The world markets are now moving to E-business, some of them already moved like the U.S. market, especially in certain industries that are fit to such technology.And the Saudi Arabian market will move to this electronic world in the near future.

eCommerce is the key of Future in Saudi Arabia

Electronic commerce which is basically concerned with buying and selling over the the Web is now growing in a very rapid and dynamic pace all over the world, and one day it will dominate and surface within our regional business environment.Those who are reluctant now and fearful, they will miss the greate opportunity of being the pioneers in this amazing world, and might go out of buisness if they continue neglecting new companies that will operate over the Net using this technology . Imagine if a .com Company suddenly arises and its objective is to compete fiercely with existing retail stores with some specific commodity items, it will draw a significant amount of the existing company market share. Over 2 million Saudis now use the internet, and 50% of Saudis are aged below 20, those are the future of our country and indeed they will open the world of E-businesses in its broadest scope.

E-Commerce reaches new highs in Saudi Arabia

Merchants in the Kingdom witnessed a substantial growth in online purchases as domestic and international Visa cardholders used the Internet to buy goods and services worth over USD100,000 from them in the first quarter of 2005. Saudi Arabia: Wednesday, June 08 – 2005 at 13:58 Press Releas.
Merchants in the Kingdom witnessed a substantial growth in online purchases as domestic and international Visa cardholders used the Internet to buy goods and services worth over USD100,000 from them in the first quarter of 2005. This acceptance in e-commerce at the Kingdom’s merchants comes on the back of Samba Financial Group (Samba) becoming the first e-commerce acquirer in Saudi Arabia in early 2004 followed by the launch of their Internet payment services ‘SambaConnect’. Eisa Al Eisa, CEO & Managing Director of SAMBA and Visa CEMEA Board Member, said: ‘With SAMBA providing the solutions for online transactions as the only e-commerce acquirer in the Kingdom, we have witnessed increasing acceptance of online purchases. We expect greater online activity in the coming months as more merchants in Saudi Arabia begin to take advantage of this delivery channel and offer online purchase facilities, which are fully protected by Visa International’s latest e-security programme, ‘Verified by Visa’, in addition to the security benefits offered by SambaConnect. With large acquirers such as Saudi Arabian Airlines now offering online payments through SambaConnect, there will be a further deepening of the market.’ Saudi Arabia’s exceptional growth in the first quarter of 2005 is matched by similar results across the Middle East with total regional transactions at e-merchants having risen five fold to over 120,000 compared to 20,000 in the corresponding period in the previous year. During the same period the total transaction value increased some 600 per cent to over US$12 million. Ihab Ayoub, General Manager, Saudi Arabia, Visa International, said, ‘The rising number of transactions is an indication of the growing comfort level of Visa cardholders when they make online payments. At Visa, we are committed to providing a secure online payment environment to consumers through constant innovation of new technologies. Our e-security programme, ‘Verified by Visa’ is one such example that is promoting peace of mind and trust of cardholders when they shop from the comfort of their home or office at anytime.’ Source: http://media.ameinfo.com/interstitials/ad.html?oldURL=http://www.ameinfo.com/&timer=60000 (From the Website of AmeInfo)