4Sale, Kuwait’s leading online classifieds platform, announces it achieved a record year in 2023, with its primary business division (Consumer) increasing revenues by 11%.
4Sale’s stellar performance saw increased activities across all its 197 categories. The Company’s Consumer business was a particularly strong performer, especially the household sector. The trend of consumers trading more and more online – as opposed to physically in cash – also continued. In 2023, over 90% of the Company’s sales were online – up from 65% as recently as 2019.
4Sale is consistently upgrading its product offering to leverage Kuwait’s digitalisation momentum. 2023 saw the launch of 4Sale Realty – the Company’s initiative to shake up Kuwait’s property market via an immersive digital experience. 4Sale Realty has been an immediate success and is registering exponential growth in property listings for rentals. 4Sale expects this vertical to be a major business division by the end of 2024, with consistent platform upgrades planned through the year.
2024 is set for another strong growth year, as our search facilities are refined and enhanced. A major strategic initiative will be hyper-personalized recommendations to customers for products and services. This will give us an even greater ability to optimize strategies for holidays and major commercial events such as Black Friday etc.
Modern customers want very specific, tailored interactions; their tastes to be truly understood; and simple, easy access to goods. 4Sale is ideally placed to provide this. We are adopting a model of optimization via data collection – akin to Google and Facebook. With a deep understanding of user preferences, we provide relevant recommendations, creating a more personalized and valuable customer experience.
2024 will also see our entire infrastructure upscaled, as we anticipate our rapid growth to continue. By 2025, our goal is to reach two million monthly active users, across many more verticals. This will be a significant market share in a country with approximately five million people – and requires the infrastructure to match it.
Tarek Sakr, chief executive officer of 4Sale, said: “I am thrilled at our outstanding performance in 2023 – which is a testament to the very hard work of all our employees – and to them I say thank you. While a market leader, 4Sale’s ambition remains undimmed; we want everything we do to be bigger and faster, easier and more personalized for customers, with maximum choice. Everything we do in 2024 in product development and our overall strategy will be geared to these goals. I look forward to the next year with confidence and excitement.”
Nabil Mohamed, chief product officer and chief technology officer of 4Sale, commented: “With a robust and efficient platform in place, our attention is pivoting to hyper-personalization, aiming to transform sporadic transactions into daily habits. We are committed to delivering an enhanced user experience and embracing technological advancements for the benefit of our users. Our goal is offering highly relevant recommendations and truly beneficial features. We anticipate an exciting and transformative year in 2024.”
The Company’s ongoing infrastructure upgrades involve adopting even more efficient technology to package and streamline our website and backend operations. These improvements will significantly enhance performance and data-handling capabilities. While optimising for performance, 4Sale is also prioritising security. These combined efforts will allow for a substantial increase in operational efficiency.
