The growth of e-commerce will not lead to the extinction of shopping malls, according to the co-founder of perfume and beauty platform Golden Scent.
Speaking to Arabian Business, Malik Shehab said the rise of online shopping has put more pressure on malls to find new forms of entertaining shoppers.
“The market is one big pie and everyone is trying to take their share of it. E-commerce is taking part of the business but I don’t think malls will ever become extinct. People will still want to go to the mall and spend time there. Malls will just have to find more ways to keep entertaining people,” he said.
Golden Scent is a Saudi-based platform operating across the GCC. It was founded by Shehab and co-founder Ronny Froehlich in 2014. Today, it boasts over 10,000 perfume and make-up products. It focuses on added value and provides customers with free samples with purchases.
E-commerce in the Middle East is expected to be worth $48 billion by 2022, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia driving its 16.4 percent growth over the next few years, according to last year’s BMI Research report.
While the market remains one of the smallest when compared to global ones, Shehab believes it has room for more e-commerce players such as Golden Scent.
“E-commerce in the GCC is relatively small compared to other regions around the world, since it’s a new market. [It’s] still growing and improving day by day to deliver a better and richer experience to the customer. So there is still much room for space and more players,” he said.
The co-founder hinted at future expansions worldwide and said the platform will be releasing news about a funding round soon.
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