Digikala

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Digikala
TypePrivate company
IndustryE-commerce
FoundedJuly 1, 2006; 15 years ago (2006-07-01)
FoundersHamid Mohammadi
Saeid Mohammadi
Headquarters
Tehran
,
Iran
Area served
Iran
Services
  • Digikala Mag
  • Supermarket
  • Digiplus
  • Digiclub
  • DigiExpress
  • Diginext
  • Smartech
Number of employees
8200 (2021)
SubsidiariesDigistyle
Fidibo
Digipay
Komodaa
Pindo
Digikalajet
Smartech
Websitewww.digikala.com

Digikala (Persian: دیجی‌کالا‎, Dijikalâ, lit. digital goods) is an Iranian e-commerce company based in Tehran. It was founded in July, 2006 by twin brothers Hamid and Saeid Mohammadi who had an unpleasant experience when they tried to buy a digital camera, after which they used $10,000 of their own savings to start the company.[1][2] The company was reported to be valued at $150 million in 2014, and $500 million in late 2015.[3][4] Digikala offers same day delivery in Tehran and Karaj, and offers next day delivery in 20 other cities.[5][6]

Growth[]

Hamid Mohammadi and Saeed Mohammadi, co-founders of Digikala

Digikala is one of the Iranian startups that benefit from the country's increasing digitization. By 2017, 62% of Iran's households have been connected to the Internet and this development is driving demand for Internet services that mirror Western digital platforms such as Amazon.[7] Digikala is ranked by Alexa as Iran's 3rd most visited website.[8] It is also the largest e-commerce platform in the Middle East.[9] It has 1,700,000[10] unique visitors per day, and 85% of Iran's ecommerce now takes place on Digikala.[11] The company does not publicise its revenue but has said sales are growing at a rate of 200% a year, and that it is receiving orders from even the most remote villages in Iran. Hamid Mohammadi said the main focus of the company remains expansion "even if that means we will not be profitable, which is how Amazon is operating”.[12]

Iran's economic volatility forced Digikala to lay off 175 workers in 2018.[13] To survive, it adopted several initiatives such as the pay-per-sale strategy which allow users - as affiliates - to receive commission if a directed customer purchased a product.[14] In March 2019, Digikala also addressed the issue authenticity of products in the platform after receiving complaints over the quality of goods being sold. In a statement, it stated that only 0.2% of the 2 million products are unoriginal and that the company has taken steps to implement stringent quality control.[15]

Subsidiaries[]

At the moment Digikala group active on logistics, e-commerce, content, fintech, martech and innovations fields. [16]It owns over 10 subsidiaries, including Fidibo, Digistyle, Digipay, Pindo and Komodaa.[17]

Fidibo[]

Fidibo is a legal Persian e-book store that has been operating since March 2014. Digikala bought a part of Fidibo shares in 2016 and became its main owner in 2017 by increasing its investment. Fidebo released their first exclusive e-ink reader called Fidebook with Persian language support in May 2018. [18]

Digistyle[]

Digistyle, an online fashion and clothing store, was founded in 2016, and sell more than 100,000 different goods in its store.[17][16]

Digipay[]

Digipay started out in 2018 and its objective is to create a sustainable and comprehensive financial solution with a focus on mobile and web payments. Digipay solutions include Smart IPG, merchant management dashboard, mobile payment gateway, customer refund service, personal and organizational wallets, mobile payment application, API-based services and installment purchase facility to its customers.[17]

Komodaa[]

Komodaa is a Iranian social buy-and-sell startup platform. Incepted July 2018, this social platform has been Digikala group member since late 2019.[19] Komodaa, currently hosts over 500,000 active posts and has demonstrated a fast growth in sales. [17][16]

Pindo[]

In 2021 Digikala launch a new product called Pindo. It’s a platform for registering advertisements for buying and selling goods and providing C2C services. With Pindo, users can publish advertisements for the sale of their goods and services and also create a link between their advertisement and Digikala product page.[16] [20]

Smartech[]

In the summer of 2019, Digikala Group chose Smartech as it's dedicated marketing technology service provider. This partnership was at first formed to satisfy Digikala’s marketing technology needs and was continued to provide marketing technology solutions to other businesses as well. Smartech is currently operating as one of the companies in Digikala group.

References[]

  1. ^ "REUTERS SUMMIT-'Iran's Amazon' disregards post-sanctions competition, looks to expand".
  2. ^ "Forbes: Meet The Twin Brothers Transforming How Iranians Shop".
  3. ^ "The Washington Post: Here's what it's like to launch a start-up in Iran".
  4. ^ "BBC: Iran's digital start-ups signal changing times".
  5. ^ "The Washington Post:What the Iran deal means for the country's surprisingly strong tech industry".
  6. ^ "Digikala is the Largest Online Marketplace in Iran and the Middle East". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Iranian Startups Offer Opportunities In An Unstable Economy". RFE/RL. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  8. ^ "Alexa: Top Sites in Iran".
  9. ^ Dehghan, Saeid Kamali (2015-05-31). "From Digikala to Hamijoo: the Iranian startup revolution, phase two". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  10. ^ "دیجی‌کالا بزرگ‌ترین مرکز پردازش سفارش در خاورمیانه را راه‌اندازی کرد".
  11. ^ "The Guardian: From Digikala to Hamijoo: the Iranian startup revolution, phase two".
  12. ^ "FT:Iranian ecommerce thrives despite obstacles".
  13. ^ "In Face of Hard Times Iran's Digikala Remains Upbeat". Financial Tribune. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  14. ^ "Digikala Enlists Pay-Per-Sale Strategy". Financial Tribune. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  15. ^ "Digikala to Carry Out Stringent Quality Control". Financial Tribune. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "گزارش سال ۱۳۹۹ دیجی‌کالا". digikala.com. Digikala. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Pomegranate Investment AB (publ) Releases Financial Report for the period of 6 months ended October 31, 2020". news.cision.com. Pomegranate Investment AB. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  18. ^ "واگذاری یکی از اپلیکیشن‌های کتابخوان به یک فروشگاه اینترنتی". Mehrnews Agancy. Mehrnews Agancy. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  19. ^ "دیجی کالا در استارتاپ کمدا سرمایه‌گذاری کرد". ZoomIT. zoomit. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  20. ^ "دیجی کالا اپلیکیشن پیندو را رسما برای دانلود در دسترس عموم کاربران قرار داد". Digiato. 2021-04-04. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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