The long-anticipated launch of e-commerce platform Noon.com is said to go live as early as next week, according to an email seen by Thomson Reuters Projects.
Mohamed Alabbar, the founder of Noon, announced in November last year that the $1 billion shopping portal was due to launch in January 2017, with a lineup of 20 million products.
In an email to sellers on Monday, the company stated: “Get set, Noon is coming soon…” The subject of the message said that the “final countdown has begun”.
The email also shared tips on how sellers can get “a head start” and ensure they are ready to “sell to millions of customers and maintain a top score as a seller”.
It recommended that sellers “always use a competitive pricing strategy”, and cautioned them to ensure orders are ready for pick-up within the promised processing time.
It added that cancellations or late processing of orders would affect a vendor’s score under a programme set up to monitor vendors’ performance.
Last week, Kuwaiti franchise operator M.H. Alshaya was the first retailer to announce a partnership with Noon, after he bought an undisclosed stake in the company.
Noon announced in July that it had appointed former co-founder and managing director of Middle East fashion online retailer Namshi, Faraz Khalid, as its chief executive officer.
Dubai-based Emaar Malls announced in May it will acquire a 51 percent stake in Namshi for $151 million. Alabbar, who is also the founder and chairman of Emaar Properties, said in July that Noon was “on track” to launch this year with final work on its fulfillment infrastructure and payment systems being completed.
He said several of the region’s leading brand owners and suppliers had come on board and that he was confident that new CEO Khalid would “deliver an e-commerce platform like no other in the region”.
Noon has faced several issues since the venture was announced in November, including the departure of its former CEO Fodhil Benturquia, its newly-appointed chief technology officer, and other staff.
