E-commerce website Awok.com plans to go public in the next few years provided market conditions are conducive and, taking a page from Amazon's playbook, will roll out its own private-label products to sell across 30 consumer categories.
The online retailer has not decided on a timeline to go public but Ulugbek Yuldashev, founder and chief executive of Awok, told The National the aim is to float shares within two to four years.
For now, Mr Yuldashev's focus is on manufacturing products to further tap into the fast-growing e-commerce market in the region.
E-commerce sales in the Middle East and North Africa reached $8.3 billion in 2017, and is expected to treble by 2024, according to consultancy Bain & Company. The GCC and Egypt, where Awok is focusing its expansion, accounts for 80 per cent of online transactions in the region and is growing twice as fast as the rest of Mena.
For a decade, global e-commerce giant Amazon has leveraged its customer data to manufacture and sell its own range of products exclusively in its marketplace. Amazon has launched nearly 450 of its own brands, and last year, sold nearly $1bn worth of goods, according to US-based TJI Research.
Mr Yuldashev said Awok plans to do something similar after hitting a merchandising sweet spot, with low-cost, non-name brand products, 80 per cent of which are shipped from China.
“The mid to low-income segment of customers account for nearly 70 per cent of the UAE population. Their budget is limited and our idea is to help them relate more with our brand,” he said.
Awok, which was founded in 2013 with an initial personal investment of $30,000 from Mr Yuldashev, started with selling low-cost electronics before expanding into 30 other categories including watches, clothing and household appliances.
The Dubai-headquartered company has 700 employees, 90 per cent of whom are based in the UAE, and the rest are scattered across offices in China, India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
In Saudi Arabia, the company plans to open three warehouses in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam this year.
"In a couple of months, we would have a full-fledged team in Saudi Arabia and going forward, we will be generating thousands of jobs there," said Mr Yuldashev, adding the company wants to replicate the same UAE business model in the kingdom and Egypt – independently catering to customers, from processing the order to final delivery within the country.
Awok, which has doubled revenues and sales in each of the past five years, is aiming for more robust growth.
“Considering the fact that we are going to launch our operations in much bigger markets than the UAE, it will allow us to maintain the same growth in terms of revenues, customer acquisition and sales,” said Mr Yuldashev.
Earlier this month, the company also announced opening its online marketplace to third-party sellers and said it is looking to double or treble its headcount figure by year-end.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Mobile phone packages comparison
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
