Open your virtual Kuwait store in minutes with Dikani.com
Name: Dikani.com
Launch Date: Nov, 2008
Languages: English/Arabic
Brief: Dikani.com is like a virtual Kuwait mall for sellers to open their virtual store through it and start selling instantly. Each seller gets his own subdomain on the site, e.g. shop.dikani.com, and each seller pays monthly fees for Dikani based on number of items advertised.
Review: The implementation of Dikani is unique in Kuwait, and is one of the few software as a service providers here now as well. I’ve heard quite several people sharing a thought for such an idea in Kuwait, but this one is the first to see the light. I have to say I was personally not convinced the idea in this way would would be a success, but it seems with the excessive online advertisement campaign by Dikani, things are starting to get some attention.
Right now, there is a total of 5 stores and around 70 items. Not much compared to the size of advertisement it’s making, but it’s still a start, and with a couple of success stories, I can see more people joining in. A point also to make is, for some reason most advertisement clicks take to 404 page rather than Dikani main page, so this must be affecting their conversion.
The target seller I think is small to medium. Small shops who are looking for quick ways to reach online audience. But I think people with highest interest will be the freelancers who normally sell their stuff at home or through friend links. Such a trend is quite popular in Kuwait, and this might be a good chance for them.
The down side of this service however is the cost. Not anywhere else on the net have I seen such an expensive service, and I’m not talking about double the price only here. 45 KD for 20 items only as the minimum offer, and it goes up to 615 KD for 1000 items! The one month free startup is I think what’s keeping stores now open, but with this price it means any seller will only join if he can guarantee minimum of 100 KD income, in which case he can easily hire someone to develop him his own custom unique site and cut down the cost. 45 KD by it self I think is way too expensive, and to limit this price to 20 items only is another bad thing. We all know for that price you can buy a TB of storage. The cost includes service fees as well alright, but still I believe the cost is not justifiable. Compare this to Shopify, which allows 10 items for FREE, and 100 items for $24/month. This includes various customization and extra features that seems to be missing from Dikani.com. If there is one thing that will stand in the face of this service, I believe it would be the cost.
Pros:
- For sellers, quick and easy way to online sales
- Sellers will get FREE exposure among other stores on Dikani without having to make any advertisements, just as you would get FREE customers inside a real mall.
- Customers can shop multiple stores at the same time, and checkout only once.
- Freelance sellers without physical locations can utilize this to reach wider audience
Cons:
- Cost: Cost of the service is pretty high, and to be cost-effective for the seller, the customer may end up paying for extra profit margin on the items.
- Delivery: It’s really not clear how delivery is made. Some stores mention delivery, while others don’t. If they don’t mention the delivery, then what does that mean, and how can I get my item then? Do I have to drive there and get it? Doesn’t sound like online shopping then. Also, on my test checkout from multiple stores, all I got was a message that I will be contacted by the seller soon. I personally hate online shopping that ends up with phone calls, simply because it’s not 100% online and it’s not convenient. If I shop from 5 stores, I will get minimum of 5 calls, and I have no clue about the delivery time. Personally, I didn’t feel comfortable with it.
- Upon checkout, i did not receive any email confirmation for my order, which is really what I would rely on for future reference.
- Lack of customization: Without trying a seller account ofcourse, from the outside it seems to be lacking customization features per seller, which would allow them for more personalization.
- Support & Credibility: Most stores, or perhaps all of them, do not offer any refund or exchange policy. Many of them also are not real stores, and they are not people you know either. Those things would make me think twice and hesitate before buying from any of them. There are some real physical furniture stores however it seems joining the service.
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Mohammed said,
November 15, 2008 @ 12:31 am
very Expensive . you design your own site much cheaper
. sheno 1000 Item with 600kd/month . lo etyeeb shareka design full site we 3la kefek be 400 – 600kd and it is one time cost ;/ . mara7 yamshi hatha
Q8Ba7th said,
November 15, 2008 @ 8:38 am
I agree as well. However some people may not realize that, and like the FREE traffic. I did the same calculation you did but… let’s see madre
Or let’s wait for some new competitor