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Apple Brings Its Online Retail Experience To Saudi Arabia
The Cupertino company has launched its official online store and app in Saudi Arabia, offering Arabic-language support and personalized shopping for the first time.
Apple has officially entered the Saudi retail market with the launch of its Apple Store online and the Apple Store app, now fully available in Arabic. The move marks the tech giant’s first direct-to-customer retail presence in the Kingdom — a shift that gives users access to Apple’s full product lineup and support ecosystem in their native language.
“We are thrilled to bring the Apple Store online and the Apple Store app to Saudi Arabia, offering customers a new way to explore and shop Apple’s extraordinary lineup of products and services,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and People. “Our teams can’t wait to connect with customers and help them discover how Apple innovations can meaningfully enrich their daily lives”.
Through the Apple Store app, users can browse with personalized recommendations based on their current devices, compare models, manage saved items, and track orders. The rollout also introduces full Arabic-language engraving for the first time, allowing customers to personalize AirPods, Apple Pencil, AirTag, and more with both Arabic and English text, emojis, or numbers.
Customers can now configure their Mac with custom chip, memory, and storage options or mix and match Apple Watch bands and cases for a personalized look. Support is also being expanded through chat and phone assistance, with services like Personal Setup, iOS migration, and cellular activation included post-purchase.
The store also offers Buy Now Pay Later options via Tamara, enabling customers to split payments over four months with zero interest. The Trade In program also arrives in the Kingdom, giving users the chance to exchange old devices for credit — or recycle them free of charge if no credit is available.
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Students and educators gain access to Apple’s Education Store, with discounted pricing on Macs and iPads. A limited-time back-to-school offer is also live until October 21, bundling AirPods or another accessory with eligible purchases.
Apple has confirmed it will begin opening physical stores in Saudi Arabia from 2026, with an iconic flagship planned for Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The move builds on existing ties in the Kingdom, including the Apple Developer Academy launched in Riyadh in 2021 in partnership with local institutions.
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Max Fashion Brings AI Virtual Try-Ons To Gulf Online Shoppers
Landmark Group’s value fashion brand is using Google Cloud’s generative AI to tackle the returns problem that has dogged ecommerce since its beginning.
Buying clothes online has always involved a gamble. A garment that looks right on a model may hang differently on the person ordering it, and the result is a cycle of returns that costs retailers money and customers patience. Max Fashion, part of Dubai-based Landmark Group, is betting that generative AI can improve the experience.
The brand has launched what it describes as one of the region’s first virtual try-on experiences, built on Google Cloud’s Virtual Try-On API and generative AI vision models delivered through the Gemini Enterprise platform. Starting in the UAE, shoppers browsing Max’s digital platforms can see realistic previews of how garments drape, fit and move across different body types before committing to a purchase.
For many online shoppers, uncertainty is the single biggest barrier between scrolling and buying. “It helps address real purchase barriers, particularly around fit and confidence, while allowing us to create a richer and more engaging shopping journey,” explained Hani Weiss, chief executive officer of Max Fashion, who framed the rollout as part of the brand’s ambition to make fashion more accessible.
Bala Subramaniam, senior vice president and head of omnichannel at Max, seemed even more enthusiastic about the technology: “For the first time, a customer browsing on their phone has the same confidence as one standing in our fitting room”.
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Whether AI previews can genuinely match a fitting room remains to be proven at scale. The technology’s value will depend on how accurately it renders fabric and fit across the full range of bodies that shop at a value fashion brand, and on whether shoppers trust what they see enough to change their behavior.
For Google Cloud, the deployment is also a statement about where regional retail is heading. “AI-driven personalization is no longer a luxury, it is a core business imperative for forward-thinking retailers,” says Ziad Jammal, general manager for Google Cloud UAE, Levant and North Africa. If the returns data eventually backs that up, the rest of the region’s retailers will be watching closely.
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