Marketplace Monthly Product Review
September was the strongest month of Q3.
Fulfilment and data coverage are the October risks.
6 October 2026 · Brian Arfi Faridhi, Product Director
Agenda: performance · roadmap · backlog · seller portal · tickets · UI/UX · client workshop
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Performance · all marketplaces
Four of ten live marketplaces sold USD 32.6M from January to September
95%
of known sales come from Kantar and Saudia
Sales value, not Merit net revenue. Kantar includes panel payouts. Saudia excludes cancelled orders.
Source: Palak Srivastava, Marketplace Summary sheet, 5 Oct 2026 (first draft)
Performance · data coverage
Six marketplaces have no sales number yet, and one cannot be measured today
| Marketplace | Modules | Status |
|---|
| Peoppl | Gift card, merchandise, offers, e-magazines, point exchange, top-up, experiences | In progress |
| NCPD (SAIB) | Gift card, merchandise | In progress |
| Agora | Gift card, merchandise, point exchange | In progress |
| RB (CHSC) | Point exchange | In progress |
| Mastercard | Point exchange | In progress |
| SMC (NCPD) | Offers | ✕ Offer sales are not stored in the data lake |
Data sits in a different database per module. Ask: one marketplace sales view in the data lake, owned by Data, by end of Q4.
Source: Palak Srivastava, 5 Oct 2026
Performance · Al Fursan
Al Fursan order value in September was the highest since February
6,135
orders in Sep
+22% vs Aug
SAR 4.55M
order value in Sep
+34% vs Aug
SAR 3.74M
miles redeemed (SAR equivalent)
+54% vs Aug
3,279
unique customers
+22% vs Aug
Source: Metabase Saudia KPI dashboard, pulled 30 Sep 2026 (September runs to 29 Sep). Order value in SAR millions per month.
Performance · Apple Store
Apple Store GMV grew 78% in September, driven by the iPhone 18 launch
403
Apple orders in Sep
+43% vs Aug
224
Apple Gift Cards of SAR 500 sold (23 in Aug)
SAR 5,111
average order value, flat vs Aug
Source: Metabase Al Fursan Apple Store dashboard, pulled 30 Sep 2026. iPhone 18 range live 18 Sep.
Risk · fulfilment
The October risk is fulfilment: 62% of September Apple orders are still open
250 of 403
Apple orders still open (accepted, not fulfilled)
586
Al Fursan orders still open across the store
4.4 → 5.1
Apple average fulfilment, business days, Jul → Aug
- September average (2.4 days) counts only fulfilled orders, so it is not an improvement.
- Most open orders are iPhone 18 pre-launch demand. Supplier stock decides the date.
- Ask: Ops reports open Apple orders by age every week until the backlog is under 50.
Source: Metabase order status, pulled 30 Sep 2026
Performance · cancellations
Cancellations fell from the August peak but are still about twice July
Source: Metabase order status. Cancelled orders ÷ all orders in the month.
Performance · customer care
Customer care cases are over target, and gift card cases doubled since July
82.6
cases per 1,000 orders in Sep (target 50 or fewer)
98.6%
resolution rate in Sep (target 95% or more)
Source: Metabase Saudia KPI dashboard, customer care cards
Decision · SLA
Ops works to 10 to 12 working days, but the Saudia contract still says 3 to 7
| Item | 2025 contract and protocol | Operated today |
|---|
| Physical delivery, domestic | 3 to 7 business days | 10 to 12 working days |
| Physical delivery, global | 7 to 14 business days | Not stated |
| Digital rewards | 24 hours | Not stated |
| Refund of miles / card | 1 working day / 3 business days | Not stated |
| Customer care acknowledge / resolve | 1 / 3 business days | Not stated |
Decision needed: update the contract to 10 to 12 days, or bring operations back to 3 to 7. Owner: Wael.
Source: Raneen Ajana, SLA and refund policy documents, 30 Sep 2026
Roadmap
Q3 shipped promotions, sort and the Apple Store. The Q4 drop plan is still a draft
Q3 delivered
- Promo Engine Phase 1, used for National Day
- Composite organic sort on 6 surfaces
- Apple Store live; iPhone 18 range 18 Sep
- Gift card OTP redemption production ready
- Salasa fulfilment agreement, STC packaging
Q4 planned Draft, final this week or next
- Drop 3 (draft), end Oct: checkout, search, social proof, personalisation, promotions, catalog, analytics
- Drop 4 (draft), end Nov: Coming Soon, Pre-order, eSIM
- Promo Engine hardening: 10 open findings, one engineer
- Homepage revamp from the ContentSquare review
- ! SAIB offers: engineering paused, 3 tickets still in progress
UI/UX
The Apple Store direction is decided: Apple's style, Al Fursan green, "Official Apple Store"
Decided by Julie, 5 Oct
- Follow Apple's visual style as closely as Legal allows.
- Use Apple fonts and images only when Apple supplies them.
- Keep a lighter Al Fursan green for identity.
- Main banner message: "Official Apple Store".
Next steps
- Banner, copy and category changes, web and mobile: Raneen, 7 to 8 Oct.
- Approval to use Apple's promotional banners: Raouf and Sarika, 8 Oct.
- Build on staging, then Julie reviews: front end, Rahul assigns.
- Full Al Fursan redesign, checkout excluded, goes into Drop 3.
Source: Apple Store design review with Julie, 5 Oct 2026