After spending about 5-6 months in Talabat Mart Emirates and increasing sales by more than 55%, here is Mohamed Sakkina coming to the position of Talabat Mart Egypt new to convey his experience and in this dialogue we will explore many personal aspects of him and his experience he gathered in the global market and how it will benefit Egyptian market.
These were the statements by Mohamed Sakkina, general manager of talabat Mart Egypt, in exclusive interview with the Egyptian Gazette.
- Tell us about your journey?
From an Educational Background perspective, I am a computer engineer with a bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence. I graduated from the German University in Cairo, and did my bachelor thesis in Germany, in the German Centre for Artificial Intelligence. However, after graduating I realised I am more passionate about running businesses and I am actually more of an entrepreneur at heart.
Before talabat I used to work the majority of my professional years in P&G in the supply chain department. I was leading Pampers supply chain in GCC and Pakistan, among different other roles. I have worked and lived in multiple countries, UAE, Saudi, Oman (remotely), Germany, and India. I co-founded a small startup in UAE with a friend of mine a year before joining talabat.
Within talabat, my journey started off by leading on the launch of talabat Mart in Egypt and Oman in 2020 and head its business operations in the UAE before becoming interim Country Manager for the past 5-6 months, which saw talabat Mart’s sales increase in the United Arab Emirates by more than 55% … I am now proud to be appointed the new General Manager of talabat Mart in Egypt.
- How do you see the future of the dark stores in the Egyptian market?
Let me underscore again that we are proud of introducing Egypt to q-commerce and I fully believe that talabat will continue leading. The new industry standard of quick commerce relies heavily on the dark-store model, which is a delivery-only supermarket that is located centrally and optimised for delivery, and serves as the base of q-commerce. I believe that this model has a huge potential in Egypt given the convenience and the high quality service it offers the Egyptian consumer.
- What is your strategy to increase the number of dark stores for Talabat Mart across Egypt?
T-mart is currently present in Greater Cairo (Cairo & Giza), in addition to Tanta, Mansoura and Alexandria. We have more than 30 dark-stores in those areas and are looking to at least double by next year. This is through geographic expansion to new cities, such as Ismailia. Again our focus is to reach the underserved consumers, the real masses of the Egyptian population who we believe deserve the highest quality and convenience in service. This is our edge building on our operations and Egyptian market knowledge in talabat. We have been in the market for the last 20+ years through “Otlob” and this knowledge is a great asset in building the right technology and commercial operations that not only understands customers but also predicts their future needs.
- What is the plan to develop Talabat Mart service in the future?
We’ve always been and will remain customer-obsessed. Enhancing our customer’s experience lays at the core of our future strategies. And given that the technology behind our dark stores is already built to cater for unprecedented convenience, we are at the forefront of the tech industry in Egypt. Our strategy is to provide Egyptian consumers with a seamless, ultra-fast and reliable online grocery shopping experience – where they can make use of their time to spend on activities they value. We are also committed to supporting the local suppliers and helping them grow their business. t-mart should act as an incubator and supporter to all local businesses. We also focus on creating job opportunities for the Egyptian youth and make sure we invest in their development.
- Tell us about the role of technology that Talabat derives from Delivery Hero in developing the delivery industry, and how it benefits the Egyptian user?
From a technological and logistical perspective, launching and running t-mart requires a tremendous amount of innovation and expertise. The fast launch and successful operation of our t-mart have been fueled by years of experience gathered from our core business “talabat”: delivering food to our customers.
We rely on proprietary t-mart operations solutions – we’re building a product stack from the ground up that is designed to maximize efficiency and customer value for t-mart, including our picker app to streamline in-store operations.
t-mart use talabat’s own order, dispatching and fulfillment technology adapted for the retail environment. We have developed algorithms that allow us to predict demand, so that our riders’ shifts and routes can be planned in the most efficient way possible. This also applies to our pickers, who are preparing orders within t-mart.
- What are the challenges that you face in changing the behavior of the Egyptian consumer in online shopping, and what is your role in changing the Egyptian purchasing culture?
Unlike most markets, Egyptian consumers are extremely used to phone ordering. For decades now Egyptians could ring any shop and have their order delivered. We always say that our biggest competitor and challenge is just that – phone ordering. We are steadily changing the consumer mindset to favor online ordering and are successfully showcasing the great convenience and comfort that stems from such experience. We already are a part of our consumers’ everyday lives and are looking to deepen this positive impact to compliment the Government’s digital transformation efforts.
- What is your vision about the Egyptian state’s efforts in the digital transformation process?
The efforts exerted by the Egyptian government have yielded fruitful economic benefits, especially on the technology and innovation industry. “Egypt’s Vision 2030” and the “Digital Egypt ” strategy are sustainably preparing the country and population to a seamless, digitized future. Not only is this transformation vital for the tech industry, but it is of extreme importance to everyday life. Technology exists to make life easier, and the Government’s effort in terms of introducing relevant legislations, streamlining and digitizing services and much more is adequately paving the way for a fully-digital Egypt.