Globally, digital marketplaces have emerged as powerful engines of growth, enabling platform-based business models that promote efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. In the Middle East, this evolution is being turbocharged by increasing demand, rising digital literacy, and national innovation strategies. Countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are actively integrating marketplace models into public and private sector strategies, creating fertile ground for a platform-led digital economy.
Vision 2030 and UAE digital strategy: Catalyzing a digital economy in the Middle East
The Middle East government, across all regions, is setting the stage for a digital renaissance.
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 is a transformative blueprint aimed at diversifying the Kingdom's economy and reducing its reliance on oil. The key pillars of this vision include accelerating digital government services, investing in smart infrastructure, fostering private-sector-led innovation, and empowering SMEs through digital enablement. Marketplace ecosystems play a crucial role in this strategy by connecting buyers, sellers, and service providers within scalable, transparent, and data-rich environments.
On the other hand, the UAE’s National AI Strategy 2031 seeks to establish the nation as a global leader in AI integration. In alignment with the Dubai Digital Economy Strategy, the UAE is focused on creating AI-augmented government services, data-driven public-private partnerships, and infrastructure for smart cities and digital commerce. These initiatives are unlocking new opportunities for platform-based business models in diverse sectors, including logistics, education, real estate, and procurement.
In this transformative context, SMART Souq emerges as a future-ready, AI-powered solution designed specifically for the needs of Middle Eastern enterprises and governments. Developed by Torry Harris, SMART Souq is the world’s first Marketplace-in-a-Box, offering a complete technology stack to build, operate, and scale intelligent digital marketplaces.
What is SMART Souq: A game-changer for the Middle East businesses?
SMART Souq emerges as a future-ready, AI-powered solution designed specifically for the needs of Middle Eastern enterprises and governments. Developed by Torry Harris Digital Products, SMART Souq is the world’s first Marketplace-in-a-Box that harnesses the combined power of AI and network effects, offering a complete technology stack to build, operate, and scale intelligent digital marketplaces.
SMART Souq empowers enterprises and government quickly launch B2B, B2C, or G2B marketplaces. The platform leverages AI-driven personalization through the 4Sight AI Engine, enhancing user experience and engagement. It also simplifies the onboarding process for partners and vendors with easy-to-use drag-and-drop forms. Additionally, SMART Souq supports a wide range of offerings, including physical products, digital assets, subscriptions, services, and APIs, allowing businesses to cater to diverse needs and expand their market reach efficiently.
SMART Souq is a multi-tenant platform designed to provide businesses with the essential technology stack needed to build and scale dynamic digital ecosystems. It offers self-service tools that empower partners, vendors, and third parties, fostering seamless collaboration and operational efficiency.
Key components
- Digital storefront: A customer-facing portal that provides an intuitive e-commerce experience, enabling easy discovery and seamless purchasing of marketplace offerings.
- Store management portal: A centralized hub for onboarding vendors, managing product definitions, configuring order processing workflows, and handling administrative tasks with ease.
- Vendor portal: A dedicated space for partners, vendors, and third parties to efficiently manage their product catalogs, streamlining the listing and delivery of products and services.
Key benefits include
- Up to 60% increase in wallet share through ecosystem engagement.
- Scalability and flexibility for dynamic market demands.
- White-labeled deployment for internal or private use cases.
- Built-in billing, analytics, fulfillment, and personalization modules.
SMART Souq vs. traditional platforms
| Feature | Traditional marketplaces | SMART Souq |
|---|---|---|
| AI personalization | Limited or absent | 4Sight AI for tailored journeys |
| Industry support | B2C-focused | Optimized for real estate, logistics, education, and more |
| Multi-product capability | Often restricted | Physical, digital, subscriptions, APIs, services |
| Ecosystem flexibility | Single model | B2B, B2B2C, G2B2C |
| Partner onboarding | Manual | Drag-and-drop tools, self-service portal |
| ROI insight | Minimal analytics | Built-in dashboards with actionable data |
How SMART Souq drives ROI for decision-makers
SMART Souq helps businesses move from experimentation to execution with measurable impact. It is not just a tech upgrade, it’s a strategic accelerator of revenue, efficiency, and market leadership.
- Faster ecosystem launches with reduced CAPEX and OPEX.
- Increased customer lifetime value via targeted cross-sell and upsell.
- Improved partner satisfaction through intuitive self-service tools.
- Actionable business intelligence driving product, pricing, and operational strategies.
Final thoughts
As digital marketplace models reshape industries worldwide, the Middle East stands at the threshold of a platform-powered future. With robust national strategies like Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE AI and Digital Economy Strategy, the region is primed for innovation.
SMART Souq is not merely responding to this shift, it is leading it, offering an intelligent, scalable, and industry-ready platform for tomorrow’s digital pioneers.
About the author
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Shyamala RajanManager – Content Strategy, THIS |
