Dubai: In the wake of the rising tide of internet connectivity, Gulf businesses, especially start-ups, are eschewing a brick-and-mortar approach and embracing the cyber world. Mona Ataya is one entrepreneur whose business ideas are planted firmly online.
A mother of three sons — twins Sufian and Tareq, aged seven, and Yousuf, four — she knows only too well the challenges that come with bringing up children. "When I had my first children, I had no idea what they needed and where to buy it," Ataya said. "I spent hours researching on the internet and looking at different shops in Dubai."
It proved to be time well spent. Scouring both the online and offline outlets, Ataya saw a gap in the market for an online shopping and information portal dedicated to everything a mother, baby and child would need. This resulted in the launch of mumzworld.com in October.
Effective platform
"Mothers today want convenience, want choice and want to feel empowered that they have all the information they need at their fingertips to make informed decisions for their families," she said.
"For mothers, we want to provide a one-stop shop that will allow them to access the widest range of mother, baby and child products from the region and abroad, while for regional retailers, we want to provide a highly effective platform to engage with a captive, target audience 24 hours a day and seven days a week."
According to the latest data, online purchases in Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar are up 88 per cent, 75 per cent and 51.8 per cent over previous figures.
Ataya is looking to harness the spending power of mothers across the region. She is now seeing a steadily growing clientele since the portal's launch.
"We haven't done any marketing yet, but we are seeing people buy," she added. "We've even had a couple of orders from as far away as Australia."
Track record
Mumzworld aims to ship the items out in one to three days for UAE-based customers and between seven to ten days across the region.
Ataya's previous position as one of the founding partners of Bayt.com, the recruitment portal, had given her a track record in online entrepreneurship. Now with being a mother, she has all the knowhow required for a portal such as mumzworld.
"Having three children, I have learnt how to juggle family life and worked on zero sleep. The children have also been able to help in the nature of my business — they sometimes give feedback on a product."
Using a research and technical team, she has made sure the site is easily navigable. It includes customer reviews, a multi-table browsing window and a gift registry service where children can pick up their favourites for birthday parties.
"I want to create an online community. We will have Q&A discussions with medical professionals and a guide to essentials needed at the different stages of childhood.
"We want mumzworld to be a gateway to the universe of everyone, even fathers and friends who will not only benefit from the products available, but also the information provided on products and other parenting issues."
Easy access
The online store stocks over 24,000 products from brands such as Lamaze, OshKosh, B'Gosh, Philips Avent, Disney and Lego, as well as brands without a presence in the region such as Kaiya Eve Pettiskirts and Lemon Loves Lime.
"From bottles to car seats, as parents we are constantly being bombarded with new information on how to keep our children safe and happy," said Ataya.
"Traditionally parents have not been able to access information on new technologies and products by simply walking into a store, and have been left to fend for themselves.
"The different interactive and comparison features on the site are there to help empower mothers in the region so that they can access this information easily and feel confident in their buying decisions."
