Amazon Launches in Saudi Arabia

It has been reported that Amazon have launched in Saudi Arabia in place of Souq.com following a rise in consumers shopping online in the country.

The additional marketplace brings Amazon’s total up to 17 and provides sellers with yet another connection to a generous amount of customers. The Saudi Arabia Marketplace currently has around 8,000 sellers, the majority being local which interestingly seems to be what Amazon are relying on for the bulk of sales in the country.

Although Amazon are not yet offering Prime for consumers residing in Saudi Arabia, qualifying orders over 200 SAR are eledgible for free shipping and delivery within a couple of days.

“The new store brings together the best of Souq’s local know-how and Amazon’s global retailing experience. The store’s selection ranges from local products to those from all over the world, including Amazon US.”

Selling in Saudi Arabia

ecommerce in Saudi Arabia is growing surprisingly fast and the amount of consumers with online access and handheld devices is high. The fashion industry is one of the reasons for that fast growth and thanks to souq already being well established, Amazon’s acquisition of the company should make their launch quite successful.

It seems that third-party sellers are supplying the bulk of products in this particular marketplace, perhaps this means Amazon will pay particular attention to the value and importance of third party sellers and their growth on the site.

Amazon launched in the United Arab Emirates a year ago and it is speculated that Amazon will launch in Egypt next so keep an eye out for future announcements.