Omar Kassim, the founder of JadoPado.
Omar Kassim, the founder of JadoPado.

Retail portal hoping to look a bit portly



Omar Kassim, the founder of JadoPado, a retail portal based in Dubai, named his website after the Gujarati word for "fatty". He hopes the site, which sells goods such as Apple's iPad, will bring fat profits. Yet with the low uptake of e-commerce in the UAE, online retail sites face an uphill battle against the prevalent mall culture. Mr Kassim explains how he plans to compete.

What does the name JadoPado mean?

I'm Sri Lankan by nationality, from a minority community. And we speak a dialect of Gujarati. JadoPado is the equivalent of "fatty" in English.

That explains half of it. But why fatty?

When we were brainstorming names, my sister saw my little son running about. And she said "oh, why don't you use the name JadoPado"?, because his little belly was sticking out. And it sounded catchy. We wanted something that stood out, and possibly meant something a bit funny.

Does that mean you are specifically targeting the Gujarati population?

Not at all. Our target is just about anyone. Currently we deliver to Dubai only: we wanted a nice-sized test market. But we're expanding into Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the next six weeks.

When did you launch the site and what have sales been like?

The site went live on March 20. And we've touched Dh2 million (US$544,000) in terms of sales. It's actually been beyond expectations because we've done no PR or [mainstream] marketing, except a few Google ads. Our main marketing has come from people talking about it.

What is the competition like in the UAE's online retail industry?

It's a very nascent market at the moment. There isn't a lot of competition. But at the same time it depends on the category. If you look at the electronics space, it's very competitive. But in some of the other retail categories there just aren't enough players out there. Some of the larger retailers with physical presences have made half-ditched efforts, but haven't really pushed it.

Is it only a matter of time before Amazon launches a store in the region? What impact would that have on local players?

I think Amazon potentially doesn't see this space as a large enough market. I don't know if it makes enough sense for Amazon to start up.

Your site sells electronics and perfume. What other categories are you looking at introducing?

We're looking at expanding the fashion category. We're very seriously looking at the grocery space. It would be non-fresh [goods] to start off with. We're probably looking at another 12 months before we approach wholesalers. It makes sense - we can see a market for it, but perhaps we need to give it a little more time. It's on the back-burner at the moment.

There's a strong mall culture here in the UAE. How can retail websites hope to compete with that?

Mall culture out here goes beyond shopping: It's your time out, it's a place to eat. But at the same time Dubai and, by extension, the region is very convenience-driven. It's probably one of the only cities where you can drive up to an ATM machine. And in that sense, our biggest selling point is our delivery times: we generally deliver the same day.

OIL PLEDGE

At the start of Russia's invasion, IEA member countries held 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry, according to the agency's website. The two collective actions of the IEA this year of 62.7 million barrels, which was agreed on March 1, and this week's 120 million barrels amount to 9 per cent of total emergency reserves, it added.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Company%20Profile
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

The specs: 2018 Maxus T60

Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000

Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder

Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm

Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm

Transmission: Five-speed manual

Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km

So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?

Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

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Titanium Escrow profile

Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue  
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family

The%20specs
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MEYDAN CARD

6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.05pm Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m

7.40pm Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m

8.15pm Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m

8.50pm The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m

9.25pm The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m

10pm Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m

 

The National selections

6.30pm Majestic Thunder

7.05pm Commanding

7.40pm Mark Of Approval

8.15pm Mulfit

8.50pm Gronkowski

9.25pm Walking Thunder

10pm Midnight Sands

Brief scores:

Day 1

Toss: South Africa, field first

Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48

South Africa (1st innings) 123-2: Markram 78; Masood 1-4

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Miss Granny

Director: Joyce Bernal

Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa

3/5

(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)

Simran

Director Hansal Mehta

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey

Three stars

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

Teri%20Baaton%20Mein%20Aisa%20Uljha%20Jiya
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amit%20Joshi%20and%20Aradhana%20Sah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECast%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shahid%20Kapoor%2C%20Kriti%20Sanon%2C%20Dharmendra%2C%20Dimple%20Kapadia%2C%20Rakesh%20Bedi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”