How to start an online business in Saudi Arabia

Who this guide is for

This guide is for founders selling to Saudi consumers online: a clothing or abaya brand on a store builder, a perfume or beauty label, a dropshipping store, a seller of digital products, or a service business that takes bookings and payments online. It also matters to restaurants and home businesses that take orders through their own website. It sets out the decisions, the registrations, the rules your store must follow and the operating habits that keep an online business out of trouble.

Pick your model first

Model	How it works	What to think about
Own-stock store	You buy or make stock and ship it	Working capital, storage, returns handling
Dropshipping	A supplier ships directly to your customer	You remain the seller in law: delivery times, product claims and returns are your responsibility
Made-to-order	Products made for a specific customer	Customised products are an exception to the seven-day cancellation right
Digital products and services	Downloads, courses, bookings	Downloadable software has specific cancellation rules; regulated professions must disclose their licence
Marketplace seller	You list on a third-party platform	Platform rules plus your own legal obligations as the service provider

Dropshipping deserves a special note. It is attractive because it needs little capital, but the E-Commerce Law treats you as the service provider. If your supplier takes three weeks to ship, it is your customer who can rescind and claim a refund, and your store that faces the complaint. Choose suppliers on delivery reliability before price.

Your legal base: CR or freelance document

The E-Commerce Law recognises two kinds of online seller. A merchant is registered in the Commercial Register; a practitioner practises e-commerce without being registered. Both are service providers with the same core duties to consumers. In practice, though, the authentication and banking system pushes every serious store towards a formal base.

Commercial registration

A CR is the default for any business that plans to hire, hold stock, raise money or scale. The law also requires a merchant to register their e-shop in the Commercial Register. Under the 2024 Commercial Register Law, applications are electronic, the registrar decides within ten days, and one CR can hold several activities. Our CR guide covers the process and the annual confirmation that follows, and our business structures guide helps you choose between an establishment, an LLC and a simplified joint-stock company.

Freelance document

For a Saudi individual whose activity is on the freelance platform’s list, HRSD’s freelance document is a lighter alternative. Saudi citizens aged 18 to 60 can apply through the platform using Nafath; the document is valid for one year and renewable, and the Ministry of Commerce accepts a valid freelance document as the basis for store authentication. Our home business guide explains the application step by step.

Foreign founders

A foreign investor must register with MISA before setting up. Pure trading is a demanding category for foreign ownership: MISA’s Investor Guide sets a minimum capital of SAR 30,000,000 for 100% foreign-owned commercial (trading) activity, together with a presence in at least three regional or international markets. Many foreign founders therefore partner with a Saudi company or choose a different activity. Read our MISA guide before you plan around a structure. Note also that the E-Commerce Law applies to sellers outside the Kingdom who offer products or services to consumers in the Kingdom in a way that gives those consumers access.

Store authentication on the Business Platform

In March 2023 the Ministry of Commerce asked online stores to register on the Business Platform, operated by the Saudi Business Center, instead of Maroof, and it describes the Business Platform as the only approved channel for verifying online stores in the Kingdom. The requirements are:

• An active commercial registration or a valid freelance document.
• A commercial bank account linked to the store. Personal accounts are not accepted, and the ministry warns consumers against transferring money to personal accounts.

Authenticated stores are tied to that linked commercial account and can be looked up in the ministry’s verified store inquiry service. Since September 2023, the Commercial Complaint app and the 1900 reporting centre act on reports about authenticated stores. Display your authentication clearly on your store; most store builders have a field for it.

What the E-Commerce Law requires of your store

Disclosures on the store

• Your name or identifying details and your address, unless you are registered with an authentication entity.
• Your contact information.
• The name and number of your commercial registration, if you have one.
• If you practise a licensed profession: the body you are registered with, your licence details and your professional title.

Before and after the sale

• Terms and conditions, the steps to conclude the contract, the product’s main characteristics, the total price including all charges, taxes and delivery fees, payment and delivery arrangements, and any warranty.
• An itemised invoice after the sale, showing the total price, charges, taxes and delivery fees, plus the delivery date and place.

Advertising

An online advertisement is part of the contract and is legally binding. It must name the product and the seller with contact details, and it must not contain false or misleading claims or use a counterfeit logo or a trademark you have no right to use. The ministry can order a non-compliant ad to be corrected or withdrawn within one day of notification. That matters for influencer campaigns: the claims in the post bind you.

Cancellation and delivery

• Seven days to cancel. A consumer may rescind within seven days of receiving the product, or of the service contract, provided the product has not been used or the service received. The consumer bears the cost of rescinding unless you agree otherwise.
• Exceptions include customised or made-to-order products (unless defective or not as agreed), used videos, records, discs or software, newspapers, magazines and books, damage caused by the consumer’s mishandling, accommodation, transport and catering services, and downloadable software unless it is faulty.
• Late delivery. If you delay delivery by more than 15 days from the contract or the agreed date, the consumer can rescind and claim a refund plus costs caused by the delay, unless the delay is due to force majeure. You must notify customers of anticipated delays.

Customer data

Keep customer data only as long as the transaction requires unless a different period is agreed, protect its confidentiality, and do not use it for unauthorised purposes or share it without consent or a legal requirement. You are responsible for data held by your agents and service providers too.

Penalties

Violations can lead to a warning, a fine of up to SAR 1,000,000, temporary or permanent suspension of the activity, or partial or complete blocking of the store. In urgent cases the minister can block a store pending a committee decision. Penalty decisions can be published at the violator’s expense.

Step by step

1. Choose the model and products, and check whether any product category you sell needs its own approval from a sector regulator such as the SFDA.
2. Get your legal base: CR (with MISA first if any owner is foreign) or a freelance document.
3. Open a commercial bank account in the business’s or document holder’s name.
4. Build the store with the required disclosures, clear terms, total pricing, a returns and cancellation policy that reflects the law, and a privacy policy.
5. Authenticate the store on the Business Platform and display the authentication.
6. Set up payments and invoicing. Once VAT-registered, invoices must meet ZATCA’s e-invoicing rules.
7. Agree delivery standards with couriers and suppliers that keep you well inside the 15-day limit.
8. Launch, then measure: conversion, returns, delivery times and complaints.

Tax and accounts

VAT registration is mandatory once annual taxable supplies exceed SAR 375,000 and optional from SAR 187,500. Online businesses can cross the threshold suddenly, after a big campaign or a seasonal peak, so test it monthly on a rolling twelve-month basis. Once registered, your displayed prices must include VAT, because the law requires the total price including taxes to be shown. Our VAT guide covers the monthly test, registration and filing. If you trade under a CR, remember the annual CR confirmation too.

Operations that make or break an online store

Fulfilment and delivery

Choose couriers on reliability and coverage, not just price, and set delivery promises you can keep across the regions you sell to. Tell customers the expected delivery date at checkout and update them if anything changes; the law requires you to notify customers of anticipated delays, and proactive messages prevent most complaints.

Returns and refunds

Write one clear returns policy that reflects the seven-day rule and its exceptions, explains who pays for return shipping, and states how quickly refunds are processed. Make it visible on product pages and at checkout, not hidden in the footer. Track return reasons; they tell you which products, sizes or descriptions need fixing.

Payments

Use a payment provider that settles into your commercial account. Offer the payment methods Saudi customers expect, and reconcile payouts to orders weekly so that missing settlements and chargebacks are caught early.

Product pages

Because advertisements and product descriptions form part of the contract, write them from verified specifications. Show the total price, including VAT once registered and any delivery fee, before the customer commits.

Marketing without compliance risk

Influencer and social campaigns drive most Saudi online sales, and everything said in them counts as an advertisement. Brief creators in writing: approved claims only, the correct product name, your store name and contact details, and no use of logos or trademarks you do not own. Keep a copy of every approved post. If the ministry asks for an ad to be corrected or withdrawn, you may have only one day to act, so know who can take a post down at short notice.

Launch checklist

Item	Done when
Legal base	CR issued (after MISA if foreign-owned) or freelance document active
Commercial bank account	Opened and linked to the store
Store authentication	Approved on the Business Platform and displayed
Disclosures	Name, contact details and CR number visible; licence details if a regulated profession
Terms, returns and privacy policies	Published and consistent with the E-Commerce Law
Pricing	Total price shown, including taxes and delivery fees
Invoices	Itemised invoice sent with every order; e-invoicing once VAT-registered
Delivery	Courier terms keep you within the 15-day limit

Choosing a store platform and payment set-up

Most Saudi founders start on a hosted store builder rather than a custom site, and that is usually the right call. When comparing platforms, look beyond the monthly fee: Arabic and English storefronts, local payment methods, integrations with Saudi couriers, a field to display your Business Platform authentication, ZATCA-compliant invoicing once you register for VAT, and how easily you can export your customer and order data if you move later. Register your domain and social handles in the business’s name, not a developer’s or a friend’s.

Keep the store’s legal pages under your control: terms and conditions, the returns and cancellation policy, the privacy policy and the disclosure block with your name, contact details and CR or freelance document. Review them whenever you add a new product category, because cancellation exceptions and licence disclosures can change with what you sell.

Scenarios

Common mistakes

• Taking payments into a personal account.
• Displaying prices without VAT or delivery fees.
• Copying refund policies from foreign stores that ignore the seven-day rule or its exceptions.
• Letting supplier delays run past 15 days without telling customers.
• Influencer posts with claims you cannot support.
• Forgetting the CR annual confirmation or the freelance document renewal.

For the full business set-up sequence, see our guide to starting a business in Saudi Arabia. To model your numbers, visit the Business Plan Lab.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

The main official sources behind this guide, checked on 12 October 2026. Where an official source did not state a figure, such as a government fee, we have left it out rather than estimate it.

1. E-Commerce Law (Royal Decree M/126), official English translation, PDF
2. Ministry of Commerce: Online stores register on the Business Platform instead of Maroof Could not be opened from our checking location on 12 October 2026; statements rely on the ministry’s published announcement as indexed by search engines.
3. Ministry of Commerce: Complaints against verified online stores and linked business bank accounts Could not be opened from our checking location on 12 October 2026; statements rely on the ministry’s published announcement as indexed by search engines.
4. HRSD: Ministerial decision on the self-employment (freelance) permit, PDF
5. HRSD: Freelance platform user guide (2026), PDF
6. Commercial Register Law (Royal Decree M/83, 2024), official English translation, PDF
7. MISA Investor Guide, 13th edition (February 2026), PDF
8. ZATCA: VAT registration thresholds (e-service page)