Zayenha E-Commerce Assistant helps you handle everything your Saudi online store needs: drafting return policies and terms & conditions compliant with the E-Commerce Law (M/126), improving checkout pages and reducing cart abandonment, along with advertising disclosure requirements, ZATCA e-invoicing compliance, and store verification through the Business Platform. It combines precise legal grounding with e-commerce UX expertise to deliver ready-to-use content, policies, and practical advice — grounded in the Kingdom's actual regulations, not generic or literally translated guidance.
Example tasks it handles
Example 1
Write a return and exchange policy for my clothing store that complies with the E-Commerce Law.
Example 2
Review my Instagram product ad copy and confirm it meets the legal disclosure requirements.
Example 3
Explain when I'm required to implement ZATCA's e-invoicing Integration Phase.
Example 4
Suggest checkout page improvements to reduce my store's cart abandonment rate.
Knowledge base reference
Reference material the assistant draws on. We review the content periodically and keep it accurate, but official sources remain the authority.
Per Baymard Institute's aggregation of 50 different cart-abandonment studies, the average overall abandonment rate is 70.22%. The more actionable number is the breakdown of preventable causes (after excluding the 43% who were just browsing — unavoidable abandonment): unexpected extra costs like shipping, tax, and fees (39%) — by far the single largest cause — slow delivery (21%), distrust in payment card security (19%), forced account creation before purchase (19%), a complicated checkout process (18%), an unsatisfactory returns policy (15%), and website errors or crashes (15%). For any client asking 'why are visitors abandoning my cart?' — the practical priority is always: surface shipping cost and tax early, before the final checkout page, since that alone addresses the single largest cause at 39%.
Common global best practices for checkout optimization: minimizing form fields to the essential few, showing clear security/trust badges near card-entry fields, and using progress indicators so users can see how many steps remain. An important confidence caveat before citing any number: the common claim that security badges lift conversion by 15-30% for lesser-known brands recurs in secondary sources attributing it to Baymard/CXL, but rigorous A/B tests on established live stores tend to show a much smaller lift (around 1-3%), with many results not statistically significant at all. The higher figure (15-30%) appears specific to newer, lesser-known brands, not a general benchmark — so treat it as an optimistic ceiling and verify with a store-specific A/B test before citing it as a precise number.
ZATCA requires all resident VAT-registered persons to implement e-invoicing in two phases. Phase 1 ('Generation Phase') became mandatory on 4 December 2021, and is limited to issuing and storing tax invoices and notes electronically via compliant solutions, without direct integration with ZATCA. Phase 2 ('Integration Phase') actually began on 1 January 2023 with the first wave of establishments whose 2021 VAT-taxable revenue exceeded SAR 3 billion, with each later wave notified at least six months before its mandatory date. This phase directly connects an establishment's systems to the 'Fatoora' platform for real-time invoice clearance and data exchange. For any e-commerce client asking about invoicing, the first question is their 2021 revenue, to determine which Phase 2 wave — if any — applies to them.
The Ministry of Commerce issued the Executive Regulations of the E-Commerce Law under Article 25 of the law itself, which required the Minister to issue them within 90 days of the law's publication. The original 2020 version comprises 20 articles detailing a merchant's concrete obligations: information that must be displayed, mandatory pre-purchase disclosures, and exceptions to certain provisions. The regulations later underwent a public-consultation round for amendment via the government's consultation portal, so the currently effective article count may differ from the original 20. When drafting any policy or term for an e-commerce client, always verify the text currently in force via the Council of Ministers' Bureau of Experts portal (laws.boe.gov.sa) before precise citation.
E-Store Verification: From 'Maroof' to the 'Business Platform'+
Verification of Saudi online stores moved from the older 'Maroof' platform to the 'Business Platform' (business.sa), now the sole accredited platform for this purpose. The upgraded verification process requires a valid Commercial Registration or freelance document, plus a dedicated commercial bank account for the store — a requirement not previously enforced as strictly — aimed at boosting trust and curbing fraud. Any consumer can check a given store's verification status before purchasing via eauthenticate.saudibusiness.gov.sa or the unified national platform my.gov.sa. For any store owner asking 'how do I verify my store?' — the correct guidance today is the Business Platform exclusively, not Maroof.
7-Day Right of Withdrawal Without a Defect Requirement+
Article 13 of the E-Commerce Law itself (not just the executive regulations) grants consumers a 'right of withdrawal' to cancel a purchase and return the product within 7 days of receipt, without needing to prove any defect — unlike traditional retail, which requires an actual defect. Certain goods are excluded: activated software, perishables, or custom-made items. Shipping-cost allocation is clearly settled: if the return is due to a manufacturing defect or non-conformity with advertised specs, the merchant bears the full shipping cost and must also refund the original delivery cost; for a change-of-mind return within the 7-day window, the consumer may bear the return-shipping cost unless the store's policy explicitly states otherwise. This distinction between the return's reason and who bears its cost is frequently confused in store policies, and deserves an explicit, separate clause in any return policy drafted for a Zayenha E-Commerce client.
Disclosure Requirements for Online Advertising and Penalties+
The E-Commerce Law and its executive regulations require every online advertisement to include: the product or service name, the provider's real identity and contact details, and a clear statement that the content is an 'advertisement' — while fully banning false or misleading claims about a product's features or price. Once notified of a violation, the advertiser must remove it or withdraw the ad within just one day. Penalties escalate from a warning, to a fine of up to SAR 1 million, to temporary or permanent suspension of e-commerce activity, or blocking the online store entirely. No explicit, separate clause on paid influencer-content disclosure specifically was found in the sources reviewed — verify for later updates if that is the intended use case.
Saudi E-Commerce Law (Royal Decree M/126) — General Framework+
Saudi Arabia's E-Commerce Law was issued under Royal Decree M/126, dated 7/11/1440H (10 July 2019), and published in the Official Gazette on 21/11/1440H (around 24 July 2019). It comprises only 26 articles governing every commercial transaction conducted electronically inside the Kingdom. It took effect 90 days after publication — roughly late October 2019 (some secondary sources cite 22 or 24 October 2019 specifically; confirm the exact date against the Umm Al-Qura gazette for strict legal citation). The Ministry of Commerce oversees enforcement, and this law is the legal foundation underlying every online store's terms, disclosures, and return policy.
Anti-Commercial Fraud Law (Royal Decree M/19) — Complementary Reference+
Before the E-Commerce Law, the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law (Royal Decree M/19, dated 23/4/1429H, comprising 30 articles) was the legal foundation for protecting consumers from fraud and deception in goods and services; it replaced an even older law issued by Royal Decree M/11 dated 29/5/1404H. It grants the Ministry of Commerce (and the Public Prosecution during investigation) inspection, seizure, and enforcement powers against any fraud in a product's description, ingredients, or origin. It remains an important complementary reference alongside the E-Commerce Law when assessing the accuracy of product descriptions on store pages or in marketing content — a violation under it is assessed independently of compliance with the E-Commerce Law itself.
Mandatory Disclosure Elements for an Online Store+
A practical checklist for what must appear on any Saudi online store to comply with the E-Commerce Law: (1) trade name and Commercial Registration number displayed clearly, (2) real contact details including an email, phone number, and address, (3) full contract terms stated before purchase completion — total price, shipping cost, and available payment methods, (4) an invoice delivered to the consumer immediately upon contract conclusion, including all costs and the total price with no hidden fees, (5) a clear return policy explicitly stating the 7-day withdrawal window and its exceptions. This list is an excellent basis for drafting a 'Store Policies' or 'Terms & Conditions' page for any Zayenha E-Commerce client — any missing item exposes the merchant to a direct violation.
A practical template structure for a return/exchange policy fit for the Saudi market, in order: the return window (legally no less than 7 days from receipt), a product-condition requirement (unused, original packaging), an explicit exceptions list (activated digital goods, custom-made offers, perishables), a return-request mechanism (an online form or support ticket), the refund timeline and method, and finally who bears the shipping cost depending on the return reason — the merchant if it's a defect or non-conformity, and typically the consumer for a change of mind unless the policy states otherwise. The importance of showing this policy as a standalone page before checkout is backed by a real figure: Baymard data shows an unsatisfactory returns policy directly causes about 15% of cart abandonments.
Note:
The content above is informational and intended for professional reference. It is not formal legal, tax, or professional advice. The regulatory references cited above are drawn specifically from official Saudi Arabian law; while the platform serves users across the Arab world, users outside Saudi Arabia are advised to consult the regulations applicable in their own country. Please consult official sources and specialists before taking any action.
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