In a business environment that increasingly relies on speed, transparency, and operational efficiency, the ability to procure essential goods and services without complexity is vital. While strategic procurement garners significant attention, it is operational procurement—routine, day-to-day purchasing—that consumes most of a company’s time and resources. Lawazem, a Riyadh-based B2B marketplace founded in 2020, has emerged as one of the most innovative startups tackling this often-overlooked problem.
Positioning itself at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s growing digital economy, Lawazem is transforming how businesses source their everyday needs—from office supplies to event services—offering them not just products, but time, clarity, and operational freedom.
The Genesis of Lawazem: A Response to Procurement Pain Points
Every enterprise, whether a multinational corporation or a local SME, needs a steady stream of operational items to run smoothly. Paper, cleaning supplies, refreshments, electronic peripherals—these are not glamorous purchases, but they are essential. Yet, the processes surrounding them are often chaotic, fragmented, and time-consuming.
Lawazem’s founders, Abdulhakim AlBishr and Nasser AlShaya, recognized a massive inefficiency in this space. Both leaders brought with them decades of experience in procurement, contracting, and digital transformation. Their goal was not just to create another e-commerce platform—but to digitally transform B2B operational procurement in Saudi Arabia.
Where others saw routine purchases, they saw an opportunity to unify, simplify, and optimize.
What Does Lawazem Do?
At its core, Lawazem is a business-to-business procurement platform that enables organizations to centralize their operational purchases from one digital interface. The marketplace is tailored for offices, SMEs, institutions, and larger enterprises that need consistent access to consumables, hardware, and basic service infrastructure.
The platform allows users to:
- Browse and purchase from a curated selection of operational supplies
- Track deliveries and manage logistics
- Access fixed-price listings with transparency in invoicing
- Benefit from contract-based discounts for high-volume or long-term needs
- Request value-added services like office gift deliveries, event support, and hospitality arrangements
But the platform’s real power lies not in the breadth of its catalog—but in the seamless integration of procurement workflows. Instead of juggling multiple suppliers, inconsistent pricing, and ad hoc delivery schedules, companies can now manage their recurring needs from a single point of contact.
Product Categories and Extended Services
Lawazem’s product lineup covers a diverse range of business essentials. These include:
- Office Supplies: Paper, pens, printers, electronics, and consumables
- Cleaning Materials: Detergents, hygiene products, safety equipment
- Groceries and Refreshments: Pantry items, bottled water, coffee
- Corporate Gifts and Flowers: Customizable for events or client relationships
- Event and Meeting Hospitality: Catering services, supplies, logistics
- Maintenance and Facility Support: Basic tools, lighting, repair items
What sets Lawazem apart is how it couples physical product fulfillment with auxiliary corporate services. For example, instead of assigning administrative teams to coordinate flowers for a boardroom or catering for a shareholder meeting, a business can submit a request directly via Lawazem—receiving pricing, delivery confirmation, and quality assurance through the same dashboard they use to order printer ink.
Smart Procurement for Smarter Teams
More than 70% of procurement transactions in the average Saudi business are considered “low-value” purchases—yet they often occupy the majority of procurement team efforts. This mismatch reduces overall strategic efficiency and introduces wasteful spending habits.
Lawazem was created to eliminate this inefficiency by offering:
- Consolidated ordering systems
- Approval workflows
- Analytics and spend tracking
- Customized procurement policies
Lawazem isn’t just a product vendor—it is a digital procurement partner. By integrating with ERP or finance systems, Lawazem can help companies track expenses by department, monitor vendor performance, and forecast purchasing needs with greater accuracy.
This is particularly useful for multi-branch businesses, government-linked entities, and growing startups with limited procurement infrastructure.
Funding and Market Recognition
In 2022, Lawazem raised $1.3 million in seed funding, led by Merak Capital, a Saudi-based VC firm known for supporting digital innovation in enterprise tech. The round validated the company’s vision and equipped it to scale its technology and logistics operations.
Since then, Lawazem has been:
- Recognized by Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing companies in the Middle East (two consecutive years)
- Trusted by over 500 corporate clients
- Expanding across multiple sectors including healthcare, government, and logistics
These milestones highlight the growing importance of operational procurement and the need for scalable, intelligent platforms to manage it.
Vision 2030 Alignment: Fueling a Digitally Powered Economy
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 places digital infrastructure and local enterprise development at the heart of its economic reform agenda. Lawazem’s mission is directly aligned with these goals.
The company:
- Reduces friction in business operations, boosting overall productivity
- Empowers local suppliers and SMEs by offering them visibility through the Lawazem platform
- Builds digital capabilities for traditional sectors such as hospitality and maintenance
- Supports sustainable procurement practices through data-driven decision-making
Moreover, Lawazem plays an indirect yet vital role in attracting foreign investors, who often struggle to navigate the local procurement landscape. By offering a localized yet tech-driven experience, Lawazem lowers the entry barrier for multinational companies expanding into the Kingdom.
Technology Stack and User Experience
Lawazem’s web and mobile platforms are built with user-friendliness in mind, with features such as:
- Category-based browsing
- Contract and subscription options
- Custom approval hierarchies
- Logistics notifications and vendor rating systems
- Procurement reports and dashboards
From the backend, Lawazem continues to innovate with AI-powered recommendations, predictive restocking alerts, and plans for API integrations with major enterprise software providers.
Security, transparency, and scalability remain cornerstones of the company’s technical roadmap.
Partnerships and Supplier Ecosystem
A core strength of Lawazem is its network of vetted suppliers, which spans both local manufacturers and importers. The marketplace actively works to onboard businesses that offer quality, competitive pricing, and reliability—ensuring that end-users receive nothing but the best.
Key supplier benefits include:
- Access to a large B2B customer base
- Simplified digital onboarding
- Automated order processing
- Real-time performance analytics
This supplier-first approach creates a win-win scenario for both buyers and sellers, resulting in consistent delivery standards and customer satisfaction.
Customer Segments and Use Cases
Lawazem caters to a wide variety of customer profiles:
- Corporate Offices needing routine supplies and support services
- Hospitals and Clinics with ongoing hygiene and maintenance needs
- Educational Institutions managing multi-campus operations
- Hotels and Retail Chains with high-frequency purchase cycles
- Construction and Facility Managers seeking consistent tool and material access
By simplifying procurement across all these verticals, Lawazem acts as a multi-industry procurement backbone—quietly but critically supporting operational excellence.
Pre-Conclusion: What Makes Lawazem Different?
While the B2B procurement space is crowded globally, Lawazem stands apart in Saudi Arabia because of its cultural relevance, regional integration, and dedication to operational excellence.
Its value proposition is simple, yet powerful:
- Centralize your operational purchases
- Save time and reduce cost leakage
- Receive consistent delivery and support
- Enable your procurement team to be strategic
By focusing on practical problems with technical solutions, Lawazem has carved out a category-defining niche—and its story is just getting started.
Conclusion
Lawazem is more than just an e-commerce company. It is a platform engineered for productivity, designed with deep understanding of how businesses in the Kingdom operate and evolve.
As Saudi Arabia advances toward becoming a global hub for business and innovation, operational agility will be key. With platforms like Lawazem enabling that agility, the future of B2B operations looks more streamlined, digital, and intelligent than ever.
Whether you’re a fast-growing startup, a government entity, or a multinational enterprise entering the Kingdom—Lawazem offers the tools you need to keep operations running, clean, efficient, and always prepared.
