The Middle East is located in the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe. It is one of the important areas involved in the “Belt and Road ”. In this case, the Middle East has become the choice of many Chinese e-commerce companies. What kind of development trend will the Middle East e-commerce company have in 2018?

1. The e-commerce competition environment is further intensified

 The competition that e-commerce faces is not just from peers.

For example, competition from traditional retailers: Majid Al Futtaim, the largest mall owner and operator in the region, owns a portion of fetchr; Al Tayer, a family business in the Middle East, launched Ounass, an electronics retailer.

And competition from the Internet giant: the only unicorn in the Middle East, Careem, also launched its own fashion e-commerce website DukkanCareem. It is foreseeable that there will be more giants who want to get a slice of the fast-growing e-commerce.

2. Muhammad Albar will continue to invest in the Middle East e-commerce ecosystem

In 2017, Muhammad Albar has demonstrated his ambitions in the Middle East e-commerce sector: he launched the e-commerce Noon; acquired JadoPado, and close the business of JadoPado operations for many years; he bought 51% of the shares of the fashion electricity-Namshi.

In addition, he also “buy and buy” in the entire e-commerce industry chain: As early as 2016, his two investment groups acquired a 16.45% stake in Middle East logistics boss Aramex; in May 2017, he also Acquired a majority stake in MEVP, one of the most active early investors in the Middle East and an early investor in many of the world's leading e-commerce companies.

Alabar's son Rashid Alabbar also established the online fashion website Sivvi.com in 2014.

Muhammad Albar is determined to create the Middle East version of 'Alibaba'. In 2018, he will certainly see his big acquisitions.

3, Noon or will impact Souq's status

Noon was on the line late, and there wasn't much action in 2017, and in early 2018, Noon began to “enlarge the move” and advertised in the light show of the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. What will it do in this year's performance? Will it impact the status of Souq's status? It is still a mystery.

4. Saudi Arabia will become the main battlefield of the e-commerce war

In 2017, Saudi Arabia seized countless headlines and released a number of major decisions, which earning enough eyeballs. The new Crown Prince has expressed his determination to embrace technology. Once the once closed Saudi market opens, the potential is huge. The Saudi Arabian Information and Communications Technology Commission (CITC) estimates that the local B2C e-commerce market is $8 billion, a figure of $2.7 billion in 2015.

Among the current major e-commerce platforms in the Middle East, Wadi and Jollychic are focused on the Saudi market, which are the fastest growing.

Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce market has also been closely watched by capital. Recently, e-commerce financing has become frequent. On December 18, 2017, Golden Scent, a beauty electronics company based in Saudi Arabia, received a Series A financing. On January 9, 2018, Resal, a gift e-commerce company based in Saudi Jeddah, announced that it has received millions of dollars in angel investment.

Before the establishment of the giant Noon, it decided to set up its headquarters in Riyadh. In 2018, the looting of the Saudi market will be more intense.

5. Chinese e-commerce giants will enter the Middle East market

China's e-commerce power is on the rise, and the Chinese e-commerce companies that are emerging in the local are all startups. The domestic e-commerce giants have not paid attention to this place.

In October 2017, Zheng Xiaoming, president of the international business of Jingdong Group, appeared at the investment conference in Saudi Arabia. He was interviewed by Reuters reporters during the meeting. He said, “We hope to establish a cooperative relationship with the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision is a very Good opportunity.

Reuters reporter wrote in the article, 'Jingdong is in fierce competition in China, and it has no obvious advantage against Alibaba.' Perhaps, in 2018, Jingdong will act locally.

6, logistics and other infrastructure will continue to improve

In 2017, along with the rapid development of e-commerce, the local logistics industry also ushered in a peak of development. Fetchr received $41 million in financing in May 2017, and then it grew rapidly, with orders soaring, especially orders from China. According to Fetchr insiders, 60% of the business comes from Chinese e-commerce.

In addition to Fetchr, companies such as Wing.ae and One Click have also received financing. In 2018, more capital and entrepreneurs will enter the market, and the logistics infrastructure in the Middle East will continue to improve on this basis.