Saudi Post plans to launch e-markets in weeks

Saudi Post intends to launch an electronic market within a few weeks, said Muhammad Saleh Benten, chairman of the organisation. Speaking at an international conference in Abu Dhabi, Benten said the electronic market would feature a number of leading supermarkets in the Kingdom, adding that it would help them reach their clients easily.

The e-market will also promote crafts by Saudis and expatriates locally, before targeting overseas markets. Majed Anzan, director of postal operations and supervisor of the e-market, reported a substantial increase in electronic trade in the Kingdom.

Official statistics show that the number of Internet users in the Kingdom was 4.8m by 2006 while broadband users were more than 218,000 until December 2007.  “Statistics also show that about 5m e-commerce transactions took place in Saudi Arabia during 2009 alone,” Anzan said.

He said Saudi Post had decided to launch the market in order to increase revenue from handling parcels. “We intend to assist traders to market their products,” he said, adding that Saudi Post would operate and maintain the market.

Anzan spoke about the strong points of the Saudi e-market and said it was very easy to deliver goods to clients without contacting them, thanks to the new postal address system. “Companies face little risk or difficulty in handling e-payments,” he said.

The market will have a team to make quick deliveries of goods to consumers, including Saudi Post workers. Speaking about the benefits of the market, Anzan said it would contribute to the Kingdom’s economic development, increase sales of Saudi companies, reduce cost, improve client knowledge of products and facilitate products arriving in new markets.

Anzan also referred to some of the possible challenges as many people may prefer to visit real shops and markets to purchase their goods instead of surfing e-shops and e-markets.

“Some people may think that e-markets and e-trade are more expensive and not dependable. There is also a lack of stringent regulations,” he explained.