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Alabbar: E-commerce Noon Launch on Track | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Mohamed Alabbar had said the website would launch with up to 20 million products. Karim Sahib / AFP


Dubai- Dubai businessman Mohamed Alabbar has confirmed that the e-commerce site Noon “is on track to launch this year.” He said in a statement that “all the feedback we received from our early customers has allowed us to test and refine our technology and fulfillment model.”

He continued: “Noon will lead the way in regional e-commerce. We aim to deliver a market-leading customer experience by leveraging great supplier relationships, reliable technology, robust payment systems, and highly scalable fulfillment infrastructure.”

Alabbar further added that the company is currently establishing strategic partnerships with an “extensive range of regional retailers, distributors, and global brands.”

“These partnerships will allow Noon to provide its customers with a broad catalog of product across categories. With Noon, we aim to deliver an e-commerce platform that creates long-term economic value, truly relevant to the region and supports its home-grown enterprises,” Alabbar continued.

The company is backed by a $1bn initial investment from Gulf investors and the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

As per its original intentions, Noon plans to soon launch across the Middle East region. It aims to grow online sales in the region from 2 percent of the total market ($3 billion), to 15 percent ($70 billion) in the future.

Alabbar said: “Following the launch of Noon, our permanent operational base will be in Riyadh, and we are currently scaling up our resourcing and operations there. This allows us an excellent opportunity to bring into the organization some of best new young Saudi talent working in this field.”

“Noon has the potential to cause a change in the e-commerce market in the region. I would like to thank our partners, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, for their continued support and guidance through this process, and our highly dedicated team of experts from a variety of fields, now working around the clock as we translate our vision into reality.”