Souq.com launches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The site, with an all-Arabic interface, will boast special features customized to users in Saudi Arabia and will showcase numerous merchandise categories ranging from 'mobile phones' and 'computers' to 'health and beauty products' to 'cars' and 'properties for sale'.

"The launch of our Saudi interface is a milestone for Souq.com and we are proud to present our offering to the Arab region's biggest Internet Market," said Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO of Souq.com.

As a debut special offer during the holy month of Ramadan, Souq.com has launched a special promotion with SAMA airlines offering tickets to and from Jeddah starting at 1 Riyal. These auctions have proven to be a great success enabling many residents of Saudi Arabia to perform UMRA during the holy month of Ramadan.

"Registration to the website, bidding, listing, buying and shipping are free while sellers will be charged a nominal percentage of a successful sale as a fee. Upon winning a bid, Saudi customers will be able to avail of various payment methods including direct bank deposits, cash on delivery, payment by prepaid cards such as cashU and 'OneCard', and credit cards.

"By way of its debut into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Souq.com aims to empower users, offering them eCommerce services that have been tried and tested in other GCC markets and then personalised to suit local tastes," said Haitham Masoud, PR and Marketing manager, Souq.com KSA. "We look forward to being a part of the exciting new eCommercial age that is manifesting itself in the KSA."

Souq.com has emerged as the premier online auction destination in the region, with over 80,000 registered users and 165,000 unique visitors a month. It recorded over 6 million page views in the month of August. The average number of items listed a month stand at 30,000.