What is Souq? Souq Review

Souq is the largest e-commerce platform in the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Dubai. It currently has four sites in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait. It mainly sells electronic products, digital 3C, household kitchenware, baby products and toys, etc.

About Souq

Souq was founded in 2006 by Syrian Ronaldo Mouchawar and is headquartered in the UAE. After years of rapid development, it was acquired by Amazon for $650 million in 2017.

The platform has more than 31 categories and more than 8.4 million SKUs, mainly covering electronic products, fashion apparel, household items, watches and perfumes, etc.

In August 2018, Souq ranked 772nd among global websites, with more than 47 million monthly visiting IP addresses. Its traffic peak occurred in May 2018, exceeding 53 million IP addresses.

Since its establishment, Souq has always targeted the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with the traffic share of the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia being 32.11%, 31.27% and 23.46% respectively.

After Souq was acquired by Amazon, the previous domain name souq.com has now directly jumped to Amazon's Middle East site Amazon.ae.

Seller account registration method

If you want to register a Souq seller account, there are currently two ways:

1. Provide a scanned copy of the seller's UAE business license, UAE bank account (company account with the same information as the business license, or the personal account of the legal person on the license), contact email and mobile phone number. Send the above information to the Souq investment manager's email address to open a Souq seller account for free. Please note that the Souq investment manager's email address has the domain name "amazon.com" as the suffix.

2. Open an account through an agent authorized by Souq. Souq has officially authorized several agents to open accounts, mainly FBS (Fulfillment by Souq) logistics carriers recommended by the Souq platform. Sellers use the UAE business license and bank card of the agent to open an account, and there is no account opening fee (mainly for continuous binding of logistics cooperation). The information provided includes contact person, phone number, email, domestic business license, e-commerce platform that has been settled in, and links to self-operated independent stations.

Once the seller account is generated, the registered email address will receive an activation link. The seller clicks the link, resets the password, and sets the store name, bank account number, VAT number and other information in the seller interface. Once the store name is set, it cannot be changed later. The bank account number and VAT number must be consistent with the business license information. Accounts registered through account opening agents use the information provided by the account opening agent.

Platform commission fees

It is free to open a store on Souq. The platform commission fee includes: order handling fee and logistics delivery fee. Logistics refers to FBS delivery fee. FBS is similar to Amazon FBA. Sellers can choose FBS service when uploading products on the platform. On the specified delivery date, the seller will send the goods to Souq's warehouse, and all subsequent warehousing logistics will be handled by Souq.

Souq’s specific category commission ratios are as follows:

*Note: Applicable areas: UAE and Saudi Arabia

*Applicable regions: Egypt

register

Log in to Amazon Middle East official website: https://www.amazon.ae, click "Sign in" in the upper right corner of the homepage, a white display panel will appear, then click "Start here" to fill in the information and register according to the prompts.

Frequently asked questions

Q: If the price of the product I sell is 50 dirhams or less, how is the commission calculated?

A: The commission for products worth AED 50 or less is 20% with no minimum charge or processing fee.

Q: Can I create multiple sub-accounts?

A: For registered sellers, Souq platform can open multiple sub-accounts to manage product categories.

Q: Can a domestic bank account receive payments from a Souq account?

A: Domestic bank accounts cannot receive payments. The bank information in the seller’s account must be local bank information in the Middle East.

Q: How does Souq collect payments?

A: The platform will release the money to the Souq seller's account three days after the buyer receives the goods, and the seller will then withdraw the money to a local bank account in Saudi Arabia (this time is about three days). Through a third-party bank account, the platform will immediately transfer the money to the seller's designated account after receiving the money.

Q: Do sellers have to choose FBS service?

A: No, there are two options for product logistics: FBS and overseas warehouses. FBS can save sellers trouble, but there are weight requirements for products: the UAE cannot exceed 15KG, and Saudi Arabia cannot exceed 10KG. Therefore, if the product is overweight, you can use overseas warehouses to deliver it yourself.

Development History

-Souq was founded in 2005 by co-founders Ronaldo Mouchawar and Samih Toukan. It started out as an auction site associated with the internet portal Maktoob.

-In 2011, Souq.com changed its model to be similar to the Amazon platform.

-In March 2014, the company raised $75 million from Naspers in Cape Town, South Africa. As of 2014, Souq.com has raised $150 million.

As of 2015, the company is backed by Tiger Global Management and Naspers Ltd., among others, and is headquartered in Dubai.

- On March 27, 2017, the BBC reported that Emaar Malls, "the operator of Dubai's largest shopping mall", intended to acquire Souq for US$800 million.

-On March 28, 2017, Amazon.com confirmed that it would acquire Souq.com for an unknown value.

Souq.com is now a subsidiary of Amazon and serves as Amazon's stepping stone into the Middle East.