Dubai e-commerce competition grows

Competition between Web sites offering to buy and sell products for free in the UAE is intensifying with the entry of a new player targeting the same customer base, reports Emirates Business.

The latest entrant in the Dubai market is the Lebanese portal Elmazad.com, which invites users to "buy and sell anything free on the largest online market in Lebanon and UAE". It is competing with the more established Dubizzle.com, which has been in business in Dubai for five years now.

Although still in its nascent stage in Dubai, Elmazad.com has ambitious plans for the UAE and aims to go across the Arab world. "We are the market leader in Lebanon and we see huge potential in Dubai," says the portal's COO, Hisham Ashakar.

The state senate finance committee has voted overwhelmingly to require online retailers to pay the same Virginia sales taxes that brick-and-mortar stores do, states NBC Washington.

The tax is being pushed by business owners who say they're struggling to survive against online shopping titans like Amazon.com and Overstock.com. The committee voice vote had only one dissent. The bill now heads to the full Senate.

Opponents say taxing cyber sales would only hurt small online businesses in the state because the major ones will just end their state affiliations.

Web sales in January dropped 7.5% year-over-year during an “unhealthy” month, according to a study of 150 e-retailer clients of MyBuys, writes Internet Retailer.

Adding to January's unhealthy result, total revenue from items sold at list price decreased 11%, a stark contrast to the 30% increase in full-price sales from the prior month, according to the MyBuys E-commerce Wellness Index.

Total revenue from discounted items increased 44% in January, up substantially from the 19% increase in December. And the average discount rate increased 13%, growing from just under 26% in January 2009 to more than 29%.