Authenticating an online store in Saudi Arabia 2026: requirements and steps on the Business Platform

What is online store authentication in Saudi Arabia, and who issues it today?

Online store authentication is an online service on the «Business Platform» (business.sa) of the Saudi Business Center, which its service card describes as letting «the investor authenticate the practice of e-commerce and issue a certificate that includes the bank accounts linked to commercial registrations or freelance documents». Stores used to be authenticated on the «Maroof» platform; then, on 29 March 2023, the Ministry of Commerce asked online store owners to authenticate on the Business Platform, in coordination with the E-Commerce Council, and said it is the only approved platform for authenticating online stores in the Kingdom.

Why does it matter to you? Three reasons, all from official texts. First: on 29 January 2026 the Ministry of Commerce published the results of an evaluation of 220 online stores on ten criteria, «chief among them: authentication of the store on the Saudi Business Center platform». Second: since 3 September 2023 the «Balagh Tijari» app and the 1900 call centre handle reports about stores authenticated on the Business Platform. Third: registration with an approved authentication body exempts the store from disclosing its owner's name and address, under Article 6 of the law and Article 13 of its implementing regulation.

What does authenticating an online store on the Business Platform require?

Authenticating an online store has two conditions in the Ministry of Commerce's words: a valid commercial registration or freelance document, and a commercial bank account. On 3 September 2023 the ministry made clear that stores authenticated on the Business Platform «are bound to commercial bank accounts linked to the store itself, not bank accounts in individuals' names». The table gathers what the official sources say about the service.

Article 15 of the implementing regulation lists the data the authentication body asks for, as applicable: the service provider's name, address and contact details, whether a merchant or a practitioner, Saudi or foreign; the practitioner's identity or the merchant's commercial registration; the names of those authorised to sign for a legal entity; the platform through which the e-commerce is done; and any licences issued to the provider.

How do you authenticate your online store on the Business Platform, step by step?

The steps to authenticate an online store, as the Ministry of Commerce published them, are four: sign in to the Business Platform, open the «E-Commerce Authentication» service, submit the request, and receive the authentication. We add, before them, getting the two conditions ready, and after them what the regulation requires once you are authenticated.

1. Get the registration and the account ready

   A valid commercial registration or freelance document, and a commercial bank account linked to the store. A personal account is not enough for authentication on the Business Platform.

2. Sign in to the Business Platform

   At business.sa, the Saudi Business Center's platform.

3. Open the «E-Commerce Authentication» service

   The same service whose card shows the fee, the time and the user guide.

4. Submit the request

   With the data in Article 15 of the regulation, including the platform you sell through: enter your store's address as a shopper sees it.

5. Receive the authentication and publish it in your store

   Article 16 of the regulation binds the authenticated provider to two things: publishing the authentication statement clearly in the online store, and notifying the authentication body of any change to the authenticated data within thirty days of making it.

What is the difference between authenticating an online store and recording it in the commercial register?

They are two different obligations. Recording the store in the commercial register is the duty of the «merchant», meaning someone registered in it, under Article 15 of the E-Commerce Law: «the merchant shall record his online store in the commercial register in accordance with the Commercial Register Law». Article 12 of the regulation adds the detail: the merchant records his main online store within thirty days of creating it, in a request giving the applicant's name, the commercial registration number, the activities to be carried out through the store, and a description of the main online store with its address, and reports any change to these within thirty days.

Authentication, by contrast, is a certificate issued by an authentication body — the Business Platform today — to holders of a commercial registration and of a freelance document alike. That is why the self-assessment compliance list for online stores the ministry published in January 2022 has «recording the online store's link in the commercial register» as an item of its own. What we quote from the regulation is its text as issued in 1441 AH (2020).

What must your online store show in Saudi Arabia?

The law and its regulation require every online store to show its shoppers certain details: the authentication statement, contact details, the register's name and number, the VAT number if there is one, the privacy policy, the complaints procedure, and the licence number if your activity needs a licence. The table says where each one goes for a merchant who builds the store on ArabyBot Store.

The self-assessment list has twenty items, among them: showing the commercial registration number and the VAT number on the website, recording the store's link in the commercial register, stating the base price, the VAT amount and the shipping charges on the invoice, and naming the carrier with the shipment's tracking number. Go through it item by item before you open your store to shoppers; the tax invoice and the phase-2 e-invoicing link are on the ZATCA page of the store help centre.

What does ArabyBot Store do about authenticating your store, and what does it not do?

ArabyBot Store does not authenticate your store and we are not an authentication body: the application is yours, on the Business Platform, with your registration or document and your commercial bank account. What the store does is prepare what the application needs, and what has to show once you are authenticated:

• The store's address. Your store runs on a free arabybot.store link, and you can connect your own domain. If you change the store's address after authenticating, notify the authentication body within thirty days as Article 16 of the regulation requires — so it is better to connect your domain before you apply. Details in the guide to connecting a domain.
• The money. Every payment gateway runs on your own keys and contract, so the shopper's money goes straight to your account and we never stand between buyer and seller. If you accept bank transfer with a receipt, give your commercial account in the store, because the ministry warns shoppers against transfers to personal accounts.
• The invoice. The «VAT number» and «commercial registration no.» fields under «Store details». With a VAT number every order's invoice becomes a «simplified tax invoice» with a QR code in the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority's format, and the phase-2 e-invoicing integration is ready and has passed the test environment.
• The disclosures. The authentication number in its own field, shown at the bottom of every page, the registration number in the «footer text», the shipping, returns, privacy and «About us» pages with ready templates you edit, linked at the bottom of every page, and free pages for anything else, such as the complaints procedure.
• Contact. The store's WhatsApp number shows in the footer, and once your number is connected to the bot it answers shoppers from the store's products and confirms orders. See the guide to a store linked to WhatsApp.

If you are starting your store from scratch, every step from the short form to opening it is in the guide to creating an online store.

The official sources for this guide

We read every rule in this guide from its official source on 2 October 2026, and quoted the text as written wherever we could. Procedures inside the platforms change, so check the source before you apply.

1. Ministry of Commerce — «E-commerce authentication», consumer corner (last edited 10 Dhu al-Qa'dah 1444 AH)
2. Ministry of Commerce — store owners asked to authenticate on the Business Platform instead of «Maroof» (29 March 2023)
3. Ministry of Commerce — «Balagh Tijari» and 1900 take reports about stores authenticated on the Business Platform (3 September 2023)
4. Saudi Press Agency — the Business Platform is the only approved platform for store authentication (6 April 2023)
5. Saudi Press Agency — results and criteria of the online store evaluation (29 January 2026)
6. Saudi Business Center — the «E-Commerce Authentication» service card
7. The E-Commerce Law (1440 AH / 2019)
8. The E-Commerce Law's implementing regulation (1441 AH / 2020)
9. The self-assessment compliance list for online stores (January 2022)

Frequently asked questions about online store authentication