Noon to be a ‘strong competitor’ in e-commerce sector, says Alabbar

UAE-based e-commerce platform Noon seeks to offer tough competition to more established global rivals, founder Mohammed Alabbar told Argaam.

While global competitors raised prices by 15 percent, Noon dropped prices by 15 percent, he said.

“E-commerce is the future…I expect Noon to be a strong competitor,” said Alabbar, who is also founder and chairman of Dubai-listed Emaar Properties.

“We welcome all the big players, but we can’t sit and watch them dominate the market. We can make AED 7-8 billion in profit annually as it is, but there’s also a patriotic aspect here,” Alabbar added.

Noon is continuously seeking new agreements, he said, adding “and I want to thank Saudi customers for their support.”

When asked about going public, Alabbar said that an initial public offering (IPO) is on the cards for Noon in the future, but there are no plans for a listing in the near term.

Noon was launched by a group of investors led by Mohammed Alabbar and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), with an initial investment of $1 billion. The e-commerce venture was first launched in the UAE and Saudi markets, with a view to covering the entire Middle East region.

The platform is part of a small but fast-growing e-commerce sector in the region, which has attracted interest from global players, most notably in the form of Amazon agreeing to buy UAE-based Souq.com in a deal worth more than $650 million in March last year.