From Souq To Screen: How Saudi Vision 2030 is reshaping digital commerce

In Saudi Arabia, digital and physical commerce have merged into one seamless experience. With internet penetration nearing 100 per cent and mobile use everywhere, shopping is woven into daily life, whether browsing in a mall, ordering from a super app, or booking a service on demand. Ecommerce revenue is expected to reach SR 260 billion, about USD 69.3 billion, in 2025.

The numbers are clear, but the real story is in behaviour. People move fluidly between app, street, and service without choosing one over the other. In this environment, digital and physical do not compete. They combine to offer ease.

Ecosystems as the new marketplace

Saudi commerce is no longer built around single channels. It is structured around ecosystems that connect communications, payments, delivery, and retail in one.

STC is the clearest case. Known first as the Kingdom’s largest telecom operator, it has already launched STC Bank. This makes it one of the first telcos in the world to operate a full consumer bank. The step expands its role far beyond telecoms, creating an ecosystem that spans connectivity, finance, and commerce. It also creates new data on how people save, spend, and transact.

Delivery and service apps are also extending their reach. Jahez, Hungerstation, and Careem now offer more than food. They cover groceries, pharmacies, and transport. JustLife adds home cleaning, beauty, and wellness services. These platforms are no longer utilities. They are retail media networks that own the customer relationship and generate signals at every touchpoint.

This ecosystem model has become the new souq. Instead of stalls arranged side by side, commerce now flows through platforms where people shop, book, and pay with ease.

Policy as a driver of digital life

Vision 2030 is the foundation for this shift. By placing digitisation at the centre of national strategy, the government has created an environment where new services launch quickly and adoption follows immediately. The pace feels closer to the methods of global technology companies than to traditional public sector rollouts.

Services go live, citizens use them, and improvements arrive in weeks rather than years. Small errors are fixed fast. New functions are added quickly. The result is a system that learns and adapts while running at scale. This agility builds trust, which then carries over into private sector commerce. If digital government services are simple and reliable, consumers feel confident to transact across retail and service platforms.

The speed and scope of this shift underline a broader truth: the Kingdom is not copying global templates. It is shaping its own digital model that connects policy, platforms, and daily life.

What this means for brands

‍For brands, Saudi Arabia is already a market defined by integration. Consumers live in an environment where offline and online choices merge, and where ecosystems hold the customer relationship. Success requires a new approach.

1. Plan for omni channel journeys

‍A customer may see a product in the mall, watch a creator’s review on Instagram, compare prices on Noon, and complete the order on Hungerstation. This is a single journey, not four separate ones. Brands need plans that join these steps together, rather than treat them as isolated campaigns.

‍2. Partner with ecosystems

‍Super apps and service platforms are where much of daily life now happens. Working with them provides access to logged in audiences, first party data, and ad inventory built around transactions. These partnerships are not optional. They are central to how commerce now operates.

‍3. Measure outcomes, not proxies

‍Retail media provides data that shows browsing, booking, and buying. These signals are valuable only if tied to business outcomes. Sales, customer acquisition, retention, and value per order should be the measures of success. Clicks or impressions alone no longer tell the story.

‍4. Build speed into operations

‍The pace of the Saudi market demands agility. Government moves quickly. Platforms innovate constantly. Consumers adopt fast. Brands must run campaigns that adapt in real time, with weekly reviews, creative swaps, and budget shifts based on live data.

‍5. Respect cultural rhythms

‍Ramadan, back to school, and national events shape behaviour. These are moments where community, culture, and commerce overlap. Brands that engage in these moments with relevance and respect will build deeper trust. Planning should reflect not only commercial seasons but cultural life.

The new reality

Shopping in Saudi Arabia is not moving from souq to screen. It has already arrived at a stage where both exist as one. People shop across malls, marketplaces, and services without distinction. They do what is easiest in the moment, supported by platforms that now operate as ecosystems.

For brands, the task is to accept this new reality and act within it. That means designing campaigns that reflect omni channel journeys, working with platforms that have become ecosystems, measuring outcomes in business terms, and moving at the same speed as the market.

The Kingdom’s evolution is unique. Policy, platforms, and people are aligned in a way that has made digital commerce part of everyday life. This is no longer a trend to prepare for. It is the context brands must operate in today.

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