SOUQ.com, an Amazon company, announced today that it has opened a new fulfillment center (FC) in Dubai. The new 23,000 square meter, cutting edge facility, is the latest example of the company’s continued investment in the UAE, focused on meeting the growing customer demand across the Middle East. The new facility is also set to benefit regional sellers, including the thousands of small and medium businesses who sell on SOUQ.com, by ensuring that they are able to reach their customers faster. The new facility will also help SOUQ meet is objective of growing selection and improving convenience for its customers. As a result of the new fulfillment center, over 600 new jobs will be created within the first year of launch, bringing the total number of SOUQ’s fulfillment centers in the UAE to three.
Prashant Saran, Director of Customer Fulfillment Middle East, said: “Our mission is to be Earth’s most customer centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. With the launch of our new Fulfillment Center in Dubai, we take a significant step forward on this journey by providing a much larger selection, delivered quicker to our customers. Our new FC in Dubai will enable us to meet our customers’ expectations thanks to its focus on operational excellence and world class processes.”
The new Dubai fulfillment center, along with the existing FCs, will enable SOUQ to handle the current and future demand in the UAE, where a growing number of customers choose SOUQ for their purchases.
Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO of SOUQ, said: “The increased fulfillment capacity also benefits our sellers, who comprise of thousands of small and medium sized businesses, by enabling them to scale up their businesses on our marketplace. Entrepreneurship is an engine of economic growth around the world, so we are proud to empower so many small businesses that sell through the SOUQ Marketplace. More and more small and medium-sized businesses are choosing to join the SOUQ Marketplace, utilizing its capability and high-tech logistics services, in order to reach a larger customer base across the region. This is helping to create jobs and support local suppliers. Our innovative logistics network enables our sellers to provide fast and reliable deliveries to their customers.”
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports; President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group, welcomed the announcement and commended the continued growth and expansion of SOUQ in Dubai: “The logistics sector in Dubai South is seeing double-digit growth year-on-year and we are glad that a leading global e-Commerce player like SOUQ is investing to build more facilities and capacity in Dubai.” His Highness emphasized that the Government of Dubai provides flexible and adaptable legislations and specialized clusters to empower new business models and drive entrepreneurship in e-Commerce. “Dubai’s strategic advantages for global trade and supply chain efficiency serve the interests of foreign investors looking for opportunities in the growing e-Commerce ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa region,” His Highness added.
Fulfillment by SOUQ (FBS) enables sellers to have SOUQ store and ship their products directly to customers, while offering services such as Cash on Delivery, Next-Day Delivery, and Friday delivery (for home). With FBS, SOUQ also provides customer service and manages returns on behalf of the sellers. Sellers have the flexibility to choose the number of products they want to have fulfilled by SOUQ and scale according to their business requirements.
Dino Khemani from Dinok said: “This year has proved to be extremely fruitful for us, as our sales have increased by a significant margin. Moreover, SOUQ’s FBS program has enabled us to market our products without the hassle of managing logistics, which would surely hit our bottom line. Instead we can focus on growing sales. Dinok has had an amazing year with SOUQ. We have achieved incredible sales from FBS and marketplace combined. We are super excited for next year.”
All customers on www.souq.com and the SOUQ mobile shopping app have an easy and convenient access to over 8.4 million products across hundreds of categories. They benefit from a safe and secure ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery and SOUQ’s Customer Service support.
Job positions at the new fulfillment center are available on www.amazon.jobs.
