An Insight Into the Future of Iranian Online Classifieds Market

Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2017 (Newswire.com) - In today's developing online businesses market in Iran, there is a tangible competition for a greater share of each sector. The potential of 80 million people, the young and well-educated structure of population, high Internet penetration rates, etc., are among attractive factors to entrepreneurs and investors in this field. Specific characteristics of online businesses in Iran have made it possible to achieve remarkable productivity with small investments. This has been a green light to the entry of domestic and foreign investors to this attractive market.

If statistics of Iranian websites are compared to those of neighboring countries like Turkey that are very similar to Iran in terms of culture, demographic potential and infrastructure, it can be found that Iranian market has a great potential in the field of Internet businesses. For example, in the online classifieds sector, “Sheypoor,” as a fledgling Iranian startup, presents acceptable statistics compared to “Sahibinden,” the major actor of advertisement market in Turkey and perhaps in the Middle East with a long history. As a general indicator for comparison, 20,000 ads were daily registered on “Sheypoor” by the end of 2016, as compared to 80,000 in “Sahibinden.” Considering that “Sahibinden” is a 16-year-old business and “Sheypoor” was just in the fourth year of its activity at the time, it can be stated that, under equal conditions and taking into account the variable of time, “Sheypoor” has the potential to expand its market as much and even get better results.

The considerable growth of this company and the existing inertia in the market of Iran and many neighboring countries provide a great potential for Sheypoor for entering foreign markets. If this objective is achieved, Iranians can soon become a serious contender for the world's great companies in this field.

“Sheypoor” has achieved these successes in a short time and with an investment of less than $10 million, which is negligible compared to the similar great platforms around the world. This comparison was made under the circumstances that Iran’s market is younger and has a higher growth momentum. In addition, statistics indicate that “Sheypoor” is growing in an accelerated and non-uniform manner, as this startup presented a maximum growth compared to the past in 2016. During these years, “Sheypoor” has passed different stages of market testing and product completion. It also started serious and intensive programs for online and offline marketing in a simultaneous and extensive basis, making for an exponential growth in a short time for this startup. For instance, official figures demonstrate that “Sheypoor” has achieved an increase of 96% in the number of users and 158% in page views since 2016 up to now.

Although this startup is completely focused on internal market and has made no decision to enter foreign markets, the considerable growth of this company and the existing inertia in the market of Iran and many neighboring countries provide a great potential for Sheypoor for entering foreign markets. If this objective is achieved, Iranians can soon become a serious contender for the world’s great companies in this field.

According to market capacity and performance of “Sheypoor,” and also cultural and demographic similarities between Iran and Turkey, if the status quo is maintained, the financial value of “Sheypoor” is predicted to be as much as the estimated value of its Turkish rival, which is about a billion dollars, over the next few years.

As an example of startups developed in Iran’s market, “Sheypoor” was founded by Reza Arbabian in 2011 and officially started its activity in 2012. The company's dramatic growth during the first 2 years attracted the attention of many investors. In 2014, an international company made an investment in “Sheypoor” and helped this startup to become one of the leading Iranian companies in the field of online classifieds.

Source: Sheypoor