With the annual Black Friday retail period looming, Neha Choudhary, Noon’s Vice President – Onsite Operations and Strategy, says business has never been better.
Noon, the local digital marketplace giant, has its own version of Black Friday called Yellow Friday, which runs from November 23-29, and which Choudhary believes will be even more successful this year, given the recent surge in e-commerce due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a wide-reaching interview, Choudhary spoke with Arabian Business about the impact the pandemic has had on Noon’s business model, consumer spending and local SMEs which were forced to make a sudden shift online.
“Covid has shifted customer behaviour. A lot of people felt they had to go to the grocery store and touch their fruits and vegetables and so they can’t buy them online. Covid forced them to go online and now people have just become more used to it, said Choudhary.
“For us as Noon, we really see ourselves as a local e-commerce company. We launched a new initiative called Mahali, within Noon, where customers can see products by local UAE sellers. It is very important for us to support local businesses and in fact, it is one of our top priorities at Noon.”
