My Saudi Arabia

In the previous article, we discussed what kind of clothes will come in handy when you travel to the Kingdom, whether for tourism or business purposes. Let’s now talk about what difficulties you might encounter if you decide to buy clothes in Saudi Arabia.

Russian version

You can buy in local stores / malls or order online all kinds of clothes. Just keep a few things in mind:

• Most stores do not have fitting rooms. The procedure is as follows. You buy an item -> take it home and try it on -> return it / exchange it if it doesn’t fit.
• Alternatively: you buy an item -> try it on in a public bathroom inside the mall -> return / exchange if it did not fit.
• So, before you buy something, ask about the return policy. In some stores, you can return the item only starting from the next day — which means you have to come again (are you willing to do that?).
• Also, you can return an item only within a limited period of time, which is usually 3-7 days. Ask from what day this period is counted. Each store has its own policy. For example, if you buy an item on Saturday, one store will allow you to return it the next Saturday, but another store will refuse to accept it — time is over.
• Refunds will be easier if you pay in cash. Card refunds can take up to 30 days, and some stores will ask to see the physical card that was used to make the purchase (so bring it with you — this is relevant for those who use Apple Pay).
• Also (this is mostly true for shopping in malls) prices for clothes in the KSA are quite high. Perhaps you could buy cheaper everyday clothes in other countries, where you will go on vacation / business trip. Or you can find cheaper clothes in online stores (but let’s discuss their particularities below),

Features (and challenges) of online shopping:

• When you order some items online, there may be difficulties with delivery if you do not speak Arabic. Some drivers (or rather most) do not understand instructions in English.
• To deal with the language barrier, you can save in advance your location and take pictures of your entrance / house / route, if it can be difficult for the delivery person to find it.
• Also, it might be a good idea to look up (and verify with the locals) some phrases in Arabic, for example «Please deliver from …. to …. pm».
• Also note that sometimes the span between the call from the courier and the delivery itself is several hours. You can face problems if you ordered delivery to the office, and the courier did not reach you until 11 pm, when you are already home…
• If you live in a compound, find out what the terms of access for couriers are.
  — Can the courier get inside or do you have to meet him at the gate of the compound?
  — Can the courier leave the order with security or someone else, or do you have to be there in person? (I recommend asking this question not only to the management, but also to your neighbors — probably the actual conditions will be different from the written rules).
  — Perhaps you need to call security in advance (how many hours in advance?) and order a pass for the delivery person.
  — If so, what information do you need to share with the security guys? In some compounds, you just have to say, «I have a courier coming from Hunger Station» (a food delivery chain). At other compounds, you have to give the number, car model and the name of the courier.
• Also, find out what the return policy is. It can be very, very different.

Good luck with your shopping 🙂