Online shopping has become a big part in our everyday lives. The whole world is ready with the upsurge of ecommerce marketplace. UAE has unopened ecommerce potential. Since there is a vast scope for development in this region, this is the best time to occupy your niche in UAE market. The main hope for the growth of ecommerce in UAE is the fact that 90% of the UAE population has internet access and also own a mobile that facilitates them to shop online. All you need is to have a perfect online marketplace strategy that can gain you the real business and can catch hold of the UAE market.
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Factors to consider on online marketplace strategy for UAE
The success of your ecommerce marketplace relies on the marketing strategy you implement and how well you use the resources. Let us analyze it deeper.
1. Choose the right jurisdiction for your license
UAE government follows a straightforward licensing procedure for online business setup. The entrepreneurs can choose between free zone and mainland authority and this mainly depends upon the nature of the business. With a mainland license one can sell products directly to the local market, whereas with a free zone license you have to work with the local distributors to sell your products. Select the one that favors your business well.
2. Choose the product to sell
You need to do a clear analysis about the UAE market and get to know the products that have high demand. According to the latest survey products related to consumer electronics, fashion accessories, women’s apparels and cosmetics are considered to be the top-selling products in the UAE market. With reasonable pricing, you can achieve your market goal and can acquire new customers who can refer you to others.
3. Get a perfect ecommerce website
Your ecommerce marketplace website should give an enriched user experience and user design to your customers. This can gain the viewers’ attention and can reduce the bouncing rate. The user-friendly template will make the user feel comfortable and the navigation tools should be clear and should let the user to navigate easily to the page they search for. Also be more conscious about the domain name you select for your website. The domain name should be simple and related to your business title so that customers can easily memorize the site name.
4. Secured payment gateway integration
The key aspect that needs more consideration in succeeding the online marketplace in UAE is the payment gateway integration. The perfect online purchase ends with the payment transaction and this depends on the efficiency of your payment gateway. The payment gateway should be a stable one and it should withstand the load even during the peak traffic hours. The transaction completion matters with the stability of the payment gateway.
5. Reliable logistics and on-time delivery
Customers who have paid for the product will be eagerly waiting for the product and will expect the product to be delivered on-time. If any confusion happens with the logistic team and if the delivery gets delayed, you may lose the credibility the customer has on your company. So your ecommerce marketplace should have reliable logistics and should ensure customers regarding on-time delivery. In the UAE there are many third party logistics service providers available. You can either select one among them or even you can have your own logistic service.
6. Import and export requirements
There are cases where one can import products from other countries and can sell it in the UAE market. In this case, you need to register your company with relevant emirate’s ports and customs authority. Also if your business comes under a free zone license then there is no need to pay the customs duty but if it comes under mainland authority then you may need to clear customs. And you need to appoint a local commercial agent to move your products out from customs.
7. Promote your product
Once you are all set with your product you need to have a clear market plan that can pitch your product to the targeted customers in UAE. The social network penetration is considerably high in the UAE region. You need to focus on all social media channels and should run effective campaigns in these platforms. This will gain you absolute branding and you can expect greater visibility. Digital marketing always ends with greater returns and you can blindly trust on this type of marketing. Perfect promotion only can get you more business and let you get an unexpected ROI.
8. Warehousing and storage
Products should be available round the clock. When the customer asks for your product, you have sufficient stock in hand so that without any delay you can provide them the product. Imagine what would happen if you don’t have enough stock when there is a demand. You will be losing the major part of the market. Once you fail to supply the product you can never get back the trust of the customer. So you need to have a storage and warehouse and should maintain your inventory for your ecommerce marketplace effectively.
9. Customer acquisition and retention
You should never underestimate your competition and also the market saturation in the UAE region. In order to beat the competition you need to have exclusive offers and discounts that can attract more new customers and also you can delight your existing customers with special pricing and can retain them. Through word of mouth you can get a separate customer base. So never fail to delight the customers. Your ecommerce marketplace can survive only by increasing your customer count.
10. Be informed about the latest trends
Customers buying behavior keeps changing often. It is very important to keep a track of it and you should get updated with all latest trends and technologies. Your ecommerce marketplace platform should be well customized and should have frequent innovative changes that make customers visit your site again and again without getting bored.
Summing up
For any startup, UAE market is the perfect place to explore your online business. By competing taking the above mentioned factors in mind, work well to achieve your business goal and standalone in the UAE online market.
We have a cosmetic products company, Now, we are looking into How to Build a Multi Vendor eCommerce Website in UAE to sell products through online shopping.