Noon.com Launches. And?

Posted on October 12, 2017

One of the most long-awaited ecommerce launches in the GCC has happened. Noon.com is now live in the UAE.

Noon.com was touted as an ‘Amazon Killer’, a ‘money is no object’ project that would revolutionise online shopping in the region. But the first launch date came and went while rumours swirled around the region and Amazon completed the purchase of Souq.com.

Nearly half a year later, Noon.com started selling to the public, without any fanfare, which makes sense, because there is nothing special about the site, and even less to be interested in as a brand. My first reaction was – “Is that it?”

The tagline in the Title of the homepage says – ‘Online Shopping Redefined“, but it seems to be an empty promise. There are other value proposition statements around the site like – Fast Shipping, Receive Products in Amazing Time, but a product that is sold by and fulfilled by Noon is still estimated at next day delivery. Delivery for an AED 85 item is quoted at AED 10.

Establishing a new brand from scratch anywhere in the world is difficult, but it is especially hard when there is no DNA, no soul, no origin story. Take away the promise of the widest range in the region and Noon.com is just another startup ecommerce marketplace. Do we really need another site that sells mobile phones?

The faceless, corporate, ‘something for everyone’ concept also goes against the trend elsewhere in the world that sees small, specialist, artisan merchants having success with consumers that are looking for something more authentic. Brands like Bellroy or GymShark hit a chord with their market with small, well thought out ranges of products.

So Noon.com has a way to go to live up to it’s stated aims from a merchant point of view, but what about the user experience? Given the enormous investment that has been sunk into the platform, the expectation is to see something amazing – the Dubai Mall of Online Shops, but promise falls short as well.

For a site that sells apparel, there is certain functionality that I expect as default in 2017, like high-res photography with zoom ability to see right down to individual stitches, or photos that change colour when a different option is selected. The quality of imagery on Noon.com gives the site a cheap feeling.