Digikala

The DigiKala Group (Persian: دیجی‌کالا, romanized: Dijikalâ, lit. 'digi(tal) goods') is an Iranian e-commerce company based in Tehran, founded in July 2006 by Hamid Mohammadi and Saeid Mohammadi.[1][2][3]

Digikala
TypePrivate
IndustryE-commerce
Founded1 July 2006 (2006-07-01)
FoundersHamid Mohammadi
Saeid Mohammadi
Headquarters
Tehran
,
Iran
Area served
Iran
Number of employees
8,200 (2021)
Websitedigikala.com

The e-commerce platform digikala.com offers a wide range of consumer products, which includes sports and entertainment goods, electronics, groceries, personal products, and digital products with a return option [4] and express delivery service. The group also has subsidiaries involved in other areas of ecommerce.

History and growth
Hamid Mohammadi and Saeed Mohammadi, co-founders of Digikala

DigiKala was founded in 2006 by brothers Hamid and Saeid Mohammadi, prompted by an unpleasant experience they had trying to buy a digital camera. The pair used $10,000 of their own savings to start the company.[5] The company's valuation was $150 million in 2014 and $500 million in late 2015.[6][7] As of 2021, more than 4 million products have been offered for sale by nearly 160,000 sellers.[8] In 2021, the platform had 30 million visitors per month[9] and 17.2 million visits per day.[10] In May 2022 it was ranked as Iran's 2nd most visited website.[11]

DigiKala has benefited from the Iran's increasing digitization. By 2017, 62% of Iran's households were connected to the Internet and this development has driven demand for Internet services that mirror Western digital platforms.[12] The company does not publicize its revenue, but has said sales are growing at a rate of 200% a year, and that it is receiving orders from even the most remote villages in Iran.[13]

Iran's economic volatility forced DigiKala to lay off 175 workers in 2018.[14] To survive, the platform adopted several initiatives such as a pay-per-sale strategy which allow users to receive a commission if a directed customer purchases a product.[15] In March 2019, DigiKala also addressed the issue of author authenticity of products in the platform after receiving complaints over the quality of goods being sold. In a statement, the company claimed that only 0.2% of the 2 million products sold were unoriginal and that the company has taken steps to implement stringent quality control.[16]

Investment

DigiKala started with Hamid and Saeed Mohammadi's initial personal investment of 20 million tomans. The Iranian private company Sarava Pars started investing in DigiKala in 2013. The second step of DigiKala's investment started in 2014 by attracting the capital of a European investment fund named International Internet Investment Company (IIIC). According to the government's 100-day report, Digikala started the capital raising process in January 2014 through IIIC in the amount of 100 million dollars in the form of a capital increase and in exchange for granting 21% of shares.

Office building hijab shutdown

Vanak Plaza 31, In 23 July 2023 its office was shutdown by law enforcement command for lack of hijab by its businesswomen.[17]

Shareholders

The ownership structure of the Digikala e-commerce group was publicly CEO of Digikala. Accordingly, 33.12% of the company's shares belong to Hamid and Saeed Mohammadi, the co-founders of Digikala, followed by IIIC European Investment Fund with 32.67%, Sarava Pars Company with 25.64%, incentive shares for managers and key employees with 4.46%, and other shareholder companies with 11.4%, including Lilian Mod Tejarat, Bazar Ati Ara, Pomegranate Investment AB, Kia Asa Tejarat Toos, and Pars Gostar Dina. [18] [19]

Number of employees

In 2021, Digikala planned to increase its number of associates to 10,000. [20] As of 2022, Digikala employs more than 8,000 people.

Products and services

At first, DigiKala sold only digital and electronic goods on its website.[21] Since 2014, DigiKala has changed its strategy to become an online store with many different types of goods available.

Subsidiaries

The DigiKala Group is active in logistics, e-commerce, content, fintech, martech, and innovative fields.[22] Digikala owns more than 10 subsidiaries, including Fidibo, Digistyle, Digipay, Pindo and Komoda.[23][24]

Fidibo

Fidibo is a Persian e-book store that has been operating since March 2014. Digikala bought an interest in the company in 2016 and became its main owner in 2017.[25]

Digistyle

Digistyle, an online fashion and clothing store, was founded in 2016.[23][22]

Digipay

Digipay was founded in 2018, focusing on mobile and web payments. Digipay services include Smart IPG, merchant management dashboard, mobile payment gateways, customer refund services, personal and organizational wallets, mobile payment applications, and installment purchase facilities.[23]

Komoda

Komoda is a social buy-and-sell startup platform. It was founded in July 2018 and has been a Digikala group member since late 2019.[26][23][22]

Pindo

In 2021, DigiKala launched Pindo, a platform for registering Consumer to Consumer advertisements.[22][27]

Smartech

Smartech offers marketing technology services and was added to the Digikala group in 2019.[28][24]

DigiExpress

DigiExpress provides online Logistics Services and was founded in 2019.[24]

Digikala Jet

Launched in 2021, DigiKala Jet is a personalized online grocery shop in major cities like Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, and Shiraz.[29][30]

See also

References
  1. Fung, Brian (14 July 2015). "The Washington Post:What the Iran deal means for the country's surprisingly strong tech industry". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020.
  2. "Digikala is the Largest Online Marketplace in Iran and the Middle East". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  3. "Iranian Startups Come of Age". Iran Wire. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  4. "Total guide on DigiKala's return services". 9 February 2022.
  5. Guttman, Amy (26 January 2015). "Meet The Twin Brothers Transforming How Iranians Shop". Forbes. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022.
  6. McFarland, Matt (10 November 2014). "Here's what it's like to launch a start-up in Iran". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022.
  7. Sharif, Hossein (12 October 2015). "Iran's digital start-ups signal changing times". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022.
  8. "وضعیت دیجی کالا در پیک چهارم کرونا چگونه است؟" (in Persian).
  9. "Iran E-Commerce Trending Higher". financialtribune. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  10. "Iran E-Commerce Trending Higher". eghtesadonline. 22 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  11. "Alexa: Top Sites in Iran". Alexa. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  12. "Iranian Startups Offer Opportunities In An Unstable Economy". RFE/RL. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  13. "FT:Iranian e-commerce thrives despite obstacles". Financial Times. October 2014.
  14. "In Face of Hard Times Iran's Digikala Remains Upbeat". Financial Tribune. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  15. "Digikala Enlists Pay-Per-Sale Strategy". Financial Tribune. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  16. "Digikala to Carry Out Stringent Quality Control". Financial Tribune. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  17. https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran_women_diji_kala_seal_by_police_over_hijab/7192597.html
  18. "Hoe investeerders uit Nederland en België verstrikt raakten in dictatoriaal Iran". FD.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  19. "دیجی‌کالا با انتشار ساختار سهام‌داری خود اعلام کرد: سهام‌دار حاکمیتی نداریم". دیجیاتو (in Persian). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  20. "معاون منابع انسانی دیجی‌کالا: امسال یک خانواده ۱۰ هزار نفری می‌شویم • اتاق خبر دیجی‌کالا". دیجی‌کالا مگ (in Persian). Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  21. hamsite. "همکاری آژانس دیجیتال مارکتینگ هم سایت". آژانس دیجیتال مارکتینگ هم سایت.
  22. "گزارش سال ۱۳۹۹ دیجی‌کالا". digikala.com. Digikala. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  23. "Pomegranate Investment AB (publ) Releases Financial Report for the period of 6 months ended October 31, 2020". news.cision.com. Pomegranate Investment AB. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  24. "فروشگاهی که هلدینگ شد؛ نگاهی به ساختار و عملکرد گروه دیجی کالا". zoomit. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  25. "واگذاری یکی از اپلیکیشن‌های کتابخوان به یک فروشگاه اینترنتی". Mehrnews Agancy. Mehrnews Agancy. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  26. "دیجی کالا در استارتاپ کمدا سرمایه‌گذاری کرد". ZoomIT. zoomit. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  27. "دیجی کالا اپلیکیشن پیندو را رسما برای دانلود در دسترس عموم کاربران قرار داد" (in Persian). Digiato. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  28. "About Smartech". Smartech. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  29. "محصول جدید گروه دیجی‌کالا آغاز به کار کرد / دیجی‌کالا جت؛ ارسال رایگان و سریع سفارش‌های سوپر مارکتی". راه پرداخت (in Persian). 5 August 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  30. "دیجی‌کالا جت برای ارسال سریع‌تر سفارش‌ها با شرکت‌های لجستیکی همکاری می‌کند". زومیت (in Persian). 10 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
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