PayPal Partners MarkaVIP For Middle East eCommerce

ECommerce is a burgeoning trend worldwide, and represents a strong startup sector in the Middle East. The flash sale site, MarkaVIP is attempting to reduce the popular method of cash-on-delivery option and has announced that they’ve signed an agreement with PayPal to begin processing immediate online payments.

“Our convenience promise to our customers is as important to MarkaVIP as our unrivalled choice of products, brands and fantastic deals. As the only eCommerce company in the Middle East to be offered a direct billing agreement by PayPal, MarkaVIP is able to offer customers a truly secure and seamless shopping experience,” said Sohrab Jahanbani, COO of MarkaVIP, according to a Wamda report.

MarkaVIP, in its third year of operation, has helped to increase online shopping amongst consumers in the Middle East region. The site sells designer apparel, accessories, electronics and home goods at a discounted price for limited time periods. MarkaVIP is an exclusive online shopping site that only offers deals for registered members. Their online community currently consists of about 2.5 million members.

Seventy percent of MarkaVIP’s orders are paid through COD, which is more of a liability than an enabler for encouraging online sales. The eCommerce company has been encouraging consumers to use prepaid and credit cards to make online payments. Signing on with PayPal with give online shoppers the option to make immediate and hassle free payments.

Along with adding PayPal as a payment option, MarkaVIP is going the extra mile to further persuade customers. Customers using PayPal to make payments will also be rewarded with free shipping.

Jahanbani stated, “Literally one click of the mouse to make a payment, and the added bonus of free shipping, really does bring a new dimension in convenience to shopping.”

The eCommerce site’s partnership will ensure that the online process is much easier for consumers, but it also confirms eCommerce’s growing prominence in the Middle East and North African region.

Jahanbani said, “At the time, PayPal hadn’t arrived in the region in terms of support, dedicating a team, and working with banks in the region. They’ve now made it much easier for merchants in the Middle East and North Africa to work with their payment gateway.”

PayPal’s partnership with MarkaVIP has made a “turning point in the Arab region,” Jahanbani concluded.

To read the full story at Wamda click here.