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Saudi Arabia is increasingly gaining the reputation of being the next big e-commerce convergence of the Arab world, and the data confirms it. During the ArabNet Digital Summit 2013, Aramex stated that Saudi Arabia surpassed the UAE in the e-commerce industry this year, where both markets collectively make up 82% of the total e-commerce business in the region.

While these insights look very promising, Ammar Waganah from Dokkanafkar.com, an e-commerce business in Saudi Arabia that offers traditional products with a creative twist, stated during an interview with ArabNet that, despite the huge growth potential of this sector, the number of unsuccessful e-commerce sites in the country is quite high—and Ammar and his team were determined to know the root cause of the problem. “This was an important step where we identified major issues, including user interface, technical know-how, the website’s concept, and so on,” said Ammar. After studying all these issues and designing a successful e-business model, Dokkanafkar.com was launched on June 12, 2013, following a year of extensive preparations.

Innovation on the go

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Dokkanafkar.com is the originality of their product offering. Have you ever seen a candy jar pillow? Or a wallet with the map of London drawn on its fabric? What about a stamp of Facebook’s “Like” and “Dislike”? These could be handy for teachers or managers who like creativity and humor.

Every product on Dokkanafkar.com reflects the founder’s passion for creativity, innovation, and elegant product design. When answering the question about the source of their unique products, Ammar replied: “We found that there are a lot of local and international creative people and designers who have great products that can be appealing for people. We decided at this stage to collaborate with them and sell their brands through our website.”

Dokkanafkar.com currently works with designers in Europe and USA. In the next phase, the company will open its door for the public to pitch their ideas. The best designs will be selected for in-house manufacturing. “We will partner with financial institutions to execute the top-rated ideas. We will start a community dialog and create talk-show episodes, articles, and videos about the latest in creativity, inventions, etc.,” explained Ammar.

To establish a trustworthy online experience for customers in Saudi Arabia, Ammar and his team did their best to build a business model that is better suited to the local market than other available business models. “We believe in finding customer insights and adapting to what customers want,” says Ammar. The business model greatly appealed to individual investors, which Ammar calls “believers.” All products are delivered within 1-3 working days to all Saudi Arabia cities. “We currently offer free delivery for orders over S.R499 and charge a reasonable price for orders below that. We will be improving this rate as well,” says Ammar.

Challenges of Online Payment versus Promising Vibes of Success

As with every e-commerce business model in the MENA region, the main obstacle that Dokkanafkar.com faces is encouraging people to pay online rather than opting for COD. But this issue is undoubtedly not going to be resolved any time soon.

Despite Dokkanaftar.com’s short timeline, it has already hit 10,000 likes on Facebook and has established a “very good number of registrants on the website,” according to Ammar. “The feedback we are getting from customers is amazing. All this and we are still in a Beta version. We are continuously fixing a lot of things.”

“The online market is a huge market and it is growing day by day. Dokkanafkar.com will work hard to reserve its place within this industry and will keep on improving. Working on improvements is the key to success. Our vision is to be the home for creative people and elegantly-designed products,” concluded Ammar.