São Paulo – The Saudi Social Development Bank (SDB) reached cooperation agreements with technology companies this week, in a bid to help family-run enterprises in Saudi Arabia go online as e-commerce booms across the country. The SDB’s mandate is to provide financial support to the economic and social development of Saudi Arabian citizens.
The website of newspaper Arab News reported that the agreements are designed to enable family businesses to create and manage their online stores. According to Arab News, the pandemic triggered a boom in online shopping, and the idea is to help family-run enterprises adjust to this trend.
A survey from e-commerce giant Amazon and its marketplace marketing consulting partner Podean has shown that half Saudi shoppers shop online on a weekly basis. Twenty-four percent of respondents buy items online two to three times a week, 11% do so daily, and 15% shop online once a week.
The Saudi e-commerce market is expected to see USD 7.05 billion in 2021, Arab News reported, quoting the company Statista. Projections indicate that e-commerce turnover in Saudi Arabia will increase by more than 5% a year over the next few years, to USD 8.7 billion by 2025.
Here’s more on retail in Saudi Arabia:
More than 100,000 Saudi family-owned businesses have been funded by SDB financial intermediaries, to the tune of SAR 1.3 billion, the rough equivalent of USD 346 million at the going exchange rate. In the past few years, Saudi Arabia rolled out a string of measures to support family businesses through funding, training and other actions.
One such action was the SDB’s launch of the National Platform for Productive Families, in 2019, with services including “certifying family businesses, funding opportunities, providing saving services, and allowing families to benefit from sales networks,” Arab News reported.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
