In this article
Key takeaways
- Perfume and incense is the first category on Salla: 1,882 ads, and Salla is the first platform for perfume ads across the Gulf (15% of them, against 14% for Shopify).
- Perfume on Salla sells on the offer: a discount in 49% of its ads and a gift in 13%.
- The abaya is the second category (962 ads) and sells almost without discounts: only 19%, with carousels in 17%.
- Watches lean on gifts (23%) and urgency (20%) more than any other Salla category.
What "best-selling" means here
To be clear: no tool sees a Salla store's sales. What we measure is what stores pay to advertise, and across how many pages it repeats. A category advertised by hundreds of pages within days, with ads that last, is a category people buy from. Why sales stay private and which signals come closest: Know a Salla store's sales.
The order is clear: perfume first by a wide margin, then abayas, fashion, food, watches and electronics. That differs from the Gulf as a whole, where fashion, hair care and electronics lead (Best sellers in Saudi Arabia). Salla stores are Saudi and have an identity: perfume, the abaya, dates and coffee, and the gift.
Perfume and incense: the biggest category on Salla
1,882 ads from 216 pages. Salla is the first platform for perfume ads in the Gulf, ahead of Shopify and of WhatsApp without a store. What sets its ads apart:
- The offer before the scent: a discount in 49%, "limited time" in 16%, a gift in 13%.
- The button: "Order now" on 48% and "Shop now" on 47%, roughly even.
- The price: a median of SAR 199, and half of the priced ads between SAR 129 and 239: a narrow band, and the stated price is usually a set.
- Beyond Saudi Arabia: only 72% of Salla perfume ads run in Saudi Arabia, below the Salla average (91%): Saudi perfume stores are the Salla stores that advertise most in the rest of the Gulf.
For the whole Saudi perfume market read Perfume stores in Saudi Arabia.
Abayas: design without markdowns
962 ads from 183 pages. The abaya is the opposite of perfume: a discount in only 19%, video in 66%, carousels in 17% (a collection shown piece by piece). The button is "Shop now" on 51%, because the buyer picks size and colour on the product page.
Few abaya ads state a price (77 ads); their median is SAR 200 and the upper quartile starts at SAR 535: embroidered pieces have a premium market. Details in Abaya stores in Saudi Arabia.
Fashion and food: everyday selling
Food, coffee and dates (735 ads from 194 pages): a gift in 17% (boxes of dates and coffee are hospitality gifts), free delivery in 14%, a discount in 34%. The median price is SAR 199. A seasonal category that peaks in Ramadan and Eid.
Fashion and shoes (773 ads from 212 pages): a discount in 23%, "Shop now" on 53%, a median price of SAR 199. On Salla, fashion leans on discounts less than fashion in Saudi Arabia overall (50%).
Watches and electronics: gifts and instalments
Watches and accessories (645 ads from 203 pages) lean on gifts (23%) and urgency (20%) more than any other Salla category, with free delivery in 19%. A watch with a box and wrapping, sold to the buyer and as a gift at once, at a median of SAR 214.
Electronics (572 ads): instalments in 12%, above the Salla average (6%), and longer copy (a median of 48 words against 24 for Salla overall) because specs need explaining. The median price is SAR 299.
Prices in riyals, and how to use the list
| Category on Salla | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfumes and incense | 129 | 199 | 239 |
| Abayas | 149 | 200 | 535 |
| Fashion and shoes | 100 | 199 | 299 |
| Food, coffee and dates | 102 | 199 | 298 |
| Watches and accessories | 149 | 214 | 299 |
| Electronics | 185 | 299 | 304 |
| Home and furniture | 129 | 199 | 495 |
Prices in riyals from the ads that stated one, usually the price of an offer or a set. To go from the category to the winning product itself:
- Open the library with the "Salla" filter and a word from your category, sorted by longest running.
- Note the product that repeats in the ads of more than one store: repetition across stores is stronger than one store's ads.
- Open the store page behind the ad to see the real price and offer. How to find your category's stores: Find Salla stores.
