Amidst a growing level of interest in the Middle East from online fashion retailers, the Dallas-based luxury brand Neiman Marcus has launched an Arabic version, aiming to facilitate the shopping experience for customers based in Arabic speaking countries.
“In addition to translating selected areas of the site, including navigation and checkout, we will feature customer service in Arabic 24/7, 365 days a year, and free express shipping on any order over US $100,” noted Lily Rawlinson, Senior Vice President of e-Commerce at Neiman Marcus, in a statement.
According to the Neiman Marcus Group, Bergdorf Goodman―another brand owned by the group, along with Horchow (homeware) and Cusp (selected luxury and independent labels)―will also have an Arabic version soon.
The Neiman Marcus Group’s new developments reflect an ongoing fashion online retail boom in the Middle East and other emerging markets. In September of last year, for instance, German retailer Mytheresa.com launched its Middle East-targeted website. At the time, Jens Riewenherm, Mytheresa’s Managing Director, told Style.com/Arabia that the region’s “general affinity to luxury fashion, the high density of designer stores, and the growing number of fashion-related media outlets” make the Middle East an interesting target for online retail brands. More recently, Farfetch launched in the Middle East and announced a large round of funding to support international efforts in markets such as the Russia, Japan, China, and the Middle East. Beyond language adaptation, expect to see more region-specific inventory buying strategies implemented, especially as competition heats up from other international players targeting the Middle East, including Net-a-Porter, MatchesFashion.com, LuisaViaRoma, and Shopbop.com, along with a host of regional upstarts.
The London-based online retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) released a study that forecasts that e-commerce sales in the MENA region will increase to US $15 billion by 2015 (from US $3.3 billion in 2010).
