MyEXWardrobe – a second-hand clothing marketplace
First came the likes of Namshi, a Middle East fashion e-commerce business that aimed to be all things to all fashionistas: selling clothing, footwear, bags and other accessories.
A few years old now, and Namshi, alongside discount fashion websites like Sukar and MarkaVIP, has raised cash, and each of those businesses is ticking along. They don’t report figures, but Namshi at least, claims it will more than double revenues in 2014.
With the broader fashion websites having led the way, smaller niche e-commerce players are also now hitting the fashion rack across the Middle East, and even raising some funding of their own.
CitraStyle.com, a website selling modest Muslim fashion, has recently raised a “multi-million” dollar round from investors, including iMENA Holdings, according to founder and Chief Executive Muhammad Chbib. It now aims to market to Muslims in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and the Middle East.
“You have to build a brand that has uniqueness,” said Mr. Chbib, who also founded Desado.com, a homeware and accessories site that is no longer being marketed to customers and from which CitraStyle has been spun out.
Rashid and Salama Alabbar, the children of Emaar Properties Chairman Mohammed Alabbar, are launching Sivvi.com – another fashion portal to serve the Middle East. A number of children’s clothing websites, led by Mumzworld, have been keeping the kids in shoes for some time.
On crowdinvesting website Eureeca.com alone, there are three fashion e-commerce sites that are in the process of seeking funding or have already raised cash. Poupee Couture, a handbag brand that recently launched an e-commerce site, convinced investors to stump up $80,488 in just 10 days on Eureeca.
Jordan-based Harir.com is a discounted shopping club aimed at women and raised $91,582, or 183% of its target, while MyEXWardrobe, a second-hand clothing marketplace is seeking investors on Eureeca. ShiftFashion.com is also a new online and offline fashion exchange.
“It’s easy to have a website, but making sure you have the traffic is where the challenge lies,” explained Roula Ghalayini, the founder of Poupee Couture.
Yet traffic might not be the only obstacle for niche fashion e-commerce websites in the region. In the U.A.E., Namshi invested heavily last year in operations, creating its own logistics operations to manage deliveries, something Souq.com and MarkaVIP had already done.
The process of managing same-day or next-day delivery, as well as cash buyers who want to try clothes on at delivery, can be a difficult one in fashion e-commerce, says Omar Christidis, founder and chief executive of ArabNet, the tech events and media company.
“I’m not sure how the smaller players are going to overcome the challenges of an immature e-commerce infrastructure in the region,” he said.
For now though, fashion is in fashion.
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