Shoppers in the Middle East who have been frustrated when they find the perfect product on eBay but the merchant won’t ship to them will soon have a solution in ‘noon powered by eBay’. The two marketplaces are collaborating with noon.com fulfilling orders for select products not generally available in the Middle East and delivery directly to the consumers doorstep.
Initially the service is expected to be live in the second half of 2018 to noon.com customers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Returns will also be kept simple depending on the original seller’s terms and conditions.
“eBay has been a first-mover in the e-commerce space globally and offers one of the biggest assortment of products in the world, with over a billion listings. Our partnership now combines this selection with our outstanding delivery and customer service capabilities, making it much easier for customers, especially the young people in the region, to make the best of eBay’s offerings via noon.”
– Faraz Khalid, CEO, Noon.com
In essence, for the retailer this will probably appear very similar to a sale via eBay’s Global Shipping Programme. Sellers shouldn’t have to worry too much about products which are prohibited in Middle East regions as buyers should be avoiding them and one would expect that between them eBay and noon will block the sale. In any case if the seller is supplying unaware of the consumer’s real location then it’s hardly their problem if goods which are banned in that country are purchased.
Overall this would appear good news for eBay sellers active on eBay.com and indeed for eBay themselves. Generally in the Middle East, online purchases run at about 2% of total retail sales so there’s plenty of room for growth.
