44 billion riyals, the value of e-commerce sales in 8 months in Saudi Arabia

 E-commerce sales in Saudi Arabia from the beginning of the year until the end of last August amounted to 44.244 billion riyals ($11.7 billion), exceeding purchases made in previous years.

And according to what was reported by the local newspaper, Al-Watan, today, Sunday, e-commerce sales from the beginning of this year until August exceeded sales in all of 2020, and accounted for more than 3 times the 2019 bill, in which the sales value amounted to 10.251 billion riyals ($2.7 billion).

The current year witnessed an increase in sales, as the value of monthly sales rose from 4.378 billion riyals in January, to reach 6.870 billion riyals in August.

It is expected that this year's sales of e-commerce will reach about 46 billion riyals, based on the monthly growth rate recorded by sales.

Sales growth in two years amounted to about 350% after the value of sales increased in 2020 by 278.7%, rising from 10.251 billion riyals to 38.822 billion, to grow during 2021 by 21% as an estimated percentage, while the total growth rate for this year so far exceeded 14% over 2020 total sales.

The value of e-commerce sales in the Middle East and North Africa is estimated at $22 billion; (equivalent to 82.9 billion riyals), which makes the value of e-commerce sales so far equivalent to more than half of the Middle East's e-commerce sales, of which the Kingdom, the UAE and Egypt are the largest growing markets in the region.

A working paper on e-commerce in the Middle East and North Africa notes; Based on statistical information from Checkout platform, 80% of Arab youth shop online frequently, compared to 71% in 2019.

And 50% of young people aged 18-24 in the MENA region are shopping online more after the pandemic.

As a result, e-commerce was valued at $22 billion by the end of 2020, and the data indicated that about 47% of consumers in the Middle East and North Africa expect to shop online more frequently in 2021.