Founder of JadoPado & CEO of al bogari Holdings. Thinker, tinkerer, Apple products pusher. Avid tea drinker.
Copyright 2011 Omar Kassim
Here's to the Developers.
Inspired by Apple, “Here’s to the Developers” is a nice video by New Relic. I think they just sold me on their services. Nice one.
Cobone.com: Not quite adding up
Just had a listen to Paul Kenny’s interview on yesterday’s Business Breakfast on Dubai Eye 103.8 (Available here: http://jdp.do/tYyheB).
Interesting Numbers:
- 1 million user signed up
- 80K to 100K visitors daily
- 55% of the audience is Arabic speaking
- 90% of merchants are repeat merchants
- Electronics - Month 1 - USD 300K revenue
- Fashion - Week 1 - 1000 units sold
- Approximately 10% of coupons not redeemed
Mobile App:
- 13,000 downloads of Cobone’s mobile app (iOS only, Android in 2 weeks)
- 3% mobile app users consuming on the site. I would peg that at 400 active users so far.
Doesn’t add up:
- Paul: “Almost 100,000 coupons sold”
- Cobone.com currently states 492,995 coupons sold. Since the site launched in August 2010 - that leaves 3 months to sell an additional 392,995 coupons. Something doesn’t add up.
- Paul: Savings of USD 25 million = AED 91,850,000
- Cobone.com currently states AED 97,838,035.86 saved leaving a gap of AED 5,988,035
- A pretty sizeable difference in the numbers, especially in terms of coupons sold.
Late night analysis.
Update: Paul tweeted out to me say that it was a 5am start and he got the number of coupons wrong. Ah well!
Burj Dubai Business Hub changed over to Emaar Square, Downtown Dubai ages ago.
Invoice design and accuracy is important. It’s the one piece of paper that your customer will most likely take away from your store. It’s one more touch point where you can continue the experience you’re trying to provide.
It’s all about the little details. It’s always the details.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
‘if’ by Rudyard Kipling
MarkaVIP: Fastest Growing E-Commerce Firm in the Middle East
An interesting press release released by MarkaVIP a few days ago, that I just stumbled across. The claim is a bold one.
The release going out via MarketWire, the strategic office in San Francisco, the growth trajectory and the an inkling of market rumours all point towards a classic play for additional funding or squaring up to be bought out. See: Gonabit.
My view on the numbers:
- Seven digits could mean anything from 1,000,000 to 9,999,999.
- A 3% conversion rate on 700,000 members is 21,000 buyers
- Average transaction value stated is USD 140
- Gross Quarterly Revenue 2011 Q3: USD 2,940,000
- The release isn’t clear whether the average transaction value applies to UAE purchasers or whether it’s an average across the entire customer base
- Let’s pare the revenue number down to USD 2,500,000 just in case.
- Gross margin of 40%? = USD 1,000,000.
- Net line after paying for 120 employees across six offices and other costs?
Very interesting numbers. Bodes well for online in the region.
If the business is cash positive, I would be tempted to let it grow via it’s current cash flow rather than considering further funding. But I’m just speculating after all.
“Onlie Shopping”: Spotted on the front of an Axiom Telecom Offers Leaflet. Made me grin at the end of a long day. Heh. Lesson: Spell check.
Market research is what you do when your product isn’t any good
Steve Jobs. 1955-2011.
Incredibly Sad.
Visionary. Genius. Inventor. Human.
Strange Apple Store UAE Policy
2.8 Please note that you may not order more than one product of each product line per transaction. For the avoidance of doubt, please note that you may order several Products in a single transaction as long as these Products don’t belong to the same Product line. For instance, you may order an iPod shuffle and an iPod touch, but you may not order 2 iPod touch.
Why am I allowed to purchase one product from each line only? Answer: Grey Market & Reselling.
(Source: store.apple.com)
