Earlier this year, US-based online retail giant Amazon.com bought the largest e-commerce site in the Middle East, Souq.com.
According to the Financial Times, Amazon agreed to buy Souq.com for more than $650 million, and since the acquisition was announced, we knew that the big-budget deal could seriously change the way we shop online in the region.
Souq.com was founded in 2006 by Ronaldo Mouchawar, and began as an auction-based site similar to eBay. The site expanded and evolved and is now the Middle East's largest online retail portal.
Souq.com currently brings in 78 percent of all e-commerce sales in MENA, and with Amazon's acquisition, it has naturally expanded, but the latest announcement from the company is a total game-changer for online shoppers in the region.
In a Tweet earlier this week, Souq.com announced that UAE shoppers will now have access to millions of products from the US site.
The new platform, called Amazon Global, will allow customers to shop for products that had previously been unavailable in the country.
"We are excited to announce the launch of the Amazon Global Store on Souq that will allow customers to shop millions of high quality, authentic global products in local currency with online and cash on delivery payment options," the company announced.
We are excited to announce the launch of the Amazon Global Store on Souq that will allow customers to shop millions of high quality, authentic global products in local currency with online and cash on delivery payment options
Shop here 👉 https://t.co/nLzEeheJtZpic.twitter.com/z6Mh3idcHc- Souq.com UAE (@souq) December 11, 2017
According to The National, delivery will be available in two forms: "priority which falls between two and five business days and expedited, which delivers between six and 10 business days. And as far as import fees, some products will average around 5 per cent of their cost while others may be exempt altogether given the small size."
With over one million products at launch, we can expect Amazon Global to expand rapidly and include even more items over the next few months.
Happy shopping!