It’s already been more than three years since Amazon acquired Souq, and last year cemented the A-Z brand by morphing the Souq name in the UAE. Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon MENA and Co-Founder of Souq.com, has been overseeing the transformation.
Now the A-Z of online shopping has expanded to Saudi Arabia with the launch of Amazon.sa, a dedicated store for customers in Saudi Arabia that features millions of products from both local and international businesses, including products from Amazon US.
Migrate to Amazon and shop
Anybody who visits SouQ.com will be automatically redirected to the newly rolled-out Amazon.sa store. All existing Souq.com customer credentials, wish lists, orders, delivery addresses, payment methods and customer support queries have been migrated to new Amazon.sa accounts. As always, shoppers will enjoy great prices and fast delivery across 34 categories, including electronics, apparel, home and kitchen, and grocery.
Built upon Amazon’s existing investments in Souq.com, customers in Saudi Arabia are able to shop on Amazon.sa in Arabic and English by using the Amazon shopping app or by visiting www.amazon.sa. Both the app and the website cater to the Arabic audience just like the UAE site, providing: accurate search results, trusted product reviews, personalized recommendations and simple order management. All of this is supported by Arabic language customer support.
If you’re looking for next-day delivery for your shopping, customers will need to have orders above SAR 200. They’ll also have the option of paid same day delivery to select areas in Saudi Arabia.
Shoppers can search for their favorite products and pay in SAR using local and international debit and credit cards, including cards issued by Mada, Visa, and Mastercard, in addition to the option of cash on delivery (COD) and installments from select Saudi banks.
Fulfillment and logistics
Meeting the expected growing demand for online shopping, Amazon is building a local logistics and operations network spanning the Kingdom. They already operate three fulfillment centers and 11 delivery stations across Saudi Arabia, including Makkah and Dammam. Joining this is the newly-opened fulfillment center in Jeddah, with a workforce of more than 1,400 that also has women working to process your orders.
They have been working with the Saudi Post since 2019 to enhance its last mile capabilities. As Souq.com backend migrates, Saudi Post will continue to be a strategic delivery partner for the company in the the coming period.
Growth for Saudi SMEs
Saudi businesses of all sizes can now begin selling their products on the new site with access to easy listing tools, payment processing, promotional features to help them get discovered by customers, and simplified logistics solutions with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
Saudi companies interested in selling on Amazon.sa can find more information on https://services.amazon.sa/. All aspiring entrepreneurs, regardless of their experience or business know-how, have access to the Amazon resources, products and tools that they need to help grow a business.
It’s only a matter of time before the name becomes ubiquitous across the Middle East region. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that people are now more comfortable shopping online and having it delivered to their doorstep.
