HOME Amazon reaches agreement to buy Souq.com
NASDAQ-quoted Amazon has reached an agreement to acquire SOUQ.com, a major e-commerce player in the Middle East. The move ignites an intriguing battle for e-commerce supremacy in the fast-growing region, with Noon.com, which has financial backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, due to launch in the coming weeks.
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DISTREE Middle East invites retailers, distributors and vendors to enter 2017 MERA initiative awards
DISTREE Events has confirmed a deadline of April 29th for companies to enter the submission-based awards, which form part of the ‘Middle East Retail Academy (MERA): 2017 Awards’ taking place at DISTREE Middle East in May. The annual MERA Awards, taking place for the 10th consecutive year in 2017, celebrate excellence in the region’s consumer technology retail channel.
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The exclusive MMR20 vendor programme will form part of DISTREE Middle East 2017, which takes place on 8-10th May at Meydan Hotel in Dubai, UAE. The programme, which successfully launched in 2016, is reserved for consumer technology brands that have demonstrated a sustained retail leadership position in one or more product categories across the Middle East during the last year.
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KMG adds Meizu rights in Egypt
Egypt-based distributor KMG has added distribution rights for fast-growing China-based smartphone brand Meizu. Karim Ghoneim, CEO at KMG, said: “We are delighted to have started working with Meizu in Egypt. We are running a Meizu roadshow in shopping malls and at major sporting events. We want as many people as possible to see and touch the Meizu devices.”
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DISTREE Events appoints Delphine Iltis as International Sales Manager
DISTREE Events, part of Infopro Digital, has confirmed the appointment of Delphine Iltis as International Sales Manager. In her new role, Iltis will focus primarily on the Middle East market, developing relationships with a broad cross-section of consumer technology vendors and brands. Iltis will report in to Christophe Painvin, Executive Director at DISTREE Events and Event Director for DISTREE Middle East.
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TechAccess completes Extreme training for partners
TechAccess, a VAD operating in the Middle East, North Africa, Levant, Pakistan and Afghanistan has successfully concluded a sales certification programme for partners of Extreme Networks in two separate sessions held in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The certification programme focused on Extreme Networks’ value proposition, solution portfolio and customer business benefits.
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Sunny Leone confirmed as XTOUCH brand ambassador
Consumer technology brand XTOUCH has signed Bollywood actress Sunny Leone as its brand ambassador. Leone currently has more than 1.9 million followers on Twitter. The Bollywood superstar will feature in a new integrated marketing campaign for XTOUCH, which will run simultaneously on print, electronic, online and social media channels as well as in-store promotions for the next year.
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Extra sales reach US$1 billion in 2016
Saudi retail giant Extra’s sales for full year 2016 were flat at US$1 billion. The company’s operating income fell 57% year-on-year to US$6.29m, with after-tax profits dropping to just US$560,000 compared to US$13.1m in 2015. Extra’s financial report showed that selling and marketing expenses were US$9.1m higher in 2016 compared to 2015, hitting US$120.9m.
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Souq.com opens service centre in Dubai
Middle East e-tailer and online marketplace Souq.com has whipped the covers off its first customer experience centre, located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. The move to open a physical space highlights the complexities of new omnichannel supply models embracing both offline and online. Souq.com claims that the new facility will make life more convenient for customers as well as sellers across the UAE.
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Al-Futtaim refreshes Aftron brand
UAE-based Al-Futtaim’s consumer electronics brand Aftron has been relaunched after a complete rebrand and supply chain restructure. The company hopes it can double Aftron sales across several categories during the next 12 months. Aftron, which has been in the UAE market for more than 23 years, now has more than 150 SKUs spanning air-conditioning, white goods and other household electronics, along with a completely new look.
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