Company profile
Name: GiftBag.ae
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2011
Number of employees: 4
Sector: E-commerce
Funding: Self-funded to date
GiftBag.ae, an online platform in Dubai that specialises in delivering gifts, intends to expand to Saudi Arabia and other countries as internet use and demand for online shopping grow amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which sells items such as chocolates, cakes, flowers, balloons and sweets on its website, was started by Latika Chawla and her husband Sandeep Chawla in 2011.
It also offers gift consultations and personalised services through live chat sessions and several other products.
“With the advent of Covid-19, we saw a huge surge in demand during the second quarter. In general, the economy has [registered] a sudden increase in online shopping. We had to increase our marketing budgets to reach out to end consumers and added more on-demand delivery partners to facilitate deliveries,” Ms Chawla says.
Sales increased by more than 150 per cent during the second quarter, compared to the same period last year, she says.
The company received orders from clients in Egypt, India and other countries for the delivery of gifts to their loved ones who remained in the UAE due to movement restrictions put in place after the outbreak of Covid-19.
For instance, a wife in Egypt wanted personalised chocolates delivered to her husband in Abu Dhabi on their 17th wedding anniversary – the first anniversary they have spent apart.
The company also took a sales order from a father in India who wanted a special cake to be delivered to his daughter on her fourth birthday in Dubai, as he could not travel to the UAE due to the travel restrictions.
“We realised just how many people were stranded in other parts of the world, away from their loved ones, and their need to connect on special occasions with a special gift.”
Ms Chawla first identified an opportunity in the e-commerce sector about nine years ago as Amazon.com and Souq.com were becoming popular. She had taken note of the absence of an online platform to sell gifts on special occasions such as Eid and other festivals.
“The aim was mainly to bridge the gap in the e-commerce sector for gift deliveries. There were many bakeries and florists out there who did not have the right platform to reach the growing audiences moving towards online shopping,” Ms Chawla says.
The couple were keen to make their mark on the business world.
“We [had] just got married and were a new couple at that time and thought: ‘let us do a venture together’. E-commerce was just starting up and we thought it was the right time to start with gift deliveries,” says Ms Chawla, who was born and raised in Dubai.
She did not reveal how much they invested to launch the company, which is currently profitable, with 15,000 to 20,000 people visiting the site each month. It also receives between 150 to 200 orders a month from customers looking to buy gifts.
“We aim to move towards a gift-focused marketplace – both multi-vendor and multi-category. Currently operating in the UAE only, we are looking forward to establishing our presence in Saudi Arabia, India and Australia.”
The company plans to raise money and is seeking investors “who will help us grow and take our expansion to the next step as a gift delivery marketplace, in [the] UAE and beyond”.
Start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa secured $659 million (Dh2.4 billion) in funding in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 35 per cent, according to data platform Magnitt.
The UAE received the largest share of funds raised while Egypt was ranked first in terms of the number of deals, accounting for 25 per cent of the Mena region’s total. E-commerce accounted for 14 per cent of all deals, the data shows.
The UAE is supporting start-ups with various investment initiatives. Abu Dhabi committed Dh535m to a new fund that will invest in start-ups as part of the emirate’s Ghadan 21 programme.
Dubai, which has formed a number of technology accelerator and start-up hubs, recorded an 83 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of e-commerce business licences issued in the first half as consumer demand for online shopping grew during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The emirate’s Department of Economic Development issued its DED Trader licence to 1,947 new businesses during the period, up from 1,064 in the first six months of last year, it said this month.
Competition in the local marketplace “is fierce, with the big players and their funding hijacking market share and visibility”, Ms Chawla says.
“In addition, almost all individual bakeries and florists have set up their own e-commerce stores.”
Q&A with Latika Chawla, co-founder of Giftbag.ae
What already successful start-up do you wish you had started?
Just out of university, in 2004, Sandeep created a social portal for our group of friends to connect, post pictures and message each other after we all went separate ways. Little did we know that Mark Zuckerberg was creating something similar at the same time that took the entire world by storm. If only we had the vision and a Harvard degree. At that time, we could have also pursued our concept further.
What is your next big dream?
To be the "go to" app or brand for gift delivery in the region – for both vendors and consumers.
What new skills have you learnt in the process of launching a start-up?
Running a business, especially a small business, has taught us that no task is smaller than the other. We have invested as much time and effort in delivering gifts and personally talking to our customers as we have in accounting, marketing and other business tasks. Being a marketer, I have tried to be up to date with digital and social marketing skills to help with my business.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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MATCH INFO
Karnataka Tuskers 110-5 (10 ovs)
Tharanga 48, Shafiq 34, Rampaul 2-16
Delhi Bulls 91-8 (10 ovs)
Mathews 31, Rimmington 3-28
Karnataka Tuskers win by 19 runs
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
AL%20BOOM
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Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Size: (employees): 22
Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Victims%20of%20the%202018%20Parkland%20school%20shooting
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
Company profile
Name: GiftBag.ae
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2011
Number of employees: 4
Sector: E-commerce
Funding: Self-funded to date
