern fulfillment centers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt, measuring a total of 35,000 square meters. At the time the company had employed around 2,500 employees in engineering, retail, customer support, fulfillment and last mile delivery sections. As of September 1, 2021, Souq.com has been completely replaced by
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
as Egypt replaces Souq.com Egypt with Amazon.eg.


Souq.com subsidiaries

As of January 2018, Souq.com subsidiaries include their delivery arm – QExpress, payment platform – Payfort which became Amazon Pay in Dec 2020, repair and service marketplace – Helpbit, and delivery marketplace
Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...
.


See also

*
Noon Noon (or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for meridiem, literally 12:00 noon), 12 p.m. (for post meridiem, literally "after noon"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour clock) or 1200 ( military time). Sola ...
* Icflix * Maktoob *
InFocus InFocus Corporation is an American privately owned company based in the state of Oregon. Founded in 1986, the company develops, manufactures, and distributes DLP and LCD projectors and accessories as well as large-format touch displays, softwa ...
* Jumia Egypt


References


Further reading


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External links

* * * * {{Amazon Internet properties established in 2005 Online retailers of the United Arab Emirates Retail companies established in 2005 Amazon (company) acquisitions Maktoob Emirati companies established in 2005 Companies based in Dubai Online retailers of Saudi Arabia