E-commerce firm Amazon announced today that it has completed its US$650 million acquisition of Dubai-based competitor Souq.com. The deal, which was initially announced in March, has now been formally concluded and work has already begun on integration, with customers now able to log into Souq.com using their Amazon account details. Souq.com said that joining Amazon would allow it to bring more products and services to the region and to expand its "fulfilled by Souq.com" service offering sellers access to a much wider customer base. Ronaldo Mouchawar, the co-founder and chief executive of Souq.com said: “It is an exhilarating time for the e-commerce industry in the region. Integration of Amazon’s technology and global resources with our local expertise will help us to offer a great service to our loyal customers.” Amazon.com’s senior vice-president for its international consumer business, Russ Grandinetti, said: “We are excited to be able to provide our customers in the Middle East with the benefit of easy access to Souq.com using their Amazon credentials “We are working to quickly integrate Souq.com and Amazon capabilities, in terms of both customer experience and fulfilment, to provide an ever-improving shopping experience for customers in the Middle East.” Souq.com currently stocks more than 8.4 million products across 31 categories and attracts 45 million visits per month. It has localised operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Just before Amazon.com and Souq.com announcing their tie-up in March, a last-minute, $800m bid for Souq.com was submitted by Emaar Malls, the shopping mall division of Emaar Properties, which subsequently bought a 51 per cent stake in online fashion retailer Namshi for $151m. However, when announcing the acquisition by Amazon, Mr Mouchawar said that Souq.com was "guided by many of the same principles as Amazon" and that the deal provided a critical step in growing its customers base.
