Noon.com targets Saudi launch by year-end

Noon.com is a $1 billion e-commerce joint venture founded by Mohamed Alabbar.

Noon, the $1 billion e-commerce joint venture founded by Mohamed Alabbar, will launch in Saudi Arabia before the end of this year, said Faraz Khalid, its chief executive officer.

He was addressing a panel discussion at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

Launched earlier this month in the UAE, Noon has an initial capital outlay of $1 billion by the Public Investment Fund and a group of prominent Gulf investors including Kuwait's M.H. Alshaya & Co. among others. It is headquartered in Riyadh and has already put in place a distribution hub, distribution channels and a payment gateway for serving Saudi customers.

Noon has a dedicated delivery fleet in Saudi Arabia, said Khalid. "Noon is working not only with large Saudi retailers but also SMEs and startups."

Khalid said the Mena region, specifically GCC, has the perfect environment for the next era of growth in e-commerce. "While online sales are just two per cent of total retail in the Middle East, the market is fast evolving. An AT Kearney report states that online shopping will grow from $5.3 billion in 2015 to $20 billion by 2020."

He said the digital savvy youth and the high levels of Internet and smartphone penetration are the drivers of growth for e-commerce. "But this only forms the infrastructural back-up for digital enterprises. The key to leveraging the digital opportunity is to know your consumers and understand their aspirations. Noon is bringing an assortment of brands at great value which we believe will be received well by our customers in our key markets - Saudi Arabia and the UAE."

Khalid said Noon has created new jobs for Saudis and will focus on building the SME sector.

- business@khaleejtimes.com