Selling and stores

Salla, Zid or Shopify? What 160,000 ads say about store platforms in the Gulf

Before you choose your store platform, look at where the ads of those who actually sell lead. We read the link of every one of the newest 160,000 Arabic ads in the library and identified its platform: Salla, Zid, Shopify, YouCan, WooCommerce, EasyOrders, LightFunnels, or WhatsApp without a store. The result is a clear map: each country has its platform, and each platform its categories.

3 min readThe GccFY team
Salla, Zid or Shopify? What 160,000 ads say about store platforms in the Gulf
In this article
  1. The platform map
  2. Each country has its platform
  3. Each platform has its categories
  4. Cash on delivery reveals the platform
  5. See each platform's ads

Key takeaways

  • Salla is purely Saudi: 91% of its ads run in Saudi Arabia; Zid too (81%).
  • Shopify is the Gulf's platform outside Saudi Arabia: the UAE 36% and Kuwait 27% of its ads.
  • WhatsApp without a store is the biggest "platform" in the whole Gulf, with 13,633 advertiser pages in a few days.
  • Salla and Zid stores hardly mention cash on delivery (1% and <1%): online payment and instalments are built in, while EasyOrders and YouCan live on it.

The platform map

The chart gives each platform's share of the ads whose store we identified. WhatsApp without a store first: a page selling by chat alone, the model of small stores and beginnings. Then Shopify and Salla, and after a gap LightFunnels (a single-product landing page), WooCommerce, EasyOrders, Zid and YouCan.

Each country has its platform

Salla and Zid live in Saudi Arabia: local online payment, instalments (Tabby, Tamara) and built-in shipping are all Saudi first. Shopify owns the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman because it is the easiest worldwide, has the most themes and developers, and accepts payment gateways in every country. If your market is Saudi Arabia start with Salla or Zid; if it is the whole Gulf, Shopify, or Salla for Saudi Arabia and Shopify for the rest.

Each platform has its categories

Perfumes are the first category on Salla and Shopify alike, and abayas on Salla specifically. LightFunnels and EasyOrders are the dropshipping platforms: hair care and health on the first, electronics on the second (32% of its ads). How that model works.

Cash on delivery reveals the platform

Salla stores mention cash on delivery in only 1% of their ads, Zid <1%, Shopify 8%, while YouCan 26% and EasyOrders 21%. The rule: a platform with built-in online payment and instalments sells on trust, a platform serving dropshipping sells on payment at the door. Video is similar everywhere (59% on Salla, 56% on Shopify) and rises on LightFunnels (82%).

See each platform's ads

The "Zid" filter in GccFY: active ads of Zid stores in Saudi Arabia, with the store page behind each ad.
The "Zid" filter in GccFY: active ads of Zid stores in Saudi Arabia, with the store page behind each ad.

In GccFY the "store type" filter shows each platform's ads alone: Salla, Zid, Shopify, YouCan, WooCommerce, EasyOrders, LightFunnels and WhatsApp. Pick your platform, see what your peers advertise, then pick a competitor and open its store page. Read Salla and Zid store ads for Salla and Zid ads in detail, and Tracking pixels in Gulf stores for the tracking tools on each platform.

The GccFY teamThe GccFY team follows Arabic ads in the six Gulf markets every day and writes these articles from the library's data and sellers' experience.

Frequently asked questions

Which platform is best for a store in Saudi Arabia: Salla, Zid or Shopify?
Salla and Zid: 91% of Salla ads and 81% of Zid ads run in Saudi Arabia, with built-in online payment, instalments and shipping. Shopify for stores selling across the Gulf.
Which platform is most common in the UAE and Kuwait?
Shopify: 36% of Shopify ads run in the UAE and 27% in Kuwait. Salla and Zid are rare outside Saudi Arabia.
How many stores sell over WhatsApp only?
WhatsApp without a store is the biggest "platform" in the Gulf by number of advertisers: 13,633 pages in a few days. The model of beginnings and small stores.
Does cash on delivery differ between platforms?
A lot: Salla 1% and Zid <1% against YouCan 26% and EasyOrders 21%. The dropshipping platforms live on it.
How do I know a competitor's store platform?
In GccFY the store platform shows on every ad card and on the Domains screen; the "store type" filter shows one platform's ads.

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