Saudi Retail Seasons Marketing Calendar: Ramadan, Eids & National Days

The Saudi retail calendar has two kinds of seasons: Hijri ones that move about 11 days earlier each Gregorian year (Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Hajj, Eid al-Adha), and fixed Gregorian dates (Founding Day on 22 February, National Day on 23 September, summer, back to school, White Friday, 11.11 and year-end). Merchants who prepare stock, messages, offers and licences about six weeks ahead capture the season without the customer experience collapsing at peak.

Key takeaways

• Hijri seasons move: Ramadan, both Eids and Hajj arrive about 11 days earlier than the previous year, so check dates annually rather than copying last year's plan.
• Gregorian seasons are fixed: Founding Day 22 February, National Day 23 September, 11.11 on 11 November, and White Friday on the last Friday of November.
• Start six weeks out: stock, landing pages, approved templates and licences take time you will not have in season week.
• Discounts need a licence from the Ministry of Commerce before you advertise them, with prices shown before and after.
• WhatsApp is the season's first channel, but with consent; a few useful messages beat a flood of offers.
• After the season matters more than the season: turn seasonal buyers into regulars with a loyalty card and a well-timed come-back message.

How to read the Saudi seasons calendar

The Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian one, so Ramadan, the Eids and Hajj move earlier each year; over time a summer season drifts into spring and separate seasons can overlap. According to the Umm al-Qura calendar, Ramadan 1448H is expected to begin around 8 February 2027, Eid al-Fitr around 9 March 2027 and Eid al-Adha around 16 May 2027, with final dates subject to moon sighting. Note that Founding Day (22 February 2027) falls around mid-Ramadan, so plan a campaign that blends both.

How to build your own calendar

1. Copy next year's dates from the Umm al-Qura calendar and the fixed occasions into one calendar your whole team can see.
2. Pick three to five seasons that truly fit your sector; do not try to compete in every occasion.
3. Count back six weeks from each season to set a prep start date, then assign tasks using the table at the end of this guide.
4. Check overlaps: two close seasons need stock, budget and staff that cover both.
5. After each season, record what worked and what did not in one file for next year.

Ramadan: the season of evenings and hospitality

What customers buy

Demand rises for dates, coffee, groceries, hospitality items and sweets, then shifts in the second half to Eid clothing, fragrance and gifts. Days are quieter; activity peaks after iftar and late at night.

WhatsApp playbook

• Timing: send after Taraweeh prayers or in the evening, and avoid iftar time entirely.
• Sequence: a welcome-to-Ramadan message with no hard sell, then a first offer tailored to the customer's category, then a reminder of the last delivery date before Eid.
• Fast replies: set auto-replies for delivery times and Ramadan hours, and spread chats across the team in late-night peaks.

An example of a short Ramadan offer that respects the customer's time:

Good evening {name}, Ramadan Kareem. The hospitality baskets you ordered last year are back in new sizes, delivered within two days in {city}. Browse them here: {link}. Reply "stop" to opt out of offers.

Offers, loyalty and bookings

Family bundles and hospitality baskets at clear prices work better than blanket discounts. Double loyalty points on the month's purchases to bring customers back after Eid. For bookings, iftar and suhoor reservations pick up in restaurants, beauty salons fill up in the last ten nights, and many clinics and services shift to evening hours, so update hours on your booking page early.

Common Ramadan mistakes

• Sending offers at iftar or right before the call to prayer.
• Forgetting to update Ramadan hours and delivery times in the store and auto-reply.
• Running out of Eid products in the last ten days because stock was ordered late.
• Loud marketing copy that clashes with the spirit of the month; a calm, respectful tone lands better.

Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Fitr

Buying peaks in Ramadan's last days: Eid clothing, fragrance, sweets and eidiya gifts. Announce the last order time that guarantees delivery before Eid and your holiday hours, set an auto-reply saying so, and send an Eid greeting with no offer attached.

Eid Mubarak, {name}. The last order time with guaranteed delivery before Eid is {date} at {time}. After that, orders ship after the Eid holiday, and we will share timings here.

Eid al-Adha

It follows Hajj, and demand peaks for sacrificial animals, meat, grilling and hospitality supplies, alongside Eid clothing and holiday trips. If you sell sacrificial animals or slaughter and delivery services, open advance booking early with set time slots, send a WhatsApp confirmation and reminder for each booking, and cap daily capacity so you never promise what you cannot deliver.

After Eid

The week after Eid suits a thank-you message to buyers with a loyalty reward valid for a month, and re-engaging people who browsed without buying.

Hajj season

Hajj is a direct opportunity for pilgrim service companies, travel agencies, transport and accommodation in Makkah and Madinah, and ihram and travel supply stores. According to the Umm al-Qura calendar, Dhu al-Hijjah 1448H is expected to begin around 7 May 2027. What operators in this sector need most:

• Precise operational messages: booking confirmations, meeting and transport times, and location alerts, in several languages if your customers come from abroad.
• A team inbox: question volume exceeds what one number can handle, so distribute chats with tags and assignment.
• Updates for pilgrims' families: reassurance messages and updates, with their consent.

General stores can target Hajj and travel supplies and gifts for returning pilgrims in the preceding weeks. Sector details are on Watily solutions for Hajj and Umrah companies.

Hajj runs straight into Eid al-Adha, so stores serving both need stock and staff covering one continuous period, with staff leave planned and announced early.

Summer and back to school

Summer

In the summer holidays, spending shifts to travel, entertainment, kids' activities and devices. If your sector quietens, improve the store and grow your list; if it picks up, prepare family bundles and bookings for summer activities.

Summer also suits loyalty programs: a stamp card for repeat visits to cafés and entertainment centres, or double points on quiet weekdays to spread demand instead of bunching it at weekends. Travelling customers can get a welcome-back message with an offer at the end of the holiday.

Back to school

Timing follows the school calendar announced by the Ministry of Education, so check it each year. Demand rises for stationery, bags, uniforms and electronics, and for tutoring and sports academy bookings. "Supplies list by grade" messages outperform generic offers, and reminders about sizes and quantities two weeks before school starts ease last-minute pressure. For bookings, open tutoring and assessment slots weeks before school starts and send a reminder before each session to cut no-shows. Education centres have a detailed guide in online booking for private tutoring centres.

Founding Day and National Day

Founding Day on 22 February and National Day on 23 September are fixed dates, which makes them easier to plan than Hijri seasons.

Founding Day

Tied to heritage and identity, it lifts interest in traditional fashion, coffee, dates, hospitality, heritage gifts and events. When it falls in Ramadan, as expected in 2027, evening hospitality and gift baskets become the heart of the campaign, and events move to after iftar.

National Day

A broad offers season spanning fashion, restaurants, entertainment and stays, with many sectors competing in the same week. Here is what works for both occasions:

• Start two to three weeks ahead: prepare products, the offers page and promo codes, launch early offers a few days before the date, and extend some for a few days after for latecomers.
• One offers page: a single link gathering discounted products, shared in every message and ad.
• Design in the occasion's colours without using the state flag, emblem or images of the leadership on commercial products and printed materials; the Ministry of Commerce prohibits this at all times, including National Day, and monitors online stores.
• Considered offers: bundles, free shipping above a threshold based on your margin, limited editions with the occasion's theme, and exclusive codes for existing customers.
• Stock buffers: cap quantities per offer so you never sell what you do not have.
• Bookings: restaurants, chalets and entertainment venues fill up over the holiday, so open advance booking with a deposit and send a reminder before each slot to reduce no-shows.
• Loyalty: a wallet loyalty card added with the first purchase turns a one-day buyer into a customer who returns in Ramadan and Eid.

White Friday, 11.11 and year-end

11.11 and White Friday

11.11 falls on 11 November and White Friday on the last Friday of November, often stretched to a week or more. Price competition is fierce, so stand out with what is hard to copy: faster shipping, exclusive bundles, early access for loyalty members, and a WhatsApp waiting list so interested customers get the offer first. Calculate discounts on your true margin after shipping, payment fees and returns, because high volume at a losing discount multiplies the loss. For a detailed Salla plan, see our guide to preparing a Salla store for White Friday.

Year-end

December suits clearing stock before inventory counts, gift offers and winter trips. Review the year too: which seasons worked, which customers returned, and what changes as Hijri seasons move earlier.

Discount rules and licensing

Any advertised discount in your store or shop needs a Ministry of Commerce licence before you announce it, issued online through the discounts system. Among the discount controls announced by the Ministry:

• Obtain the licence before advertising the discount.
• Display the licence prominently so shoppers can verify it by scanning its code with a phone camera.
• Show the price before and after the discount on discounted products.

Licence types, steps and fees are covered in our guide to discount licences for online stores, so get yours during preparation, not on launch day.

The E-Commerce Law also prohibits misleading offers: never raise prices before a season to advertise a discount, or advertise a percentage that applies to one product without saying so. Shoppers' trust is worth more than a week of sales.

Prep timeline for any season: from 6 weeks out to afterwards

WhatsApp rules for the season

• Consent first: send offers only to people who opted in, with a clear way to stop.
• Less is more: Meta may not deliver every marketing message to users who receive many from different businesses, and customers tire of repetition; keep to a few messages tied to their interests.
• Cost: a marketing message in Saudi Arabia costs SAR 0.1877 per delivered message under Meta's rate card effective 1 July 2026, so estimate your campaign with the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
• Ads that open a chat: messages inside the 72-hour free entry point window started from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad stay free, which makes Click-to-WhatsApp ads a good way to win new customers in season.

How Watily helps

Watily brings the season's tools into one platform, and every plan includes every system:

• WhatsApp Business API for campaigns segmented by interest, order and shipping alerts, abandoned-cart recovery, a team inbox and AI replies for peak days.
• Digital loyalty cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet with push updates on the card itself to launch the season's reward. Go deeper with our guide to digital loyalty programs in Saudi Arabia.
• Online booking with staff and branch schedules, deposits, WhatsApp reminders and no-show tracking, covered in our online booking system guide.
• An online store and ZATCA-compliant invoices sent to customers on WhatsApp.

Make next season easier than the last: prepare your seasonal campaign with Watily, or explore the Watily platform and its plans before you start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do Ramadan and the Eids change dates every year?

They follow the lunar Hijri calendar, which is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian year, so these seasons move earlier each year. Final dates are confirmed by moon sighting, so check them annually in the Umm al-Qura calendar.

When should I start preparing for a season?

Start about six weeks before to review past sales and order stock, and four weeks before to build the offers page, get WhatsApp templates approved and obtain the discount licence. The final week is for testing and execution, not planning.

Do I need a licence for National Day and White Friday offers?

Yes. Advertised discounts need a Ministry of Commerce licence before they are announced, displayed prominently, with prices shown before and after the discount. The licence is issued online through the discounts system.

How many WhatsApp messages should I send in a season?

There is no single ideal number, but a few messages tied to the customer's interest work best: the season announcement, one reminder for people who engaged, and a last-delivery-date message. Sending too many drives reports, and Meta may not deliver every marketing message to heavily messaged users.

How do I turn seasonal buyers into regular customers?

Add customers to a loyalty program with their first purchase, and after the season send a thank-you with a time-limited come-back reward. Then tell them about the next season before anyone else, with a perk for program members.