Sellers from Saudi Arabia will now have access to Amazon’s vast reach and resources. The multinational e-commerce company is launching its global registration system throughout the Kingdom. KSA Manager Abdo Chlala revealed the big news during the recent Biban 2023 event.
Biban is Saudi Arabia’s premier startup and SME forum. It is within the auspices of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority. It’s also called Monsha’at in Saudi Arabia. The forum aims to create an encouraging environment for industry experts. It also showcases diversity in entrepreneurial excellence.
Speaking on the sidelines of Biban 2023, Chlala confirmed the rollout to Arab News. He said Amazon’s Global Registration System will help small and medium businesses. He added that the simple signup process will give Saudi SMEs access to Amazon’s 21 stores around the world.
Pitching for Amazon
The Country Manager emphasized the extent of the sellers’ exposure if they use the system. He said sellers can extend their reach. They can go from a couple of million prospects to hundreds of millions worldwide.
Chlala noted that this allows businesses to scale at a high speed. They will also learn about their concepts and client reactions to them across the world. As a manager, he also emphasized the wide range of businesses using the Amazon platform. He also shared that the company offers many tools. This help make the onboarding process easier for sellers. The tools also ensure that the seller’s products will sell on Amazon.
Chlala gave a brief explanation of Amazon’s Seller Central. He said it’s an information hub for sellers. Its main purpose is to provide the seller with a full understanding of their every input. This centralized hub will give details about the units and inventory. It shows the prices. It also offers recommendations on how sellers can reach more prospective customers. It gives advice on how to ramp up customer engagement as well.
Amazon Marketplace is a popular e-commerce platform. It allows third-party sellers to sell their products on the site. It draws in more than half of the site’s total customer sales.
Amazon’s push to capture the interest of Saudi Arabia’s SMEs is not a surprise. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with Monsha’at back in 2022. The MoU focuses on providing support to Saudi’s 45,000 SMEs and enables them to offer their products on Amazon.
Amazon’s global selling page is encouraging businesses to consider the Middle East. It’s pushing the region as a point of expansion. It underscored the advantages of being one of the first to tap this emerging marketplace. It listed benefits like swift access to easy listing tools. It also noted features like secure payment processing and straightforward logistics solutions. Premier promotional features were also highlighted. One was the fact that businesses can reach millions of new customers every day.
Amazon also listed several great reasons to do business in the KSA and UAE, like the ease of transactions. Sellers can do business without needing any extra UAE trade licenses. They can also receive payments in their US bank accounts. There’s also no language barrier as all listings are in English. Every communication is also done in this universal language.
The diverse population in Saudi Arabia is also a major advantage. They’re also tech-savvy so sellers can expect as much as 93% internet penetration.
Biban 2023’s Successful Wrap-up
Amazon rolling out its global market in the Kingdom wasn’t the only big announcement to come of Biban 2023. The prestigious five-day event set a new standard this year in partnerships. There was an impressive and diverse range of collaborations. There were also many initiatives launched to empower SMEs and entrepreneurs.
One of the anticipated developments was the various agreements to empower SMEs. The Saudi Development Bank finalized an agreement to support the country’s entrepreneurs. This is to the tune of $6.4 billion. The Small & Medium Enterprises Bank also promised to provide $2.8 billion in support. The Kafalah Program also signed an agreement. It will provide diverse entities with $1.5 billion in financial aid.
There was also an MoU between Monsha’at and Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia Limited. The agreement will improve the digital transformation of Saudi SMEs. It will also launch a partnership with Saudi Cloud Computing Company. There were also MoUs signed with Nine66 and the Kingdom’s Ministry of Energy. The former is under the Savvy Games Group.
Biban 2023 was also the host for the last round of the Entrepreneurship World Cup. It’s a competition where startups pitch their ideas to investors. It’s co-hosted by Monsha’at and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN).
Saudi-based firm White Helmet was the winner of the competition. The startup provides a platform where construction operations can become managed and monitored. Users can do the monitoring anywhere and anytime. The company received $300,000. It’s part of a one million prize.
Singaporean company NDR Medical and American company Hera Health also won. They received the top two and three places. NDR Medical got a $200,000 prize while Hera got $150,000.
The final day of Biban 2023 ended with a bang. The forum brought more international and regional organizations together. It was a wonderful way to herald a new era of Saudi Arabian entrepreneurship. It’s also in line with the country’s Vision 2030. Saudi’s blueprint for the future is one powered by innovation. It’s also one that relies on joint work with reliable partners.