Saudi Venture Capital invests $10m to develop Kingdom’s healthcare sector

Amazon.sa recently opened its new office in Riyadh, housing employees from various sectors of the company’s operations in the Kingdom.

The company’s new offices in Riyadh will support Amazon’s commitment to bringing world-class e-commerce and logistics expertise to Saudi Arabia, delighting customers, empowering independent sellers, and nurturing an environment for the Kingdom’s talent to learn new skills. 

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA), shed light on Amazon’s ongoing expansion and investment in Saudi Arabia’s growing digital economy to support the Kingdom’s social and economic progress in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

Mouchawar said: “Our new offices at the Riyadh Front Tower are equipped to accommodate more than 350 employees, paving the way for local talents to join the team across various areas of the business from retail, Amazon Payment Services, Alexa and devices, to Amazon Advertising, and more, increasing innovation and solutions for our customers. Together, we will continue to build an integrated system that provides the best level of service to our customers in Saudi.”

Since launching Amazon.sa’s operations in Saudi Arabia in 2020, Amazon has continued to invest across the Kingdom and expanded its activities in various business sectors by creating job opportunities and employing over 3,000 individuals for permanent and seasonal roles.

“This was further reinforced when Amazon.sa signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Investment and Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at) with the aim of empowering 40,000 small and medium-sized enterprises by 2025, providing support to sell their products to millions of customers across the Kingdom,” he added.

Recently, Amazon.sa also launched, in collaboration with Monsha’at, the delivery service partner program that empowers local entrepreneurs to set up and manage their logistics businesses delivering Amazon.sa packages.

“Saudi Arabia is the first country in the MENA region to host this flagship global program which aims to establish more than 30 new local start-ups and create hundreds of job opportunities within the logistics sector during the program’s first three years, further solidifying our commitment to supporting SMEs,” said the vice president.

“Regarding logistics, we doubled our network to provide customers with a fast and guaranteed delivery service by launching three new stations during the past year through our subsidiaries and partners across the Kingdom.”

According to the vice president, Amazon.sa today, has “reached 90 percent of Saudi Arabia’s population within two days, starting from  Arar to Jizan and from Makkah to Dammam.”

The White Friday sale is just around the corner, and even since its launch in 2014, consumers have enjoyed great deals from Amazon.sa.  

“This year’s sale is set to provide massive discounts across millions of products across local, regional, and international brands whose brand values are aligned with the aspirations of customers across the Kingdom, ensuring an exceptional customer service experience. As the sales season also coincides with the World Cup, Amazon.sa will offer great deals across sporting products to all participating teams,” he said.

He added: There is a lot to be announced in the coming weeks, but I can share for now is that Amazon Prime members will be able to enjoy a really exciting experience and will have access to additional perks during the upcoming shopping season. Our team is working diligently to prepare the best offers and deals to delight customers across the Kingdom, all available under one roof.”

Amazon.sa’s selling partners are essential to our business in order to provide customers with great selection and low prices. Amazon.sa hosted a one-day Seller Summit in Riyadh with hundreds of sellers and entrepreneurs in attendance, with the aim of empowering innovators and enabling start-ups across the Kingdom to fuel their business growth ahead of White Friday, the biggest shopping season for customers. During the Summit, selling partners were able to gain insight and advice from local and regional Amazon leaders to support  local businesses to grow, succeed, and efficiently reach millions of customers across Saudi Arabia during the sale season.

In addition to that, and to facilitate Amazon.sa customers’ support for local businesses in the Kingdom during the sales event, we launched a “Shop Local” storefront on www.amazon.sa/shoplocal to connect customers with local Saudi sellers. Customers can explore local businesses through relevant categories and learn about local brands.

Amazon Prime is the only membership program in the Kingdom that offers a variety of shopping, savings, and entertainment benefits such as free same-day delivery in Riyadh and Jeddah, free one-day delivery in major cities, as well as exclusive offers for members during big events including White Friday and Prime Day, which was held earlier this year for the second time in Saudi Arabia. This is in addition to numerous entertainment benefits such as the streaming of thousands of award-winning movies and series on Prime Video, including Amazon Originals such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was launched on September 2, and exclusive in-game loot and free games on Prime Gaming, all at a cost of SAR 16 per month.

The ecommerce is booming in the Kingdom and continues to strengthen its position to become a source of growth for the retail sector in Saudi Arabia, and across the wider Middle East and North Africa region. We continue to see exciting potential and growth opportunities in this geographic space, and according to the latest studies, the e-commerce sector in Saudi Arabia will continue to show growth reaching over SAR 57 billion by 2025.

Looking ahead, we are excited to continue playing a pivotal role in supporting local Saudi businesses to grow their presence and customer reach online. Amazon.sa enables SMEs to invest in their capabilities and contribute to the growth of the digital economy of the Kingdom. We will continue our commitment to innovate on behalf of our customers, offering them the best experience possible through new and improved products and services.