Middle East flash sales site MarkaVIP doubles monthly transactions, gains 200,000 users in less than 2 months

MarkaVIP, one of the Middle East’s few flash sales sites, which we’ve covered in the past, is continuing to grow and expand at an impressive rate since it was founded last November.

The site stays true to the exclusive flash sales site model – offering member-only discounts of anywhere from 40-70% on limited items for a brief period of time.

In the two months that have passed since we spoke to founder and CEO Ahmed Al Khatib, the site has shot up by 200,000 members, now closing in on the 700,000 mark.

MarkaVIP’s new user base is not the only source of the site’s growth. In the third quarter of 2011, it’s seen a repeat purchase rate of 45%, and a buyer conversion rate of 3%.

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The majority of the site’s business is coming out of Saudi Arabia, accounting for 40% of its sales, while the rest of the Gulf countries account for 35%, followed by Jordan and Lebanon making up the remaining 25%, with most transactions being made through its Arabic language site.

All of these transactions have translated, in the past 3 months, to MarkaVIP’s sales doubling, and over 500 brands reaching their consumers through the flash sale site.

Speaking about the site’s growth, Al Khatib said:

“Our recent business milestones demonstrate a very positive response from consumers and suppliers to MarkaVIP’s offering, and confirms the strong e-commerce appetite that exists across the region.

Three months ago we were generating seven figure monthly revenues – this has now doubled and our growth trajectory shows further increases still. We believe these results make us the fastest growing and best performing e-commerce company in the region.”

MarkaVIP’s impressive statistics are a testament not only to the site, but are also another important example of the gaining popularity of e-commerce in the Middle East.