Saudi online retailer noon.com recently hosted a gala celebrating the region’s brightest and most daring sellers. The UAE Midday Vendor Summit offered vendors an exclusive look at upcoming launches, a preview of the biggest Yellow Friday sale ever at noon, and a keynote address from midday founder Mohamed Alabbar, who led a midday motorbike on stage to deliver a powerful opening speech.
Hundreds of vendors joined the event, which was held in accordance with social distancing measures in the beautiful setting of the Dubai Opera House.
The annual Seller Awards were the highlight of the evening and saw 13 of the region’s brightest sellers present trophies by midday CEO Faraz Khalid and Alabbar. These included EMAX (Power Retailer), Shoexpress (Best seller rated by customers), L’Oréal Middle East (most innovative partner) and Home Box (Best midday seller).
The event also celebrated the rise of local entrepreneurship through the Mahali noon program, created to provide local vendors, Emirati and Saudi microentrepreneurs with personalized support and advice to help their business dreams and ambitions grow. to grow. Local Mahali Vendor SpeedyBee received the Top Rated Mahali Vendor Award by Noon Customers in 2021.
The Noon engineering team detailed the significant progress that has been made in terms of tools available to vendors. Robert O’Kirwan, product manager, and Alex Nadalin, vice president of technology, told the SME-packed audience that after listening to salespeople, noon worked overtime to ease the friction. Improvements include an improved catalog system, a new reputation management dashboard, and branded stores to allow sellers to present their brand however they want, using midi as a platform.
Details on the biggest lunchtime sale of the year, Yellow Friday, featured prominently at the top. The sale, which covers all of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, will start on November 22 and end on November 28.
Ali Kafil-Hussain, chief of staff at noon, told the audience that noon has “come such a long way since our first Yellow Friday in 2018 where we started with 1,000 sellers and 5,000 brands. Now, in our fourth Yellow Friday, we will have over 5,000 sellers and 50,000 participating brands. “
Neha Choudhary, Vice President of On-Site Operations, said, “As we prepare for this year’s Yellow Friday sale, we will have a huge 11/11 sale and reveal a ton of surprises, including exclusive offers and new offers. This will prepare us for the 2021 Yellow Friday sale, which will be the largest yet. “
Concluding the event, Alabbar rode a midday food bike onto the stage, to the audience’s delight, before removing his helmet and giving a 15-minute opening speech.
“This industry is the future of our lives, our children and our society. This is the future of our businesses. It is the state of mind of the afterlife of tomorrow. The world changes. Our businesses are changing, ”said Alabbar.
Commenting on the future noon strategy, he said: “The ecosystem we are building is on a mission to bring our cities online. All businesses, services and products will be digitally accessible through integrated platforms. This is our new business! We’ve built an amazing delivery system, we’ve built the technology, we’re amazing people, and most importantly, we’re brave! “
Noon.com is a joint venture between the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and Alabbar.
