To opening an online store in Saudi Arabia, we must pay attention to some conditions. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very interested in e-commerce, and this is considered a major reason for investors flocking to invest there. It is not limited to investors, as there are also many people who want to start their e-commerce in the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also sets many rules and laws to make things more organized. In this article, we will mention everything related to e-commerce, the conditions for opening an online store in Saudi Arabia, and what are the provisions imposed by the Kingdom on those who wish to practice e-commerce within its territory.
Conditions for opening an online store in Saudi Arabia
In order to be able to create an online store in Saudi Arabia, your store must meet the conditions set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . In this paragraph, we will mention the conditions for opening a commercial website in Saudi Arabia and how to ensure that your store is safe and reliable:
- Issue your commercial register to guarantee your rights and the rights of your clients and to be in a fully legal position.
- Reserve and register a trade name for the store because over time and with the continuation of your work and presence in the market, your trade name may be stolen or imitated; therefore, it is always preferable to register a trade name at the beginning of work and the beginning of your commercial project. One of the conditions for this name is that it is not copied or imitated from another name, and that your trade name is clear and does not include the type of activity or category in which you work, meaning that you do not mention clothing, real estate, or other fields within the name of your commercial activity. One of the important points that should not be in your trade name is that it does not carry a religious connotation or symbols.
- Submit a request to the Saudi Business Center to document the online store. In this request, you must ensure that some important papers are available, the first and most important of which is the commercial register and the freelance work document, in addition to some other papers, which are the data and identity of the store owner and means of communication with him, and papers that contain information about the store in terms of the field, objectives, specialization, and everything related to the store, and clarifying the individuals participating in the documentation. You must also bring all licenses related to the store.
- The sales contract between the consumer and the merchant, or in other words, the terms and conditions must be available on the merchant’s website, and the consumer must agree to these terms before completing the purchase process. This is to ensure the rights of the merchant and the consumer at the same time. These terms and conditions must include the store’s data and an introductory summary about it. Each product must have all its information clearly stated and be accurate and true. The total amount paid for the customer’s purchases must be mentioned so that the customer does not have any confusion or problems due to the customer not fully understanding the price. The return and exchange policy and the time period available for the consumer to complete this process must be written so that the matter is clear. Put all payment methods and methods for submitting complaints and comments about the product or store in general. Put means of communicating with support while ensuring a quick response to solve customer problems and know objections and other things that the customer needs support for.
- To open an online store in Saudi Arabia, make sure that you have policies in place that guarantee the security and privacy of customers and ensure that customer data or any data related to the purchases they make is not stolen.
- Open a legal bank account to receive payments for the store. You cannot receive any payments without ensuring that you have an account in one of the banks of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- To ensure that your store is not closed, your ads must show the brand and name of the product, and the ads must be accurate and everything that is said about the product is actually present in the product; because this may expose you to a fine or worse, your store may be closed completely; therefore, all ads must contain the correct information about the product without any misleading to the consumer.
Thus, you have met all the conditions for opening an online store in Saudi Arabia and ensuring the store’s acceptance.
Read also: The best site to create an online store
Conditions for opening an online store in Saudi Arabia for residents
If you are a resident of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and want to know how to open an online store and start e-commerce, you should know that there are some conditions that you must ensure are available to you, and these conditions are:
- Create a Saudi website and from it create an online store. If this is your first time creating this website, you can search for the best online store design company in Saudi Arabia to help you create the store and website professionally so that you do not encounter errors at the beginning of your journey in the world of e-commerce.
- You must have a commercial register that is licensed and certified by the competent authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The competent authority for commercial registers is the Ministry of Commerce. This step is essential and must be available before anything else.
- The capital of the company wishing to open an online store must not be less than 30 million Saudi riyals.
- Availability of contact information such as email, phone number, and other methods that facilitate the process of communicating with the store owner, and with store support in general.
- Clarify the applicant’s data in full and everything related to him.
- Attach a copy of the passport to accept opening an online store in Saudi Arabia.
- Providing information about the products that will be displayed on the store, in terms of product types, names, all details, description, and also their price. This information must be clear and understandable.
- Register with the General Authority of Zakat and Income to obtain a tax number and a tax invoice if your activity is subject to value added taxes. You must also pay the value of taxes if any.
- The residence must be valid and usable.
- Having an official bank account in a Saudi bank, because you cannot receive payments for your store except through a bank account in Saudi Arabia.
- There should be a clear policy and rules for your store; this is to ensure the rights of the store and the rights of customers, and also to avoid confusion for customers in anything. The clearer the policies are, the better the dealings between customers and the store, and it also makes the store a source of trust for customers due to the clear policies.
Read also: How to open an online store
Conditions for opening an online store for non-Saudis in Saudi Arabia
If you are a non-Saudi and you want to open an online store as a type of investment, you can do this but with some conditions that help you complete this process, and without applying these conditions you will not be able to obtain the approval of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to open an online store for you, and in the following points we will explain what these conditions are clearly:
- The investor must submit an application to the Saudi Investment Authority to open an online store for his company.
- The investor must have a valid passport and a legal residence permit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Before starting any step, there must be a sponsor for the investor to carry out all his business activities and also all the papers or things required in the procedures.
- The sponsor must own 51% of the shares of the company for which the investor wishes to open an online store; this is because one of the conditions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is that the owner or the owner of the largest share in the business must be a resident of the Kingdom or be of Saudi nationality and origin, so the investor must ensure that the sponsor owns the largest share of the company.
- The company must be registered in the Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- Before submitting an application to open an online store, it is necessary for the company to be registered in the Chamber of Commerce of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; because this will provide the company with many privileges that help in the company’s growth more, and these advantages make the company legally recognized once it is registered in the chamber, and this legal recognition facilitates commercial operations and completes them more easily, and the company is more secure and protected by registering it in the Chamber of Commerce; therefore, it is necessary for the company to be registered in the Chamber of Commerce.
- The company must obtain a business license granted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to ensure quality and compliance with laws.
- Providing all necessary permits from legal authorities.
- The company and the investor’s commitment to the regulations and laws and not violating the regulations set by the Kingdom in any way.
These are the conditions that guarantee your acceptance to open an online store for your company if you are not a Saudi and want to invest in Saudi Arabia.
The most important provisions of the e-commerce system in Saudi Arabia
To implement e-commerce operations in a more organized and secure manner, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is interested in setting strict and clear provisions to govern commercial operations and e-commerce as a whole. This helps ensure the safety of companies and consumers at the same time, which makes commercial operations take place in a safe and organized manner. In this paragraph, we will present all the provisions that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has set to monitor the progress of commercial operations that arise through e-commerce:
Company registration and licensing are essential for starting e-commerce in Saudi Arabia because this ensures that the company is reliable and safer for the consumer, and it also facilitates the buying and selling processes and subjection to legal questions and rules.
Protecting personal data is one of the most important provisions set by the Kingdom, because data is the basis of every purchase made and is also the basis of customer loyalty and retention with the company. Once the data is leaked or stolen, the company is no longer trustworthy. Setting such a provision makes it easier for the state to take action as soon as anything contrary to this provision occurs, which ensures that rights are returned to their owners, and the company owner is also exposed to legal accountability.
Transparency and clarity in the product data displayed on the company’s website, and imposes on companies and company owners to provide the real and basic information about the product, and failure to adhere to this may lead to the company being closed and its store being completely stopped due to misleading customers with false data about the products, and this act is classified as fraud.
Guarantees are also essential to ensure that the customer can replace or return any product that is not suitable and does not meet the conditions he wants. These guarantees give the company greater credibility, because the customer’s feeling of security towards the purchases he makes makes him prefer to deal with one place over another.
Combating cybercrimes is one of the largest and most important provisions issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; because this type of crime has become very widespread and establishing provisions to combat it is one of the most facilitating things that are done in e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. Preventing these crimes is a great strength for companies and this is what distinguishes the provisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is choosing what helps in presenting and facilitating trade operations greatly to benefit all traders and investors and revive the country’s economy.
Electronic contracting is also recognized in the Kingdom and is carefully reviewed and how to implement it is determined in a way that makes it subject to all the rules that traditional contracts are subject to. One of the reasons for recognizing these types of contracts is to facilitate procedures and complete commercial operations remotely and also to keep pace with changes and keep pace with the era in which everything is done electronically.
The rights and duties of all parties are among the basics of the provisions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for e-commerce. This is to ensure that both merchants and consumers are safe by guaranteeing the rights and duties of each party, and that there is no way for any of them to waste their rights in any way.
Marketing and e-commerce
After completing all the procedures for your online store, and after fulfilling all the conditions, here comes the role of the most important step that will make your business flourish, and this step is marketing. Marketing is one of the most important steps that you must take after completing your online store, because without marketing, your products and brand will not reach the audience you want. Marketing also helps you spread, expand and develop; therefore, the company “ afftutors.com ” will help you with all the types of marketing you want to reach a satisfactory result for you. The company afftutors.com, with its integrated team, will provide you with many diverse marketing services, which are:
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