The Business Year

Hamad Mubark Al-Hajri

Cofounder, Snoonu

Baker Qaisi Utrilla

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, One Autocar

Focusing on user friendliness and advanced features to stand out from the competition, retail apps are pulling out all the stops to provide users with the best experience possible.
What are the latest developments at Snoonu in the context of Qatar hosting the FIFA World Cup 2022?

HAMAD MUBARK AL-HAJRI Snoonu has finalized its process of fundraising to build its product and is currently in the process of changing its business model in order to build a strong super services application. Now, we offer food delivery and will continue to focus on that area until we gain a competitive advantage and a market leadership position. We will switch to a super application to provide multiple on-demand services to the customer. When World Cup visitors come, we will have food delivery, e-commerce, and q-commerce, which is quick commerce. The idea of the future is how to deliver groceries within 10 minutes down from the current time of 25 minutes; however, with more innovation, investment, and expansion, we can achieve our goals. Additionally, Snoonu is targeting expansion in three new countries: Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. As for the FIFA World Cup, the volume of users will be fairly large. We have extended opportunities to talent from Kenya, Uganda, and Bangladesh by giving them full training and additional educational courses. We are preparing the new staff for the World Cup and customer interactions in multiple languages. Furthermore, customer experience varies depending on the location. We have to be a multi-language, multicultural platform.

What is your comparative advantage as a company?

BAKER QAISI UTRILLA We have conducted a number of polls in which we asked individuals about their experience searching for automobiles online. The findings have revealed that users find it extremely difficult to find what they are looking for. Not only that, many said that listing their own cars online is either complicated or costly. This is the point at which we decided to enter the fray and aim to become a game-changer in this business. With One Autocar, users can easily find the best deals for the car they are looking for in just three simple clicks. We have also simplified the car listing process for private used car sellers. In addition to the above, the technologies used in our product distinguishes us from our competitors. We have incorporated advanced features such, AI image processing tools, audio search functionality, valuation tool, Auctions, 360 car view, and much more. As for car dealerships, we have developed an automotive business solution that allows the dealer to autonomously manage their listings, view their analytics and dashboards, and access the leads of interested potential buyers. Additionally, we provide API integrations with the dealer’s CRM system. We have also introduced a live multi-chat for dealers, which allows them to interact with potential buyers in real-time and facilitate closing the deal.

How would you characterize the innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Qatar?

HMAH Start-ups usually need a market, talent, and money. I believe in Qatar; from our experience, the funding, talent, and support infrastructure are all available. What we lack at the moment are entrepreneurs. There are initiatives happening here where the government is trying to link up as a sports destination. The second important vision of the country is to be known for fashion, a creative economy, and a museum country. The government has created M7, an acceleration partnership with museums. Anyone wanting to invest in fashion, museums, and 3D printing will find in Qatar an amazing place. Other than fintech and the digital world, there are innovation centers to encourage fashion and sport. Having a healthy media presence is something that people need to think about as well. The country has real potential to be a larger hub for international entrepreneurs.

Where do you see a gap in the supply and demand of cars in the Qatari market?

BQU There has always been a high demand for automobiles, but the recent supply-side disruptions the world is experiencing now adays have significantly increased the gap between supply and demand, and that’s due to the pandemic, chip shortage, increased production costs, and other factors. In other words, there is a high demand for vehicles but a limited supply. We have a high level of confidence that the market will return to normal and stabilize in the not-too-distant future. One Autocar will remain committed in helping car dealers sell their automotive inventory, increase the number of preorders, and boost the sales of new cars. The used cars market has also witnessed an increasing demand, and One Autocar came in place to fulfil this need and become an intermediary between C2C and B2C used car vendors and buyers.

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