Urban Company, the leading regional on-demand home services provider, is set to bring more comfort to UAE households with the launch of child care services such as babysitting, daily cleaning and pet care as part of an aggressive expansion plan in the UAE, amid a double-digit annual growth of the $2.5 billion market in the Gulf country.
The India-born company, which is fast making deep inroads in the UAE with a range of at-home services such as cleaning, appliance repair, handyman services and beauty services, is also actively scouting for acquisitions or tie-ups in Saudi Arabia for faster expansion of its operations in the Kingdom, a top executive of the company said.
“To establish Urban Company as the largest on-demand home services marketplace, we are looking at a 10-fold growth across UAE in the next three years,” Nitesh Agarwal, Regional Head – Middle East, Urban Company, told Arabian Business.
“We are bullish about the depth of the on-demand at-home services market in the UAE and are aiming at a 30 to 40 percent penetration within the next 2-3 years,” Agarwal said.
The company, which entered the UAE in 2018, currently operates in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, besides in India and Singapore.
Agarwal said the company is not in a hurry to expand to more countries in the Middle East region and may also wait to expand to more emirates in the UAE too.
“We will continue to invest in increasing penetration in the markets we operate with better quality services, bringing new innovations to the market and giving consumers at-home services like never experienced before,” Agarwal said.
“From a country perspective, we believe we have a lot of depth in the UAE and KSA,” he said.
Urban Company: Exploring strategic partnerships
On Saudi expansion, Agarwal said: “We are exploring strategic partnerships, tie-ups or acquisitions. Currently, we are live with salon and spa services in Riyadh and expanded into Jeddah in 2022.”
Agarwal said though 2022 began as a slow start but with people returning to the UAE, the company reached around 80-90 percent growth by the end of the year, with a 15 percent month-on-month surge.
“Besides, while cleaning used to be around 85 percent of our offering in the initial years, with higher demand we were able to diversify into 15 other sectors, bringing cleaning down to 45-50 percent,” he said.
Large-scale impacts of adopting at-home services
Agarwal said the company’s plans on services expansion followed major shifts in consumer demand and behavior.
“Consumers are now spoilt for choice – they are not restricted to the nearby technicians or shops. They can get services of very different standards, at any price they want,” he said.
Similarly, home services are also bringing healthy competition to offline shops and salon owners too.
“Convenience is an increasingly important factor for today’s instant-gratification-demanding customer. Hence a consumer-centric approach is the edge that at-home companies need to highlight for high acquisition and retention,” Agarwal said.
For example, introducing scrubbing machines in the cleaning category enabled the company to exceed customer expectations by providing the best cleaning experience, he pointed out.
“Customer centricity has already made Urban Company one of the largest at-home players in the UAE. We expect this to happen in KSA too,” he said.
Quality is the king
Agarwal said customers today are more inclined towards quality experiences, so brands must be tech-enabled and offer user-friendly interfaces and hassle-free-payment gateways for tech-savvy customers.
“Companies must keep a watchful eye on consumer journey, as one negative feedback can change the course of the entire business. This is vital because modern consumers’ purchase decisions and spending patterns are now digital-driven,” he said.
Agarwal said Urban Company is investing heavily in technology and safety training, besides growing its partnership network to stay ahead of the curve to grow and retain customers.
“The challenge, however, is to offer services at affordable prices, and to constantly innovate to keep copy cat competition at bay,” he said.
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