Middle East: Amazon in position

It had already been three years since Amazon acquired Souq in Saudi Arabia for the equivalent of $580 million. Since then, the American firm has been operating three nerve centres (operations centres) and 11 delivery points there, and employs more than 1,400 people.

What’s new? 

It is therefore more of a brand transformation than a real change of hand, but a transformation that is accompanied by a few key points. All accounts, all sites, all data, have migrated to the Amazon.sa site. What is important is above all the evolution of the selection offered by the e-commerce portal. Ronaldo Mouchawar, Amazon’s Vice President for the MENA region, explains: “We can finally offer our customers what they have long been asking for – the ability to buy both local and international products through Amazon.

The market is opening up

This is an interesting initiative for many Western companies, which can now position themselves in the large market that the region represents, whose very young population is very comfortable with digital tools and inclined to make purchases online. 

The platform is already committed to most of the services for which it is renowned, such as 24-hour delivery, or even same-day delivery in certain regions, parcel tracking, or the possibility of paying for purchases on delivery.

In tune with society

Amazon promised that in its brand new infrastructure in Jeddah, 40% of the workforce would be women. An encouraging prospect for their emancipation and independence.