“We’ve never seen competition like this in Morocco.” These are the first words MarocAnnonces founder Tajdine Filali said to start our interview. He goes on to explain that he once counted 250 different classified websites, of all sizes and quality in Morroco. But the main arena features 3 competitors: a Moroccan-born website and two European giants.
The stakes are high in the Moroccan classifieds market. Avito, the market leader in terms of pageviews, claims that their website’s transactions will represent 2% of Morocco’s GDP in 2014! The national market has been building momentum over the past 2 years, and we should expect to see continued growth as the number of Moroccan Internet users climbs over the next few year; 39% of households have internet access today. “Most of the people we meet don’t know what a classified is,” confesses Sammy Ben Abla, Avito’s marketing manager for the MENA region.
So is there a limit to how much these websites can grow?
A booming market
At the time of writing, Avito.ma is leading the market with 3.2M unique visitors per month, a total of 500,000 hours spent on the website and an expected 16B Dh (US $2.11B) worth of transactions in 2014. The website is also the second most visited website in Morocco, just ten months after its launch in July 2012. It comes as no surprise when you look at its roots; the Avito brand was launched in 2007 by two Swedish entrepreneurs and is now the 5th most visited website in Russia.
Their closest competition is Bikhir, part of the Norwegian Schibsted Group, the classified leader in Europe that ownsLeBonCoin.fr in France, Blocket.se in Sweden, subito.it in Italy,segundamano.es in Spain, and several others across Europe. Bikhir was soft launched in June 2011, before officially launching in September 2013 with the opening of a local office. Though the Norwegian Group won’t disclose any figures, general manager Larbi Alaoui Beirhiti says that Bikhir is validating 5,000 new listings per day.
In the face of these two classifieds giants, the more established, and self-funded, classified website Marocannonces.ma, which was launched in 2000, makes for a true David vs 2 Goliathsstory. Despite the steep competition, Filali remains optimistic as their number of listings remains unchanged at 3,000 a day.
All 3 websites have at least one thing in common: they’re not afraid of putting in time and money to reach the number one spot. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It’s a long battle,” says Beirhiti.
For Moroccans, by Moroccans?
“We sell anything from camels to cars,” jokes Ben Abla. The three websites offer a similar free service for people to buy or sell anything they own in person (anything legal that is).
They also strive for the same image: being seen as a local brand close to people. This image is easier for MarocAnnonces, which has been present in the market for 13 years and has never received an outside investment from anyone.
Avito and Bikhir’s managers both believe they have already reached that goal thanks to their entirely Moroccan team. Having a local team is a necessity, “You really have to understand the Moroccan user, understand where he’s at in his use of the Internet and support him,” says Beirhiti. The two services are also being discrete on their international origins.
Each platform has it’s own formula for for making sure it’s the best. Avito’s says its team goes through listings24/7 to and validate the best ones. Beirhiti brags that the 15 people validating listings at Bikhir are really strict to avoid any fraud or illegal sales. “We’d rather refuse listings and have less choice but better quality.” Filali from Maroc Annonces says their 13 years of local experience and his “secret recipe” make the difference.
As people begin to trust these platforms more and more, these three players will need to focus on other ways to differentiate their strategies.
A powerful name vs. intensive marketing
Avito.ma and Bikhir both believe that the only way to keep the market’s momentum is to educate consumers in Morocco through expensive advertising.
Both Avito.ma and Bikhir’s parent companies are ready to invest in their Moroccan branch to help them take the lead. Avito.ma recently launched a TV ad campaign, and has signed a partnership with Haja El Hamdaouia, a popular Moroccan pop singer.
Bikhir likewise is capitalizing on mediums besides internet to promote their brand: “Mass-media campaigns, like TV or radio, could be happening soon” says Beirhiti.
Their large budgets are also being put to good use to differentiate elsewhere. Bikhir has developed a new mobile app, while Avito.ma is investing in partnerships. Thanks to their deal with Voituresmaroc, the #1 car sale classified website in Morocco,Aviot.ma and Voituresmaroc.com‘s car classified listings will be posted on both websites.
Maroc Annonces can’t compete with the other guys when it comes to marketing. But Filali says their trusted name and word-of-mouth is enough to get the results they’re looking for. “Today, everybody knows MarocAnnonces, the name speaks for itself,” he says. But MarocAnnonces’ transactions have stayed relatively flat. Filali might pretend that he’s content with that, but it doesn’t seem viable, and definitwely not scalable, in the long term.
What’s next: buyouts and closures?
Avito.ma and Bikhir are in no hurry to break even. “The most important thing to us is to continue investing and making sure the market reaches a mature state. Once we reach that point, we’ll start thinking about breaking even,” says Ben Alba.
But can a smaller and less aggressive company like MarocAnnonces survive Avito and Bihkir’s aggressive user acquisition campaigns?
Last March, a rumor spread that Maroc Annonces was going to be sold toAvito.ma for 15M Dh (almost $1.7M).Avito.ma denied it. “For the moment we’re not interested in acquiring one of our competitors,” clarified Ben Abla, adding that “this deal was never discussed and will not happen for now.” But Filali is definitely keeping his options open for MarocAnonces; he mentioned possible offers to be acquired and that he is looking into fundraising.
Smaller company Souqaffaires.mamay be raising money currently, and regional Dubai-based platform Dubizzle once considered Morocco. Dubizzle tried to enter the market but “had decided not to pursue it – stopping all activities there about a year ago,” as cofounder J.C. Butler explained to me.
Both of these major players admit that their larger goal is reallt to reach Africa. Avito launched in Egypt under the name Bekam in December 2012 where it faces fierce competition from Dubizzle. When asked if Bikhir will launch in other countries, Ben Abla replied with a non-committal “we’ll see”. Their parent company, the Norwegian Schibted Group, has already taken the jump as they launched beta classified sites in Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Nigeria.
