Samsung Electronics taps ChannelEngine to streamline e-commerce marketplace expansion across MENA

Samsung Electronics MENA has entered into a strategic collaboration with ChannelEngine, aiming to revolutionize its marketplace strategy across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The partnership, announced in Dubai on April 4, 2025, underscores Samsung’s intent to strengthen its e-commerce infrastructure by leveraging automation and seamless platform integration to enhance customer experience and accelerate revenue growth.

Samsung Electronics, a global leader in consumer electronics, has consistently focused on delivering innovation across its product lines, from smartphones and smart TVs to home appliances. As e-commerce continues to evolve into a dominant retail channel, the company is now placing greater emphasis on marketplace expansion in regional markets. The choice to work with ChannelEngine reflects Samsung’s strategic pivot to automate operations and achieve greater control over its online marketplace presence, a move that aligns with global trends in digital retail transformation.

ChannelEngine, headquartered in the Netherlands and known for its robust marketplace integration software, has steadily built a strong presence in MENA. Its proprietary technology connects brands with leading local and global e-commerce marketplaces through direct API integration, ensuring centralized product management, order synchronization, and data-driven performance optimization. In the case of Samsung, ChannelEngine’s local MENA operations—alongside its direct integration with marketplaces such as Noon—make it an ideal partner to streamline operations in a fragmented regional e-commerce landscape.

How will ChannelEngine enhance Samsung’s marketplace operations in MENA?

ChannelEngine’s platform allows brands like Samsung to maintain full control over their marketplace listings while automating key functions such as inventory updates, pricing consistency, and order fulfilment. With Samsung’s wide range of SKUs and fast-moving product lines, especially in high-demand categories like smartphones, wearables, and appliances, automating these operations is crucial to reduce manual errors and improve speed-to-market.

According to the announcement, Samsung Electronics MENA will now be able to manage multiple digital storefronts through a single interface, eliminating operational silos that often arise when selling through several regional marketplaces. ChannelEngine’s software ensures real-time stock updates and dynamic pricing synchronisation, allowing Samsung to remain agile in a competitive landscape where price and availability can significantly influence consumer decisions.

This integration is expected to support Samsung’s broader direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy. Sabrina Wurfel, Director of D2C at Samsung Electronics MENA, noted that the partnership would reduce the complexities of managing multi-platform ecosystems while ensuring a consistent customer experience across marketplaces. From a digital commerce perspective, this allows Samsung to provide uniform branding, optimised product content, and rapid response capabilities, enhancing both the operational backend and the consumer-facing experience.

What are the broader implications for Samsung’s regional e-commerce strategy?

This collaboration comes at a time when online marketplaces are becoming the preferred shopping destination for a growing segment of consumers in the MENA region. According to a recent Bain & Company report, MENA e-commerce is expected to surpass $50 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2025, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt leading the surge. With rising internet penetration, increased digital payment adoption, and a younger demographic, the region is undergoing a significant digital retail shift.

For Samsung, which already enjoys strong brand equity across MENA, the goal is not merely to participate in this growth but to lead it through enhanced e-commerce infrastructure. By integrating with ChannelEngine, Samsung is reducing its reliance on third-party distributors to manage listings and fulfilment, thereby lowering costs and ensuring higher brand consistency. This also allows the company to respond more effectively to consumer trends and promotional opportunities in real time.

From an operational perspective, the ability to scale across multi-country marketplaces—each with distinct regulations, currencies, and consumer expectations—is a major competitive advantage. ChannelEngine’s platform supports this by localising integrations while standardising backend operations, giving Samsung a flexible but cohesive framework to pursue aggressive marketplace expansion.

Why is marketplace automation vital for digital retail growth?

The rise of marketplace automation platforms like ChannelEngine signals a broader shift in how major brands approach e-commerce. While traditional e-retailers rely on manual product uploads, individual pricing adjustments, and siloed inventory systems, automation platforms consolidate these functions into a streamlined workflow. This is particularly important in the MENA region, where regional marketplaces such as Noon, Amazon.sa, Amazon.ae, and Jumia have different operational rules, tech architectures, and consumer expectations.

For companies like Samsung, automation mitigates the complexity of selling across multiple online channels by using centralized control systems that reduce human error, enable better stock turnover, and improve the accuracy of real-time pricing. Automation also provides rich analytics that help brands adjust strategies based on consumer behavior, regional trends, and seasonal demand. For instance, a mobile phone model that performs exceptionally well in the UAE but sees sluggish sales in Egypt can be quickly repriced, re-promoted, or even delisted without significant manual intervention.

Niels Floors, Vice President of Strategic Development at ChannelEngine, emphasized this point by noting that Samsung’s marketplace ambitions require both local expertise and seamless technical capability. He stated that ChannelEngine’s deep integrations and knowledge of MENA’s marketplace ecosystem would allow Samsung to optimize its e-commerce operations and revenue generation.

How does this move align with global trends in omnichannel retail?

Samsung’s move mirrors a global trend among electronics and lifestyle brands shifting towards omnichannel commerce. As consumer expectations continue to evolve, companies are no longer relying solely on brick-and-mortar retail or even owned e-commerce sites. Instead, marketplaces have emerged as critical touchpoints in the customer journey—places where consumers search, compare, and purchase with confidence.

The COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated this transition, pushing even traditionally offline markets toward digital engagement. In response, major global brands have increasingly invested in marketplace-specific teams, technology partners, and performance analytics to optimize visibility and performance on platforms such as Amazon, Walmart Marketplace, and Alibaba.

Samsung’s MENA initiative with ChannelEngine reflects this global paradigm. It shows a concerted effort to align regional operations with international best practices by automating, scaling, and standardising its digital commerce ecosystem. For a company managing thousands of products across multiple countries, the importance of a centralised, intelligent integration layer cannot be overstated.

Moreover, this also strengthens Samsung’s D2C ambitions, which are seen as a critical component of its long-term strategy to diversify revenue streams and own the customer relationship directly. In a world where data is a valuable currency, having visibility into consumer preferences, feedback, and buying habits is a strategic advantage.

What’s next for Samsung’s digital strategy in the Middle East?

The partnership with ChannelEngine may only be the first phase of Samsung’s broader digital roadmap for the MENA region. As consumer habits become more digitally native, and as regional marketplaces grow more sophisticated in their offerings, the need for dynamic, intelligent e-commerce frameworks will only grow.

Samsung is likely to further deepen its investments in AI-driven personalisation, predictive inventory management, and regional logistics networks. Additionally, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE pushing forward with national digital transformation agendas, regulatory frameworks supporting cross-border e-commerce are expected to become more harmonized, opening new doors for seamless regional trade.

Samsung’s collaboration with ChannelEngine, therefore, positions the company not just as a product innovator, but as a digital commerce leader capable of adapting to, and shaping, the future of retail in the Middle East and North Africa.

In the rapidly shifting terrain of global e-commerce, where agility, automation, and user experience determine success, Samsung’s initiative represents a strategic blueprint for other global brands seeking to scale efficiently across complex regional marketplaces. As e-commerce continues to redefine consumer expectations, partnerships like these are laying the groundwork for a more connected and commerce-ready future.