Noon Stepping towards the Moon

Another gem to the already ornate Crown! Our home grown, EMAAR Properties has finally established its baby steps (much like a giant’s leap) into the flourishing and shining E-commerce industry of UAE and how? On 2nd October, 2017, Noon.com launched its website wide open for its first customers across UAE, and we couldn’t have anticipated a better SOS call from the competitors.

Shopping and Dubai are like the new bread and butter. Their correlation has skyrocketed ever since Dubai became Dubai. That, along with the monumental pace at which e-commerce is surging nationally, has placed EMAAR’s much awaited launch as a winner. So much so, that the online industry is expected to double up in the next four years, it’s a golden opportunity for both existing and new upcoming platforms, to tap into this fast growing sector.

“As digital technologies cause disruptions across industries and geographies, it is important for us to shape a digital marketplace that is relevant to our local markets and serves as a growth platform for brick-and-mortar retailers.”- Founder Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar. Noon.com is a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Public investment Fund and prominent Gulf investors.

Like a sign from my mother-ship, and the retail landscape practically speaking to my soul, what concerns me as a customer is where I get my best deals at! Well to address that, this launch was like a harbinger of slashed prices in the competitors’ virtual world. Amazon acquired $580 million Souq.com, being a major player in this market, went on a sale frenzy to rival the newbie. Competitive products like Apple AirPods were sold at a discount of 11% while Xiaomi Mi 5Dual Sim 32 GB was a steal at 28% off on Souq.com. This has also revised the shipping charges set by these old set platforms to competitive levels.

A quiet launch followed by a tsunamic affect can only hint at the entry of a strong contender. Is Noon here to rule? Will Noon surface the competition? Will Noon take on the reigns of this attractive industry? Well, that’s a test only time can run. But till that is decided, customers can let loose and literally shop till they drop with delightful offers right at their fingertips.