The Malaysian Prime Minister has recently unveiled Zilzar.com. The website is essentially a brand new global platform for the Muslim lifestyle market.
It has already been dubbed as the Islamic version of Amazon and has hopes of cornering the trillion-dollar Muslim market. The website was launched during the 10th World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai.
The sole purpose of the site is to contain extensive e-knowledge, content and information for its users that will include both buyers and sellers and creates a platform for businesses, entrepreneurs and consumers to one another.
Products on the site can range from prayer beads to electronic Qu’rans to hijabs and films.
According to the new website, Zilzar is a “B2B and B2C global information, content, community, and transaction platform for the $2.5tn Muslim Lifestyle marketplace consisting of eight silos: $1.08tn halal food/beverage, $1.5tn Islamic finance, $224bn clothing/fashion, $151bn media/recreation, $140bn Muslim travel/tourism, $70bn pharmaceutical, $23 billion cosmetics and $15bn logistics.”
Chief executives have identified a problem for the Zilzar target market that enabled them to create this site. The website allows a large amount of halal Small Medium Enterprises, access the market which have previously found it difficult to grow.
Just as long as the companies are both credible and Halal certified sellers, they are able to join the site – the only rules is that is must conform to Islamic rules which includes the following; ‘Free robust digital storefronts on credible platform, that has updated information for them to better understand the landscape and find business opportunities efficiently, then communicate inexpensively and seamlessly with prospects and/or bid for buyer RFPs, and eventually facilitate cost-effective secure transactions.’
Zilzar’s main competitor is Alibaba, however chief executive Rushdi Siddidui does not feel at all threatened by Alibaba and predicts that within three months Zilzar will have more halal suppliers than them. He also said the following “I am going after their suppliers,” he says. “We want to shake up the marketplace. This is about empowering the consumer and creating employment – people can sell their own products. Technology is a great equaliser. Aid has not helped Muslims in emerging markets. I was trying to feed them; now I am teaching them to fish.”
Zilzar has partnered with MasterCard Worldwide to offer payment services for buyers and sellers, providing security, trust and convenience for the marketplace.
The word ‘Zilzar’ means earthquake in Arabic. The company has already forecasted to reach around $2.5tn bn by 2018.
*This article was originally published on Retail Gazette on 17 November 2014. Read the original article here.
