News

Cartlow Rolls Out Subscription Model For GCC Retail Platform

Parent company Basatne is scrapping per-sale commissions, betting a flat subscription will pull more merchants into the Gulf’s re-commerce market.

Published

8 months ago

November 25, 2025

Nour Nasir

Basatne

Tech and logistics platform Basatne has launched a subscription-based marketplace through its consumer brand Cartlow, dropping the per-transaction commissions that define most regional platforms. It is a direct pitch to sellers pressed by fees that can reach 20% and to a GCC retail sector expected to hit USD 390 billion. The company is positioning the model as a structural reset rather than a pricing tweak.

The offer is straightforward: a monthly subscription instead of variable cuts on each sale. Basatne argues that this helps merchants retain more value, widen product ranges, and price competitively across refurbished, pre-owned, and new goods. For a region where many SMEs still struggle with digital retail onboarding costs, a predictable fee structure may lower the threshold to participate.

Cartlow is built on Basatne’s proprietary technology stack spanning trade-in, diagnostics, repair, refurbishment, and resale. That stack links individual consumers with businesses, wholesalers, and resellers along the full product lifecycle. The company says the system is built to recirculate millions of products annually and prevent more than 300,000 tons of potential e-waste from reaching landfill.

“Our goal is to make sustainability scalable, not just aspirational,” said Mohammad Sleiman, CEO of Basatne MENA. “With this subscription model, we’re removing cost barriers and creating an ecosystem where businesses thrive and products live longer”.

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Basatne’s wider operations span sustainable electronics distribution, a global trading platform, AI-driven analytics and diagnostics, integrated subscription programs, and embedded fintech tools. Cartlow now anchors the consumer side of that network. The group says the consolidation supports its international expansion play, with the Gulf acting as a proving ground for circular retail models.

Re-commerce in the GCC still trails established markets in Europe and Asia, but demand has risen as device prices climb and environmental expectations grow. By eliminating variable fees, Basatne is betting more merchants will list refurbished and pre-loved stock — and that a deeper pool of inventory will make the channel a mainstream retail path rather than a niche alternative.

News

Syria Just Got Its First Super App Featuring Built-In Digital Payments

Built by UAE-based Syrian founders with the Ministry of Tourism’s backing, My Syria lands as visitor numbers more than double.

Published

4 days ago

August 1, 2026

Nour Nasir

syria just got its first super app featuring built-in digital payments

For most of the past decade, paying for anything in Syria with an international card was effectively impossible. Sanctions, a collapsed banking sector, and years of isolation left the country running on cash. That is what makes the launch of My Syria — the country’s first super app — more than a routine product announcement.

Developed by 121 Living, a company founded by four UAE-based Syrian entrepreneurs — Rami Kaiem, Feras Kaiem, Waseem Qudmani, and Kinan Madi — the app launched in Damascus on July 30 under the patronage of Minister of Tourism Mazen Al-Salhani. It bundles hotels, restaurants, transport, attractions, food delivery, and other lifestyle services into a single platform, currently offering eight services with plans to expand to more than 40 verified tourism and hospitality providers across the country.

Although the app already sounds enticing, the headline feature is its built-in payments. My Syria is the first platform in Syria to support cross-border digital payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express — familiar tools for international visitors, and a route into the digital economy for local businesses that have long operated outside it.

my syria super app launch event

The launch rides on a sharp rebound for the troubled country. Syria’s tourism sector recorded 3.52 million visitor arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 111 percent increase over the 1.67 million during the same period in 2025 — a mix of returning expatriates, regional visitors, and international tourists.

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The Ministry of Tourism, which supported and supervised the app’s development, frames the launch as proof of concept for a wider strategy. “Digital transformation is one of the Ministry’s strategic priorities because it enables us to build a more competitive, connected and investment-ready tourism sector,” Al-Salhani said, inviting technology companies “globally, regionally and locally” to explore opportunities across the wider economy.

For 121 Living, this is phase one, with additional services and expanded geographic coverage planned. Whether a super app can flourish in a market still rebuilding its infrastructure is an open question, but for the first time in years, a visitor to Damascus can pay for dinner with their phone.