The e-commerce market in Saudi Arabia is growing rapidly and is expected to continue to do so in the coming years. According to a report by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, the value of the e-commerce market in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach $28 billion by 2022.
There are a few key factors that have contributed to the growth of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia:
- Increasing internet penetration: The percentage of the population with internet access in Saudi Arabia has been increasing in recent years, which has made it easier for more people to shop online.
- Growing smartphone adoption: The adoption of smartphones in Saudi Arabia has also been increasing, which has made it easier for people to shop online using their mobile devices.
- Government support: The government of Saudi Arabia has been actively supporting the growth of the e-commerce sector, including through initiatives to improve logistics and payment infrastructure.
This blog explains the relevance of e-commerce marketing, the process of building an e-commerce website for small businesses in Saudi Arabia, trending e-commerce platforms, their features, etc. We also wrote about leading e-commerce stores and online marketplaces in Saudi Arabia in our previous article.
We will cover the below points in the first part of this article
- What is an e-commerce business and how its work
- Different types of e-commerce business
- Why you need an e-commerce website
- The average cost of domain registration and hosting
- Different types of hosting
What is an e-commerce business and how it works
E-commerce or electronic commerce is a popular online marketing system where online business transactions are processed. Most of the customers are engaged in buying goods and services from various online marketplaces using electronic payment methods like Debit/Credit Cards, Net banking, etc. Once the payment method is processed, the purchased item will be shipped to the desired destination. In this technological era, e-commerce opens up wider business opportunities, and its invasion has created many changes in the lifestyle of people.
Different types of e-commerce business
If you are planning to step out into the e-commerce business, there are four popular categories where e-commerce specifically divides. Each of these categories has unique characteristics and benefits. Many small and large companies bear the challenges and benefits concurrently by operating at least one among these. Let’s discuss four major types of e-commerce business models.
Basic E-commerce models
- Business-to-Business (B2B): Business-to-Business[B2B], Involves all online transactions of various goods and services among companies. This kind of e-commerce typically operates with traditional wholesalers and producers.
- Business-to-Consumer[B2C]: Business-to-Consumer[B2C], is a popular e-business model where products and services are directly sold to customers. Here the transaction is carried out between the business and the preferred consumer.
- Consumer-to-Consumer[C2C]: Consumer-to-Consumer[C2C], it’s a peer-to-peer transaction where it involves only consumers. This e-commerce concept allows consumers to proceed with transactions with one another.
- Consumer-to Business[C2B]: Consumer-to Business[C2B], is a popular e-commerce model where consumers and businesses maintain a mutual relationship. Using the C2B model, consumers propose their products or services directly to businesses.
Why do I need an e-commerce website?
In this technological era, e-commerce penetrates into the life of Saudis and becomes an inevitable marketing strategy for all small and large businesses globally. Selling online plays a greater role in changing the phase of any business organization.
E-commerce websites became an integral part of every start-up or physical store by bringing wider opportunities and infinite success possibilities. It facilitates profitable and easy online transactions among customers and businesses. e-commerce integration gives life to massive cracked physical stores by saving their money and time.
How much expense will it cost to start an e-commerce website?
If you are planning to start an e-commerce website? You would definitely ask the above question multiple times “how much expenses will come?”.
In fact, before discussing the cost we need to consider what the important points involve when we start an e-commerce business.
- Domain Registration
- Web hosting
- E-commerce platform / Website
- Payment gateway integration
- Digital Marketing and SEO
Let us take a look at the basic cost of each element above
Domain Registration
For domain registration, the cost will start from 50 SAR. Basically, the cost depends upon the extension you prefer to use. For eg: .sa, com.sa, .com, .co etc. If you want to Saudi identity domain please visit https://nic.sa/en/. To buy the general domain you can use companies like Godaddy, Network solutions etc.
Web Hosting
If you are planning to start an e-commerce website you should definitely need to buy a web hosting package from any hosting provider except if you choose hosted solution platforms like Shopify (We will explain about Shopify later). Based on the space and server capacity requirement you can choose different types of hosting, see the list below.
- Shared Hosting
- Cloud hosting
- VPS Optimized server hosting
- Dedicated server hosting
Formerly going for a self-host, the decision-making process for e-commerce website cost is an integral part. The expenses completely hinge upon the features and the customer’s requirements. For building an e-commerce store you have to pay for e-commerce software, domain name, e-commerce hosting, SSL certificate, payment processing cost, store theme and designs, Add-ons, and extensions. Several hosting services are available that including VPS web hosting, shared hosting, dedicated hosting, WordPress hosting, and cloud web hosting. Improve the performance of your site with an accurate hosting service. Approximately the hosting cost of e-commerce starts from 50 SAR per month.
We will continue this post to our next article here:
