The new Riyadh Fulfillment Centre has a storage capacity of 2.7mn cubic feet, housing over 9mn products
Eng. Suliman Almazroua, CEO, National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), and delegations from the Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services, the Transport General Authority, and Monsha’at, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, recently witnessed the inauguration of Amazon’s latest Fulfillment Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Following the ceremony, Abdo Chlala, Country Manager, Amazon Saudi Arabia, along with Prashant Saran, Director of Operations, Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Dr. Hatem Samman, Public Policy Lead, Amazon Saudi Arabia, guided the dignitaries on a tour of the facility, a press communique stated.
“The new Fulfillment Centre in Riyadh will further unlock the value of the Kingdom’s resources by empowering local startups and entrepreneurs with improved global connectivity and access to new markets,” remarked Engr. Almazroua.
Digital economy
As the Kingdom accelerates towards a digital economy with a growing ecommerce market, the new Fulfillment Centre will double Amazon’s total storage capacity in Saudi Arabia. The facility spans 390,000sqft across five floors, approximately the size of five football fields. The centre will be able to store over 9 million products.
“We are happy to see Amazon’s expansion in the Kingdom as the company continues its efforts to bring global standards and processes to the ecommerce sector in Saudi Arabia,” commented HE Eng. Saud Bin Rashid Al-Askar, Deputy Governor, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO).
“Led by a diverse cohort of talented Saudi nationals in managerial positions, we expect this Fulfillment Centre to support the Kingdom’s digital economy goals,” stated Abdo Chlala, Country Manager, Amazon Saudi Arabia.
In support of Saudi Arabia’s rising entrepreneurship culture and rapid development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the enhanced capacity will empower independent sellers to scale their businesses online.
FBA
To reach a wider customer base faster and more efficiently, Saudi sellers can take advantage of the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) offering that allows them to store, pick, pack and ship customer orders through Amazon.
“At Amazon, we relentlessly innovate on behalf of our customers and continue to strengthen our operations with state-of-the-art technology and global processes and programs in order to ensure a fast, convenient and reliable shopping experience,” noted Prashant Saran, Director of Operations, Amazon MENA.
The new facility incorporates innovative solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in its operations and more than two and a half kilometers of conveyance equipment to ensure seamless fulfillment operations.
As part of Amazon’s commitment to be net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, the facility is powered 100% by electricity, including its heating and hot water systems, avoiding the use of fossil fuel combustibles and with energy efficiency as a top priority, the press note concluded.