Battle for Saudi e-commerce market begins with entry of Noon.com

Riyadh

IN Saudi Arabia, a kingdom where postal codes are rarely used, most people pay in cash, and shopping is done in giant air-conditioned malls, building an online retail business is no easy task.

But two powerfully backed companies are trying to do just that, betting that a young, tech-savvy population will eventually deliver up a large slice of the Arab world's largest consumer market.