Global marketing news – 30 July 2015
Souq.com eyes 100% growth in 2015
The Middle Eastern ecommerce giant Souq.com has predicted that it will see 100% growth this year.
Souq had an annual turnover of 500 million UAE Dirhams last year, and hopes that sales will double to 1 billion this year, equivalent to 272 million US dollars.
Souq is popular throughout the Middle East and Egypt and has warehouses in every country that it operates in.
The site has around 600,000 different products from around 7,000 retailers and has said that it sells an item every 1.5 seconds.
The Middle East is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world, with Souq’s CEO saying that e-commerce in the region is growing at a staggering 65% year-on-year.
Zomato to enter 18 new countries
The online Indian restaurant listing company Zomato has announced that it intends to enter 18 new countries by the end of next year.
Most of the target markets are in Europe, although a number of Asian countries are on the list as well, with Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Vietnam and Malaysia being named as priority markets.
Zomato is already present in 22 countries, including India, the US, the UK, Australia and Canada. Its main competitor in the West is the online listing website Yelp.
Zomato also plans to launch new software to help keep its website up to date. It plans to install terminals in around 10,000 restaurants worldwide, where restaurant staff could enter data such as table and food availability, with this data then being updated in real-time on the Zomato website.
A spokesperson from the company said: “It will cost us about 10 million US dollars to enter the market, but we think there is a big business to be made in seamlessly connecting restaurants to customers.”
Zomato generated revenues of 16 million US dollars last year, and has said that it aims to triple revenues in the next 2 years.
Facebook superseding YouTube for short videos
Facebook is quickly superseding YouTube as the go-to channel for short videos lasting less than 5 minutes, with the social network clocking up 4 billion video views every day.
Facebook is the most popular social network in the majority of countries around the world, making it a strong choice for businesses wanting to reach an international audience.
The video technology company Bidalgo has said that it intends to tap into the potential of these international markets, touting its new technology that automatically edits videos to make them more relevant to the viewer based on their gender and location.
A spokesperson from the advertising analytics company IHS has said: “Dynamic creative ads are a new, experimental way of providing video advertising. The fact that [Bidalgo] have dynamic ads which change based on gender or location can be a great asset.”
As a marketing partner of Facebook, Bidalgo’s services are actively promoted to advertisers by the social network.
Yandex Taxi buys electric cars
Yandex has bought a fleet of electric cars for its Yandex Taxi service.
The Telsa Model S cars are based in the Russian capital Moscow.
Yandex Taxi allows users to book taxis online or through an app, with the location of the taxi then being tracked online so that users can see its progress.
Yandex is the most well-known for its search engine, which is the most popular in Russia with a market share of around 60%.
Real Madrid to sell merchandise on Alibaba
And finally, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has struck a deal with the football team Real Madrid.
Official Real Madrid merchandise will be sold on Alibaba, allowing the football team to reach the Chinese online audience of 600 million people.
Real Madrid are currently touring China, where they have played against rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan.
Alibaba is the leading e-commerce site in China.
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Cal O'Connell
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