Marka, a major retail operator in the UAE, today announced its partnership with e-commerce leader Souq.com in a move that will see the company offer sportswear and eventually fashion items online.

Marka has started offering a variety of sports brands online from today (March 29), a statement said.

Nick Peel, Marka’s CEO, said: “This is our first home-grown e-commerce venture, and our expansion into the realm of web retailing is a landmark occasion for Marka. Our short-term objective is to showcase our sports retail offerings on the internet to younger and more web-savvy customers in Saudi Arabia in particular and across the GCC region as a whole.”

“Saudi Arabia is an important retail market for us, both commercially and strategically,” added Peel. “We are confident that the next generation of consumers there will shop online for sportswear and other items at Souq.com. The first phase of our strategy with Souq.com shall concentrate initially on our sports retail brands and the second stage thereafter will focus more on our fashion labels.”

Today’s announcement follows Marka’s recent announcement to open nine new outlets of the Cheeky Monkeys Playland & Sweet Surprises franchise, which is the region’s leading ‘edutainment’ destination for children under six years of age, in Saudi Arabia – a key part of the company’s regional expansion plans beyond their operations here in the UAE.

The Souq.com website sells apparel for a wide variety of sports, including basketball, boxing, cricket, cycling, football, swimming and tennis and other racquet sports. – TradeArabia News Service