Learn to Improve the user experience & customer satisfaction to enhance loyalty
Leverage analytics to garner accurate input into growth strategies
Ecommerce in gcc is forecasted to grow in double digits till 2022

BENEFIT FROM THE ECOMMERCE REVOLUTION IN GCC

Ecommerce in GCC is forecasted to
grow in double digits till 2022

The Middle East & North Africa region comprises a population of 350mn with 110mn internet users. Of this as per current reports only 30mn are shopping online with the largest chunk of business coming from online travel sales. This indicates towards tremendous opportunities for growth in the region by onboarding new customers, expansion of product offerings, optimised delivery standards, better retention and customer service standards. The sector despite a conducive policy framework, plenty of investments is facing growth challenges which can be attributed to its nascent stage.

Winning Strategies in the GCC
E-Commerce Game

GCC e-commerce is on the cusp of becoming the world’s fastest growing market. However, this growth could come at the expense of traditional retail. As consumers become more tech- savvy and embrace e-commerce, e-tailers will have the first-mover advantage. Traditional retailers that took a wait-and-see approach will need to act now to reserve a share of this fast- growing market. An omnichannel approach with a strong online presence, robust payment mechanisms, and an efficient distribution and logistics network will put retailers on course. The question remains: are traditional retailers willing to shake their inertia, take the plunge, and disrupt their established business models? A recent study reveals that only 34 percent of major GCC retailers have an e-commerce channel, compared with about 58 percent in the United States. However, with the right enablers
in place, the GCC e-commerce market could almost quadruple to reach $20 billion by 2020. With 30 percent CAGR, e-commerce is expected to outpace traditional retail’s 9 percent CAGR in this same period. Several factors will drive this growth, including greater awareness of e-commerce, higher online conversions, and more retailers offering e-commerce solutions.

Why Ecomm MENA 2020?

Ecomm MENA is your platform for every serious player who wants to:

Attract and onboard more customers
Improve the user experience, customer satisfaction, loyalty
Understand best practice in decoding analytics for input into growth strategies
Learn to optimise the fulfilment process covering warehousing, omnichannel, last mile
Identify strategies to increase market share, customer satisfaction & profitability

Building an Ecommerce Business in GCC:

Every key player is wanting to establish a presence in GCC with an objective of using it as a base to cover the entire MENA region. This presents opportunities and challenges around entry & tariff barriers which need to be addressed. The friendly legal framework, excellent infrastructure and logistics facilities, the proximity of multiple markets closeby that can be serviced easily make GCC an attractive Ecommerce Hub. Identify best ways to establish a business there.

Strategies for going Online:

Whilst market places like Amazon, JadoPado, etc are bound to grow at a rapid pace in the region it is expected that a significant part of the growth will come from other business going online who currently present only 15-18 percent of the online business. So carving the online strategy is becoming increasingly important and a top priority area. Many a player face this dilemma of building there own platform or selling via an established marketplace. Many like to do a mix of both but what is the best practice in deciding that judicious mix

Acquiring & Retaining Customers:

The region has a huge untapped potential in terms of adding new customers. The favourable trend though is that people prefer to buy from locally based platforms than international. But identifying strategies to target them is the real challenge. The price and urgency of getting the product are the two key drivers in the region like most parts of the world so sticking to one platform remains a challenge. Add to this the fact that none of the platforms has till now initiated loyalty schemes to retain and build a set of loyal customers.

World Class Fulfilment:

Timely deliveries still continues to be a challenge in the region in spite of the fact that the geographic pockets are not too large and are all in well planned cities. This has caused loss of revenue to many a player as customers who comprise a significant number of expats who are used to better delivery standards switch platforms if not satisfied. There is plenty of opportunity to optimise the logistics processes and build efficiencies. The industry is also working on adopting omnichannel operations.

REASONS TO ATTEND

ONLINE & TRADITIONAL RETAIL PLAYERS

Identify the global trends and best practices in online retail
Understand effective strategies to select your online channel – marketplace or own platform
Learn how to acquire new customers and retain existing ones
Leverage data and analytics to carve winning plans
Network with industry leaders to identify growth opportunities

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Showcase your products, services & thought leadership to a handpicked audience
Understand what innovations will your customers require in the coming years
Devise strategies to prepare new products to maximise growth
Network and generate new business opportunities
Learn how changing trends will impact your business

LOGISTICS SOLUTION PROVIDERS

Ecomm Logistics will essentially be capacity, capability & technology driven
Present your products to a captive pre qualifies audience
Initiate dialogue on how your product/services can help your customers increase efficiencies
Showcase your proven success stories to stake your claim to new opportunities
Generate new sales leads and network with existing customers

GALLERY

Expert Speaks

Naveed Ahmed Pirzada, Chief Strategy Officer, Mall.Global

Bridging The Gap Between Customer Expectation And Customer Experience

Muneer Ayaad, Managing Director, BeCode Middle East

Arun Shankar, General Manager, Head CRM & Ecommerce, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions

Panel Discussion: Best Practice In Cross Channel Logistics

Heba Sayed, Marketing Manager, IBM Watson Customer Engagement

Harish Krishnan, Sales Head- GCC, FarEye

Rajul Jain, CEO & Co-founder, Increff

Hozefa Saylawala, Sales Director - Middle East & Africa, Zebra Technologies

Fulfilment Mountaineering: Handling Major And Minor Demand Peaks

Elias Nemeh, Senior Client Partner, Twitter - Middle East and North Africa

Panel Discussion: Customer Experience

Testimonial

Julia Jackle
CEO - Co-Owner, Creative971

The venue and welcoming area was very elegantly and pleasantly created. The exhibitors were in close proximity and well placed. The ballroom and setting of round tables was professional but casual and opened up a great room to network. Organization of topics The rest was overall a pleasant and professional industry event.

Dirk S. van Doorn
General Manager, Last Mile Experts

I think the event was well organized and structured. The venue was outstanding and the various topics and speakers were on point. I had some initial reservations about how big the event would be but after attending it I was well impressed. There is no negative feedback other than to say well done on the event and I really do hope that it will be a bigger event next year. Best of luck

Amith Sequeira
Associate Vice President, Zomato

I think the topics were general but very relevant. The audience was engaged and asked some great questions. From an organisation perspective, it was well organized. Great communication from your team! The front desk did a great job welcoming the guests and speakers.

Dr. Muddassir Ahmed
Founder, Scmdojo.com

It was very well organized and promoted the conference. High quality of discussion, agenda and lineup of speaker. Job well done!

Hozefa Saylawala
Sales Director - Middle East & Africa, Zebra Technologies

First, let me congratulate you for putting up a fantastic event. It attracted right set of audiences who are at the Edge on the transformation of e-commerce. As a technology provider, we found a good platform to brief the audience on how disruptive Technologies are transforming the e-commerce landscape and what should be done to be prepared for the same. Hozefa Saylawala, Sales Director - Middle

Selahaddin Burak Omeroglu
Vice President, CargoSales (Middle East and South Asia), Turkish Cargo

The event was very successful and beneficial with well chosen topics and speakers.

Arshad Qureshi
Global eCommerce Head, Agepha Pharma S.R.O., Dubai

It was an honour to be a part of ecom mena. The quality of speakers was really good and when you add the topics that were chosen for the speakers it becomes even a better overall experience. Overall, the event was flawless.