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- CEO Sarah Appleton also recognised in top 50 most powerful British expats in the UAE
- Mini Exchange now a leading online destination for kids' fashion
Dubai, 26th October 2014 – The CEO and Founder of Mini Exchange, Sarah Appleton, has been awarded the prestigious Small Business CEO of the Year Award at the CEO Middle East Awards. At 27, Appleton is one of the youngest CEOs in the Gulf and one of the region's growing number of successful female entrepreneurs. Appleton set up Mini Exchange in 2014 in response to a gap in the market for an online site to buy and sell children's clothes. The company began as a UAE-based operation, rapidly expanded to markets throughout the GCC, and now delivers globally. Mini Exchange offers a unique service, selling a range of high-end and designer children's wear brands for as much as 80% less than the in-store retail price. At present Mini Exchange sells over 5,000 products and 150 different brands.
Appleton's achievements were recognised by ITP's CEO Magazine's awards team, who commended her for her innovative approach and made particular note of the quality of the Mini Exchange user experience. This award comes hot on the heels of Mini Exchange's successful launch and rapid recent
expansion.
Commenting on the award, Appleton said: “I'm delighted to see my efforts with Mini Exchange recognised by the CEO Middle East Awards. Setting up my own company has been challenging at times, but ultimately very rewarding when I see how Mini Exchange has grown. One of the biggest challenges of setting up an e-commerce business in the Middle East is that there are still lots of consumers here that are apprehensive about ordering online. However, I firmly believe that the regional e-commerce market is set to boom and we are doing our part to build trust by setting up secure payment gateways so that users can safely input credit card details with confidence, or choose another payment method they are comfortable with such as cash on delivery.”
Mini Exchange has shown unprecedented growth in the nine months since launch. Having started with less than 600 items on the site, visitors can now expect to find over 5,000 items listed on miniexchange.com, with those numbers rising every month. In addition to selling over 4,000 brand new discounted items on the site, ranging from Baby Gap to Christian Dior, Mini Exchange also lists a further 1,000 items on the site that are like-new and come directly from parents across the region, offering a unique option for shoppers in the region.
Appleton concluded: “Mini Exchange has signed over 20 partnerships with global and local brands, which is really exciting. Those numbers should double over the next six months, so that parents can select from an even wider range of kids fashion on Mini Exchange. The ‘marketplace' aspect, which allows parents to
sell unwanted items that are still great quality remains a strong focus of ours too.”
The site currently has everything from Gap pyjamas to Dior dresses, with prices starting from AED 30. The platform has also been lauded internationally, winning the ArabNet Beirut StartUp Demo Competition and the prestigious PITME Labs Middle East Impact & Ingenuity Award earlier this year.
About Mini Exchange:
Mini Exchange is an online marketplace for parents to buy and sell new and like-new children's clothing and accessories, fancy dress and school uniform. Mini Exchange also works as an outlet for retailers looking to sell end-of-season stock.
Mini Exchange has tied up with three reputable organisations – START, Little Wings, and Action Care – all of which work in different ways to help and support children across the region. Sellers can make a real difference to their community by listing clothes and gifting the profits directly to one of these good causes.
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