isqan.com, an Egypt-based property-listing platform, has raised a six-figure seed funding round from the CEO of EGYGAB HOLDING, Mohamed Gaballah.
Founded four months ago, isqan.com has onboarded more than 50 companies, with property listings reaching over ten thousand. The startup plans to use the funds to hire more talent, invest in its marketing channels and develop its product.
“We are thrilled to be working with engineer Mohamed Gaballah. His investment in isqan.com is a testament to his belief in our team, product and growth strategy,” said Karim Kazem, co-founder of isqan.com.
The startup, according to its briefing, plans to close another financing round towards the final quarter of 2021 to bolster its growth plans.
“We aim to digitise the entire real estate industry in Egypt by providing users with the easiest, fastest and most powerful real estate search experience possible,” said Ali Ezzat, co-founder at isqan.com.
According to Omar Mohamed, the chief technical officer (CTO), tech lead at Isqan.com the investment will also support isqan.com in providing a valuable service and offering real value to its users by guiding them to make their next real estate purchase, helping usher the Egyptian real estate market into the modern age.
“isqan.com is a very unique product to the real estate market, not only that it provides a much-improved user experience and incredibly powerful features, but it is also powered by a very advanced and modern tech stack which enables us to provide these unprecedented offerings to the market,” said Omar Doma.
The startup also aims to close a further funding round in the final quarter of 2021 in order to boost its development plans.
According to Afrikan Heroes, Mohamed Gaballah’s faith in isqan was strengthened by the fact that Isqan.com’s team is a very strong one, with both co-founders of the startup having previous experience in the real estate industry.
As a real estate brokerage owner based in Dubai, Karim Kazem, CEO and Co-Founder of Isqan.com was able to realize the unquestionable importance of how real estate portals contribute to the digital economy. It was not long until he started working towards launching a real estate listing portal in Egypt.
In September 2020, iqan.com raised a six-figure seed round from an undisclosed angel.
Isqan.com is offering in the Egyptian property market, a completely free of charge service, giving end-users three free listings, to help them rent or sell a property. Isqan.com has partnered with a number of market leaders to offer users a wide range of trusted and legitimized options.
“We created Isqan.com to simplify the home buying, selling, and renting process.
Isqan.com is an easy way for today’s clientele to search for commercial and residential properties. We aim to tap in to local and international property markets, ultimately revolutionizing the Middle Eastern digital real estate landscape,” Karim Kazem.
Companies listed on the platform include Egypt Best Properties, New Avenue, Byotat, Insider, B2B, Ultimate Real Estate, Remax, Irtkaz, Era, Daddy Estate Investment, Abrag, Proper Move, among several others.
source: africaincmag
UAE-based e-commerce enabler Zbooni, has raised a $5 million Series A funding round led by an undisclosed London-based fund.
Founded in 2017, Zbooni enables small merchants to easily start, run and grow their businesses online, providing them with a range of business-focused services, such as mobile invoicing and payment solutions, digital storefronts in its marketplace, data insights, automated sales tracking and invoicing.
It initially started out as a chat commerce venture enabling payments via WhatsApp before launching its new e-commerce enablement services, signaling the growing demand for online selling.
Zbooni said that it had recorded a rapid acceleration in 2020, including 600 per cent in customer growth. It currently supports thousands of merchants, processing tens of millions of dirhams every month and has enabled its merchants to serve more than 150,000 customers.
Zbooni will use the funding to grow its team and fuel its expansion across its home market as well as in the Saudi and Jordanian markets.
“Zbooni is on a mission to help provide access to digital commerce tools, ultimately supporting our merchants to start, run and grow their business.
While we wish to keep the investor undisclosed, their reputation and track record speaks for itself, they have previously invested in some of the most successful emerging market growth stories - operating a fund of well over $1billion in assets under management.
Through this support, Zbooni will invest in people to develop even better products for our merchants and enhance the customer experience with best-in-class technology,” said Ramy Assaf, Zbooni CEO and co-founder.
The company was incubated at Facebook, the world’s largest social media network, and is backed by regional and international organisations, including Chalhoub Group, Middle East Venture Partners and B&Y Venture Capital.
“Our customers are the real heroes of this story, and we’re just scratching the surface of what we’re able to help them do,” said Assaf.
“We believe there remain millions of SMEs still left severely underserved across our geographies – we are here for them.”
source: wamda
In alliance with Microsoft, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will offer owners of local startups the resources and tools to “scale their businesses”. Another tech entity, Plug & Play, is also part of this initiative.
“The partnerships are part of ADIO’s commitment to supporting innovation-focused companies,” said Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director-General of ADIO. “We are providing strategic funding and support to the knowledge and tech experts to develop and run programmes that accelerate opportunities in Abu Dhabi for startups.”
Startup focussed
Microsoft will brings its Startups Programme, which provides technology, Azure cloud services, and business support tools to develop the required skillsets.
The first two are the Growth X Accelerator, a virtual accelerator programme with a focus on recruiting local and regional startups, and ‘Highway to 100 Unicorns’, an initiative to recruit high-potential startups for the Accelerator as well as future programmes by Microsoft and ADIO.
Further initiatives focused on entrepreneurship for Emiratis and UAE residents, as well as university students, are in the works.
“We are committed to deepening our support for investors and innovators in 2021,” said Bin Hendi.
“As the global economy looks to the future, Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem is well-positioned as the region’s foremost investment destination for big thinkers to realise their ambitions.”
source: gulfnews
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments seeking to diversify their economies and position for growth are rightly focused on the importance of digitization. However, scale and sustainability require serious attention to associated risks. While digitization—both of private sector activities and of government services—has for some time been viewed as central to these efforts, the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the process.
At the same time, governments need to establish effective protections for the digital economy to gain scale and become sustainable.
Digitization is central to transformation programs underway as GCC governments seek to wean their economies from dependence on oil and gas
The case is compelling: digital activity grows faster than other parts of the economy. For example, the United Kingdom’s (UK) analysis estimates that growth in the digital sector in 2018 was nearly six times larger than that of the country’s economy as a whole. Moreover, the digital revolution offers a unique opportunity to leapfrog decades of gradual development and gain a foothold in industries that have long been the preserve of more mature economies.
Take financial services as an example. Several GCC countries have ambitions to rise to the ranks of top global financial centers. In each case, the attraction and promotion of Financial Technology or FinTech is a critical or central component of their sector strategies. In addition to establishing tailored regulations—e.g. digital bank licenses—and dedicated environments—e.g. sandboxes—authorities provide technology infrastructure, support human capital development, orchestrate collaboration, and provide financing, among other measures. For instance, Abu Dhabi is the site of a large annual FinTech Festival. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia recently used the platform provided by its G20 Presidency to host a global TechSprint in cooperation with the Bank for International Settlements.
Governments are investing substantially in a focused and coordinated approach
Saudi Arabia’s National Digital Transformation Unit (NDTU) is one of the fundamental programs to achieve Vision 2030. Its mission is to build a world-class digital infrastructure and enable innovative talent to seize opportunities. To that end, NDTU cooperates with digital transformation partners across public and private sectors to support and accelerate digital transformation.
While it remains to be seen whether global leadership can be realized, the strategic direction is plausible and builds on promising foundations. Though GCC countries lag leading countries in the 2020 Portulans Institute’s Network Readiness Index at the aggregate level (UAE ranks at #30, Qatar at #38, and Saudi Arabia at #41), they rank much higher on information and communications technology (ICT) usage and skills among individuals (UAE ranks #1, Qatar #10, and Saudi Arabia #12) and access to ICT (Qatar ranks at #2, UAE at #10, and Saudi Arabia at #19 ). Notably, Saudi Arabia is the world leader in terms of internet access in schools and #4 in terms of government promotion of investment in emerging technologies.
The pandemic has accelerated the already prevalent digitization trend
Working from home and virtual meetings have quickly become accepted practices in the region and many professionals have commented on improved meeting discipline and efficiencies. In the meantime, online commerce, entertainment streaming, and social media offerings are all booming.
Indeed, more than eight in ten mobile phone users believe that internet-connected technologies have helped them cope during the pandemic, enabling them to support their children’s education (76 percent), stay in touch with friends and family (74 percent), and even improve their mental health and wellbeing (43 percent).
While it is evident that adoption of technology has significant advantages, there are also important risks
The most frequently discussed categories are related to information security and the abuse of personal data. The Global Risks Report, which Marsh & McLennan publishes in partnership with the World Economic Forum, has listed “Data Theft and Fraud” among the top five most likely risks for multiple years. Governments in some countries have put in place the legal and regulatory infrastructure to deal with these.
Oliver Wyman’s Cyber Risk Literacy and Education Index shows GCC governments mounting an effective policy response to the problem (especially Saudi Arabia at #9, Qatar at #13 in the Government Policy dimension, and the UAE #18 in the aggregate ranking).
However, awareness is growing of a much wider set of issues to guard against. These include but are by no means limited to:
This calls for debate, both at the national and international level, on what solutions are available to public and private sectors to achieve this outcome.
In some countries and organizations, the conversation on how to manage these risks is well underway. For instance, the UK’s Online Harms White Paper—currently under review—sets out a program of action to tackle content or activity that harms individual users, particularly children, or threatens the country’s way of life—either by undermining national security or by undermining shared rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Meanwhile, the European Commission has issued Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, which address societal and ethical concerns related to artificial intelligence and reflects similar edicts originating in Australia, Singapore, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, among others.
If GCC countries want to play a leading role in shaping the digital economy’s future and make it the foundation of their economic transformations, they need to tackle these risks head on. Saudi Arabia is off to a good start. The Kingdom recently established the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority with the mandate of developing the performance of the public and private sectors through utilizing the application of AI and Big Data. Its strategy includes the inaction of “the most welcoming legislation for Data & AI businesses and talents.” The strategy refers to developing a regulatory framework that will cover “data collection, classification, sharing, open data policy, and freedom of information.” Indeed, interim regulations are already in effect, and the reference to the future development of a regulatory framework indicates that these regulations will be refined in the coming months and years.
As they develop their policies, GCC governments should consider five principles:
1. Industry specific governance with a common philosophy
With digital technology infusing most sectors of the economy, it is not practical to think that all aspects can be regulated by a single authority. A patchwork of sector-specific regulators will pick up many practical issues related to technology. What is important is that there are a common philosophy and set of principles that unite the full framework, as well as a map that shows how the patchwork comes together and allows the government to identify any over or underlaps.
2. Develop standards-based regulations
Tech firms’ innovations and the risks that accompany them are evolving so rapidly that it’s easy for regulators to fall behind. Standards-based regulatory regimes capable of adapting to technological and social change could help a tech regulator get out in front and stay there.
Standards can be reworked for new risks, but changes to regulations and laws require extensive public consultation. With a standards-based approach, a tech regulator can introduce guidelines to encourage sensible innovation or, conversely, swiftly hold tech firms accountable when unforeseen risks arise.
3. Prioritize activity based on risk
Tech firms constantly introduce new apps, software, and hardware, and there is a real chance that an increasingly cash-strapped government will not be able to afford adequate staffing to properly enforce new regulations. A tech regulator would need to use a risk-based approach to target firms and activities that put the most people at risk first and rank the spectrum of potential threats.
The degree of supervisory intrusiveness should be commensurate with the size of the potential risks that companies pose. Big companies will require dedicated in-house supervisory teams, while much smaller teams can oversee primarily automated data-driven reports from startups. This ensures startups are not unfairly disadvantaged due to high costs of regulatory compliance.
4. Innovation-friendly bias
As ever with regulation, governments need to manage a delicate balance between offering businesses the space to experiment and innovate while providing guard rails to support policy objectives and make the sector’s development sustainable. The cost of compliance with well-intended regulation can constitute a significant barrier to new market entry and, thus, stifle innovation—a reality that large incumbents are only too happy to perpetuate. Financial sector regulators have experimented with Sandboxes and TechSprints as ways to encourage innovation and avoid conflict with important policy objectives.
5. Digital by default
Machine executable regulations, integrated data platforms, and reporting application programming interfaces should be part of the standard operating model from day one to reduce the cost of compliance for companies while increasing risk management efficiency. By replacing quarterly reports with technology platforms that permit regulators to pull information related to key risk indicators from companies’ systems directly, regulators will be able to monitor companies more proficiently.
In the GCC, as elsewhere in the world, the digital revolution is well on its way. Indeed, its importance is uniquely heightened by the critical role it plays across sectors to diversify and transform national economies. Not surprisingly, GCC governments are focused on measures that promote digitization on all fronts.
They would do well to recognize that identification and proactive management of associated risks will contribute to ensuring benefits are broad-based, inclusive, and sustainable.
source: atlanticcouncil
Peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing platform, Ejaro, has raised $850,000 in seed funding. The investment came from angel investors and BIM Ventures.
Mohammed Khashoggi founded Ejaro in 2019. The Saudi platform connects is local vehicle owners with individuals looking to rent cars and other vehicles. According to Khashoggi, the startup aims to tap into the regional car rental market, valued at over $4 billion, adding that the market is set to experience a large potential growth in the post-Covid19 economy.
The car owners make extra money from a car that they may not be using full-time, while renters enjoy the vehicles on the platform which are up to 40 percent cheaper than traditional car rental companies. Renters can search for vehicles by area to find the ones nearby.
All cars on Ejaro have been insured.To further incite owners and renters, the starup has introduced its own peer-to-peer vehicle insurance policy in partnership with Kingdom Brokerage and MedGulf; that is available for both hosts and renters.
Khashoggi said in a statement: “With millions out of jobs and rental companies struggling, our platform empowers owners to earn an additional income from their depreciating assets and share them with the masses. I truly believe that Ejaro will accelerate in the coming weeks.”
Mohamed Amine Merah, Ejaro’s Finance & Strategy Partner and Managing Partner of BIM Ventures, said, “During the downtime [due to Covid-19], we were able to develop and launch a new and improved app, build strategic partnerships, and solidified our internal processes.”
He also said that the startup is planning to expand regionally, starting with UAE in 2021.
The new funds will be used to accelerate the development of additional features on the platform, in order to increase the hosted cars and renters’ bases and to expand the team.
source: wayamedia
Some of the most optimistic people did not expect to see the rapid recovery of startups and small and medium enterprises (SME) in Saudi Arabia, following both the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase of VAT. In addition, few expected to see the dynamic transformation of business models across many of the startups and SMEs, along with the overall growth of some within this sector. The notable and rapid intervention of the Saudi government, and the introduction of various initiatives to support these companies are to be credited for this recovery.
Within the retail sector specifically, micro enterprises in Saudi Arabia faced many challenges, as a result of the imposed curfews and lockdown across all cities in the country on 23 March 2020, followed by the partial closures on 26 April, to contain the spread of the virus. As was the case across the globe, these decisions led to a great many challenges affecting retailers, these included:
Government initiatives and tailored financing solutions
These numerous challenges were faced by small business owners globally, especially those working in the non-essential goods sector. However, there were multiple opportunities and various governmental programmes that were successfully rolled out in Saudi Arabia, to support the survival of such businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and enabling them to flourish post crisis.
Since the beginning of the crisis, Saudi Arabia’s government and regulatory bodies, along with the banking sector, have been very quick to respond and support local businesses. The Saudi government has accounted for over SAR 51 billion in the form of stimulus packages and funds to support the private sector during this unprecedented difficult period. These steps have been taken with the aim of limiting the impact of the pandemic on the Saudi economy, in the short and long-term.
The following table lists the various initiatives that apply to startups and SMEs in Saudi Arabia:
The steps that were taken by the Saudi authorities included:
Following the lockdown in the Kingdom, the government eased measures on retailers, and excluded some economic and commercial activities from the ban, allowing them to open during select days of the week, and subsequently, lifting the curfew completely, to cater to the needs of local consumers.
The “Kafala” programme, designed to support SMEs by offering loans, was increased to 95 per cent (compared to 80 per cent in the past), with fees ranging between 1 – 1.5 per cent. The Kafala programme provides loans of around SAR 2.5 million to small and micro enterprises, and SAR 15 million for medium-sized enterprises.
Some banks in the Kingdom worked to facilitate and ease the procedures and paperwork required from companies for borrowing and loans. Some Saudi banks have also provided loans for businesses to purchase raw materials, pay rent expenses and implement business expansion plans, with a grace period of up to six months.
Alternative financing options were also made available for startups. For example, fintech companies operating in Saudi Arabia, such as Al Raida, Lendo and Raqmeya, have facilitated the access to financing for startups and SMEs, providing easier terms and alternative guarantees, reducing paperwork requirements, when compared to traditional means.
The government’s Saned programme provided unemployment insurance to all employers, facilitating the process for businesses to obtain compensation to ensure continuity and pay salaries. The conditions of Saned were amended in response to the downtime during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Saudi government announced that it will pay 60 per cent of Saudi employees working in the private sector, for a period of three months, with a ceiling of SAR 8.96 billion. The compensation adheres to the conditions stipulated in the unemployment insurance programme (Saned).
By shifting to e-commerce platforms, retailers found opportunities to sell online, opening up to a wider target audience. Many industries, such as those operating in the essential categories, including foodstuffs and delivery services, have seen a significant increase in revenues and business activity, since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The way forward
During the pandemic, startups and SMEs worked hard to adapt to the new reality of the world, and work to generate sufficient cash flows to ensure their continuity and survival, until the end of the crisis. In addition, many have modified their business models to embrace a new reality of a highly digitised market.
According to a study by Ernst and Young, 92 per cent of consumers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have switched to online shopping, which has forced the majority of retailers to quickly adopt digital transformation strategies to keep up with the market and continue to do business (more in our article published in Wamda).
One such example is the increase of use of digital payments as an alternative to cash, which is expected to continue even after the pandemic. In addition, sectors that have thrived during the pandemic, such as e-commerce, delivery services, edtech and healthtech, have all adopted digital payments, thus stimulating the digital financing sector.
In light of the pandemic, the entire retail sector, from micro enterprises to larger establishments, faced multiple challenges and worked hard to maintain their sales, and to sustain business activity. On a global scale, SMEs and micro enterprises struggled to navigate in light of the forced closures and decline in purchasing power.
According to the Saudi Central Bank’s statistics, the volume of spending instore decreased during the months of April and May by 32.95 per cent and 15.7 per cent respectively, compared to the same period last year.
However, what is interesting to note is that the percentage of online sales increased by 78.3 per cent, reaching SAR 37.02 billion by June, far surpassing the highest recorded figure of sales, at SAR 27.93 billion recorded in December 2019.
On another note, the increase in VAT, from 5 per cent to 15 per cent, effective on July 1, 2020, motivated citizens in Saudi Arabia to increase their purchases before the increase was implemented.
This resulted in containing the overall impact and the repercussions of Covid-19, with point of sale (POS) transactions not exceeding a 3.3 per cent decrease in the second quarter of 2020, when compared to the POS transactions of the previous quarter (Q1 2020).
In addition, the points of sale transactions increased by 52.64 per cent in Q3 2020 (amounting to SAR 96.99 billion), when compared to Q2 2020 (SAR 63.54 billion). These figures reaffirm the effectiveness of the preventive measures and financial initiatives taken by the Saudi government, which have led to normalise consumer spending rates.
The distribution of transactions across various points of sale in different sectors, in Q3, 2020
Source: The Weekly Reports on Point of Sale Transactions, issued by the Saudi Central Bank
It is expected that the businesses that have adapted to the new reality will have valuable opportunities to achieve business continuity and growth in the phase following the crisis.
One should note that consumer spending in Saudi Arabia did not decrease by more than 5.57 per cent during the first 9 months of 2020, on an annual basis, with a decrease equivalent to SAR 42.52 billion recorded during the same period last year.
This indicates that the retail sector is on the way to recovery, and that the impact of the pandemic was limited.
Source: wamda
بالكاد يوجد سلعة أو خدمة ليس من المتاح استهلاكها وفقاً لنموذج الاشتراك، ففي العام الماضي فقط وبسبب انتشار وباء كوفيد-19 شهد النشاط الاقتصادي وفقاً لهذا النموذج نمواً هائلاً وانتقلت العديد من الشركات إلى نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك.
ووفقا لمقال نشره موقع المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي تحت عنوان "لماذا يعتبر الانكماش أخبارًا جيدة للشركات العاملة بالاشتراك"، وجد إصدار عام 2020 من مؤشر اقتصاد الاشتراك أن الشركات التي تعتمد على نموذج الاشتراك تستمر في التفوق على نظيراتها القائمة على المنتجات بهامش كبير حتى أثناء وباء كورونا (كما يتضح من الشكل). بشكل عام، يتزايد الاقبال من العملاء على نماذج الاشتراك، وبينما شهدت الشركات التي تشكل مؤشر S&P 500 تراجعا في مبيعاتها بمعدل سنوي قدره 10٪ في الربع الثاني، زادت مبيعات الشركات التي تعتمد نموذج الاشتراك فعليًا بمعدل 12٪. يعتبر هذا دليل على أنه في وقت الأزمات تظهر الشركات التي تعتمد هذا النموذج مرونة عالية.
في هذا المقال سنتحدث عن طبيعة هذا النموذج واهم الشركات العالمية التي تعمل من خلاله والاتجاهات الحالية لنموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك في الشرق الأوسط عبر تقديم قراءة مقتضبة للتقرير الصادر عن مختبر أبحاث ومضة ومايكروسوفت للشركات الناشئة القائم على استبيان من منظوري الشركات والمستهلكين، والذي شمل 193 شخصاً.
المصدر: Zuora - Subscription Economy Index
نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك
نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك هو أحد نماذج الاعمال المتبعة لتحقيق الإيرادات ووفق نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك يتم تحقيق الإيرادات على أساس متكرر من خلال رسوم تتقاضاها بشكل شهري أو سنوي في الغالب، مقابل الوصول الدوري للزبون إلى السلعة أو الخدمة المقدمة إليه من قبل الشركة. ويتم تجديد الاشتراكات وتنشيطها تلقائيًا باستخدام بطاقة ائتمان معتمدة مسبقًا أو حساب جار.
وتأتي الفائدة من الاعتماد على نماذج أعمال الاشتراك في ان ايراداته ثابته ومتكررة، كما يساعد أيضًا على إنشاء علاقات قوية مع العملاء.
ويشمل هذا النموذج جميع أنواع السلع والخدمات تقريباً فهو يتضمن خدمات تطبيقات الهواتف والاتصالات وكابالات التلفاز واشتراكات قنوات البث والتخزين وصالات الألعاب والرياضة والعناية بالصحة وخدمات التوصيل وغيرها الكثير من السلع والخدمات.
وتعتمد اليوم كبرى الشركات العالمية على نموذج الاشتراك في اعمالها، نذكر أهمها:
Mailchimp : بدأت منصة Mailchimp كمزود تسويق عبر البريد الإلكتروني وهي اليوم واحدة من أكثر أدوات التسويق عبر البريد الإلكتروني شيوعًا
Shopify : منصة التجارة الإلكترونية الرائدة لديها 800 ألف عميل في 175 دولة.
Dropbox: تعتبر منصة مشاركة الملفات هذه مثالًا جيداً على استخدام تسعير freemium جنبًا إلى جنب مع نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك لتحقيق نمو سريع، وتمتلك الشركة Dropbox اليوم أكثر من 12 مليون عميل.
مايكروسوفت: تحولت شركة البرمجيات العملاقة مايكروسوفت إلى نموذج اشتراك في عام 2013 لمواكبة أكبر منافسيها، ولقد ساعدهم هذا التحول على زيادة الإيرادات من 139.99 دولارًا لمرة واحدة إلى 99.99 دولاراً كمدفوعات مكررة سنوياً.
Spotify : تأسست خدمة بث الموسيقى Spotify في عام 2006، ولديها الآن 217 مليون مستخدم نشط شهريًا.
Netflix: في عام 2018 ، تجاوز استخدام Netflix تلفزيون الكابل والأقمار الصناعية. تتمتع الشركة بشعبية كبيرة لأنها قادرة على مشاركة الكثير من المحتوى القيم من خلال نموذج اشتراك بسيط. بلغت الإيرادات السنوية للشركة في عام 2019 ما قيمته 20.15 مليار دولار أمريكي، لتحقق نمواً مذهلاً في عام 2020.
قراءة في تقرير حالة الاعمال بالاشتراك في الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا
بحسب تقرير ومضة فإن هنالك ارتفاعاً ملحوظاً في "اقتصاد الاشتراك" في السنوات القليلة الماضية في الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، ارتفاع مدفوع بنمو التجارة الإلكترونية والبنية التحتية للمدفوعات الرقمية، بالإضافة الى ذلك فإن زيادة النمو في نموذج الاعمال بالاشتراك سواء على مستوى التعامل بين الشركات (B2B) او بين الشركات والمستهلكين (B2C) شهد طفرة كبيرة نتيجةً لتداعيات انتشار وباء كوفيد-19 حيث أجبرت الشركات على رقمنة عملياتها من جهة ومن جهة أخرى اجبر المستهلكين، وبسبب إجراءات الحجي المنزلي، على التحول نحو زيادة الاستهلاك عبر الانترنت، لاسيما قطاع الترفيه حيث لجأ المستهلكين الى منصات البث واللياقة البدنية وغيرها من المنصات.
تنقسم الاستبيانات الواردة في التقرير إلى 3 اقسام، الأول للشركات الناشئة التي لديها بالفعل نموذج اعمال بالاشتراك والثاني للشركات الناشئة التي تخطط لإطلاق عروض الاشتراك خلال الستة اشهر القادمة، والقسم الثالث للمستهلكين. ويشمل على مجموعة من الأسئلة الموجه للشركات والمستهلكين، إليك اهم ما جاء فيها:
نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك من منظور الشركات الناشئة
تحتل الامارات العربية المتحدة صدارة الدول التي تقع فيها مقرات الشركات العاملة بنموذج الاشتراك او تلك التي تخطط لتقديم عروضها، حيث تبلغ نسبة الشركات العاملة بنموذج الاشتراك وتتخذ من الامارات مركزاً لها حوالي 54% اما الشركات التي تنوي إطلاق عروض الاشتراك فأكثر من 43% مقرها في الامارات. وتأتي مصر خلف الإمارات بنسبة 43.5% للشركات التي لديها هذه الخدمة و31% لتلك التي تخطط لإطلاقها، وخلفهما تأتي السعودية بنسبة 24.7% و17% على التوالي.
تشمل نتائج هذا السؤال الشركة التي لديها عروض اشتراك بالفعل، وقد جاءت النتائج كالآتي: 25% منها في مرحلة ما قبل البذرة، 48.2% في مرحلة البذرة، 21.4% مرحلة التمويل A، 1.8% مرحلة التمويل B، 4% شركات.
بالنسبة للشركات التي لديها بالفعل عروض اشتراك فيأتي مجال التعليم في المقدمة حيث تعمل 18% من الشركات في قطاع التعليم يليه قطاع التجارة الإلكترونية بنسبة 13% يليهما قطاع الإنتاجية بنسبة 12% وقطاعي التكنولوجيا المالية وخدمات الطعام بنسبة 10% لكل منهما، اما قطاع الرعاية الصحية فيحتل نسبة 8%. وتأتي القطاعات الأخرى كقطاع النقل والخدمات اللوجستية والتسلية أسفل القائمة بنسب تقل عن 5%.
اما عن الشركات التي تخطط لتقديم عروض اشتراك لزبائنها، فنجد اختلافاً في توجهاتها عن الشركات التي تقدم بالفعل عروض الاشتراك، حيث يأتي قطاع الرعاية الصحية بالمرتبة الأولى بنسبة 22% يليه قطاع التسلية بنسبة 17% وقطاع التجارة الإلكترونية بنسبة ـ13% بينما تنخفض نسبة الشركات التي تخطط في الاستثمار بعروض الاشتراك في قطاع التعليم إلى نسبة 4%، وهو اعلى قطاع تعمل به الشركات التي شملها الاستبيان والتي تقدم عروض اشتراك بالفعل.
نموذج الأعمال بالاشتراك من منظور المستهلكين
جاء التوزيع الجغرافي للمستهلكين مختلفاً بعض الشيء عن تمركز مقرات الشركات جغرافياً، ففي حين أن 35.6% من المشتركين يتواجدون في الامارات و21.2% موجودين في مصر إلا ان البيانات تكشف عن وجود 19.5% من المستهلكين في الأردن و10.6% في السعودية و9.6% منهم في لبنان فيما يتواجد 3.8% في كل من الكويت وعمان، واما في آخر الترتيب فتأتي تونس والبحرين بحوالي 1.9% والجزائر وعمان وفلسطين 1% اما الدول الأخرى فتحتل مجتمعة نسبة 3.8%.
أكثر من 55% من المشتركين يأتون بالفئة العمرية بين 25-34 عاماً و32.7% منهم بين 35-55 عاماً اما الفئة العمرين بين 18-24 عاماً فيشكلون 10.6% وأخيراً، يشكل المشتركون من عمر 55 وما فوق 1% فقط من إجمالي المشتركين.
حوالي 82% من اجمالي المشتركين يعملون اما بدوام كامل أو بدوام جزئي بالإضافة إلى 1.9% من أصحاب العمل الحر (Freelancer)، فيما لا يشكل الأشخاص غير العاملين من المشتركين أكثر من 9.6% منهم 3.8% طلاب، وتتمثل أقل فئة بأصحاب الشركات الذي يمثلون 1% فقط من أجمالي المشتركين.
وعن المنصات الأكثر اشتراكاً جاءت منصة NETFLIX بالمرتبة الأولى حيث يشترك بها 64.4% من اجمالي المستهلكين الذين شملهم الاستبيان، يليها Microsoft 365 بنسبة 26.9% وSpotify بـ26% كما يشترك المستهلكون بنسب متفاوتة بعدد كبير من المنصات الأخرى منها منصة زوم وأدوبي ولينكدإن وتطبيق انغامي وغيرها.
نختم المقال ببعض النصائح للشركات التي تريد تطوير هذا النموذج كما وردت في مقالة المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي
ألق نظرة فاحصة على ما هو جاهز للسوق وما هو غير جاهز. قم بتقييم مشاريعك لتحديد الحد الأدنى من المنتجات القابلة للتطبيق (MVP) والجاهزة لتحقيق الدخل والتوسع. حدد أولويات تلك المشاريع التي لديها بالفعل إثباتات قيمة مقنعة مع العملاء الحاليين ويمكن أن تتحرك بسرعة وبشكل متكرر.
من المهم تحويل استراتيجيات النمو من "جذب عملاء جدد بمنتجات ناجحة" إلى "توسيع العلاقات مع العملاء الحاليين". نظرًا لظروف السوق الحالية، سيكون من الأسهل البيع لقاعدة عملاء ترى بالفعل قيمة لخدماتك بدلاً من إقناع عملاء جدد بالاستثمار في خدمة جديدة. ودائمًا ما يكون الاحتفاظ بالعملاء الحاليين أقل تكلفة من العثور على عملاء جدد.
يلعب التسعير والتعبئة دورًا رئيسيًا في نجاح نموذج الاشتراك. نظرًا لظروف السوق الحالية، من الأفضل أن تقوم الشركات باكتساب المزيد من المشتركين باستخدام إستراتيجية طويلة الأجل لزيادة الدخل. عادةً ما يأخذ هذا شكل سعر رمزي أو بشكل مجاني من أجل دفع المستخدم لتجريب المنتج أو الخدمة وتبنيه.
تحديد الموارد الداخلية للتركيز عليها لانجاح نموذج الاشتراك. يتضمن ذلك الموارد التجارية المخصصة والالتزام بتقديم الخدمة وإنشاء مجموعة من المقاييس متوسطة المدى للنجاح.
المصادر:
تقرير مؤسسة ومضة: State subscription businesses MENA
موقع: Investopedia
المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي: www.weforum.org
The continued growth in the licensing movement of economic activities reflects the solid confidence of local and foreign investors in the national economy
A total of 9,913 new business activities licenses were issued across all the emirates of the country during the first week of 2021, according to the latest data from the National Economic Register (NER).
The continued growth in the licensing movement of economic activities reflects the solid confidence of local and foreign investors in the national economy, which has demonstrated a high ability to face challenges and turn them into opportunities, with the support of initiatives and stimulus packages launched by the federal and local governments to spur economic growth.
According to the NER's statistics, the project management services licenses lead the top economic activities positively affected by the economic incentives.
source: .zawya
Kuwait was ranked 86th out of 100 countries in the World’s Best Cities Report for 2021, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting bestcities. org.
According to the report, Kuwait is last among the Gulf countries; while Dubai ranked sixth in the world and first in the Gulf, Abu Dhabi ranked 15th in the world and second in the Gulf.
The best cities in the world are determined according to six criteria as follows:
1. Place: weather, safety, tourist attractions, public parks and outdoor activities, number of corona cases relative to the population
2. Products: airport travel destinations and networks, attractions for residents and tourists, university ranking, convention center
3. People: residents born in the city, educational attainment
4. Prosperity: ranking of city companies in Fortune 500 (index of the best 500 companies in the world), GDP per capita, equality of income, unemployment rate
5. Programming: culture, nightlife, food quality, shopping
6. Promotion: percentage of visitors, number of visitors checking in places on Facebook, using Google search engine during the visit, visitors’ comments on the travel application ‘TripAdvisor’, Instagram tags for the city, popularity of the city in ‘Google Trends’ among visitors within 12 months.
The report stated that Kuwait City shines with amazing contrasts and it is one of the hottest cities on the planet during summer. The water towers are among its prominent features; indicating the glittering towers reflect modernity and efficiency for which Kuwait is famous, especially when it comes to social networking sites.
With the presence of the huge Silk City project, Kuwait will soon have a very strong chain of hashtags on social media, including the Great Mubarak Tower in the city plan, which may break records for social media labels, the report added.
London, New York, and Paris are the top three best cities in the world for 2021; followed by Moscow (4), Tokyo (5) and Dubai (6), Singapore (7), Barcelona (8), Los Angeles (9) and Madrid (10). On the other hand, the 10 worst cities are: Krakow (Poland) at 100th, Raleigh (America) at 99th, Salt Lake (America) at 98th, Mexico City at 97th, Glasgow (UK) at 96th, Sacramento (America) at 95th, Manchester at 94th, Düsseldorf (Germany) at 93rd, Nashville (Tennessee-America) at 92nd, Bucharest (Romania) at 91st and Minsk (Belarus) at 90th.
source: arabtimesonline
Qatari companies including banks are forecast to get a boost from a deal to end a more than three-year row between Doha and some Gulf states, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday.
QNB Financial Services Research, part of Qatar’s biggest bank, said in a note that Qatari banks are set to benefit from the GCC resolution agreed at a Gulf summit on Tuesday “based on general investor optimism as domestic banks had immaterial exposure to the blockading countries”.
The Qatari stock index closed 1.4% higher on Tuesday, leading other Gulf markets and was up 0.1% on Wednesday, although Qatar’s international bonds were little changed by news of the deal, while credit default swaps, used to bet against the risk of a default, were unmoved, IHS Markit data showed.
“Qatar Airways and consequently Qatar Fuel could benefit from increased air traffic between KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Qatar,” QNB said in the research note, adding that real estate firms will also benefit from demand longer term.
Qatari banks have significant stakes in banks in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, while Qatar National Bank was seeking to expand its business in Saudi Arabia, where it opened a branch just before the embargo.
Qatari banks also had a total of 6% exposure to regional lenders, which fell to 3% after the embargo, the note said, adding that Qatari companies have largely eliminated its impact by diversifying supply channels, as well as their customers.
source: reuters
Qatari companies including banks are forecast to get a boost from a deal to end a more than three-year row between Doha and some Gulf states, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday.
QNB Financial Services Research, part of Qatar’s biggest bank, said in a note that Qatari banks are set to benefit from the GCC resolution agreed at a Gulf summit on Tuesday “based on general investor optimism as domestic banks had immaterial exposure to the blockading countries”.
The Qatari stock index closed 1.4% higher on Tuesday, leading other Gulf markets and was up 0.1% on Wednesday, although Qatar’s international bonds were little changed by news of the deal, while credit default swaps, used to bet against the risk of a default, were unmoved, IHS Markit data showed.
“Qatar Airways and consequently Qatar Fuel could benefit from increased air traffic between KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Qatar,” QNB said in the research note, adding that real estate firms will also benefit from demand longer term.
Qatari banks have significant stakes in banks in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, while Qatar National Bank was seeking to expand its business in Saudi Arabia, where it opened a branch just before the embargo.
Qatari banks also had a total of 6% exposure to regional lenders, which fell to 3% after the embargo, the note said, adding that Qatari companies have largely eliminated its impact by diversifying supply channels, as well as their customers.
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