Is UAE’s Souq set to finally be replaced by Amazon?

Dubai: Will Souq.com soon disappear, leaving in its place Amazon.ae?

Nearly two years after the US online retail giant purchased Souq for $580 million, a source-led report from CNBC on Tuesday suggested that may be exactly what is about to happen.

According to the article, Amazon has recently been contacting large North American wholesalers to inform them about a “groundbreaking” opportunity: A new e-commerce site set to launch soon, first in the UAE and later in Saudi Arabia, that will allow them to “expand [their] selection to a new base of Amazon buyers.”

The company is reportedly advising sellers to not sign up on Souq, but instead to wait for the launch of Amazon’s own site in the region.

“Following Amazon’s acquisition of Souq, I want to offer you participation in a groundbreaking new sales project in the Mideast,” Amazon told a number of sellers in a recent invitation, according to CNBC.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the article, the media outlet said.

Amazon, currently one of the world’s most valuable companies, is said to be “most excited about getting beauty products like perfume, as well as electronics, into the two largest Middle East economies,” CNBC said.

The company has been hosting educational webinar for a group of US-based companies, informing them that the new service will come with a “free dedicated account manager and steep discounts on commissions and logistics fees.”