The verdict in three sentences
For a high jewellery and luxury watch retailer in Riyadh, the website is the first private salon a client visits, and a dated or slow site quietly undermines authenticity, provenance and discretion before anyone books an appointment. A redesign with Kolonell costs USD 4,900 (Growth) for a full collection and service site, or USD 8,900 (Premium), the multilingual tier, in Arabic and English with the right-to-left scope set in the quote, against roughly USD 9,300 to 67,000 for Riyadh agencies. The real risks are elsewhere: lost search rankings, brand guideline breaches and careless handling of client data, and each has a known mitigation.
Five signs your current site is costing you clients
High-value clients in Riyadh rarely say why they did not call. They search a brand name with the city, "authorised dealer Riyadh", "certified pre-owned watch Riyadh", "private viewing" or a specific reference number, land on your site, and judge in seconds. The warning signs are consistent:
- Brand logos and collection images that no longer match what the brands currently allow their dealers to show online.
- No clear path to a private appointment, or a form that asks for far more personal data than needed.
- Nothing on authenticity: certificates, provenance for pre-owned pieces, after-sales service, servicing partners.
- An Arabic version that is a machine translation of the English, or no Arabic at all, although many local clients browse in Arabic first.
- Mobile pages that take five seconds to load photographs of a piece worth more than a car.
Authorised dealer status and brand names must appear only as actually granted. Brands set strict digital guidelines for their dealers, and some restrict online sale of certain references: the site has to follow your contracts, not a generic e-commerce template. Client data also falls under Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law, enforced by SDAIA since September 2023, so forms, consent and storage need care. This is not legal advice: your brand managers and counsel validate the final pages.
Budget: what a redesign costs in Riyadh in 2026
| Option | 2026 ballpark | Approx. in USD | What you usually get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance designer | SAR 10,000 to 35,000 | USD 2,700 to 9,300 | Template site, little Arabic copy, no migration plan |
| Mid-size Riyadh agency | SAR 35,000 to 90,000 | USD 9,300 to 24,000 | Custom design, Arabic and English, basic SEO |
| Premium Riyadh luxury agency | SAR 60,000 to 250,000 | USD 16,000 to 67,000 | Bespoke art direction, photo shoots, clienteling integrations |
| Kolonell Starter | USD 2,900 fixed | USD 2,900 | Compact site, appointment form, 3 months of support |
| Kolonell Growth | USD 4,900 fixed | USD 4,900 | Full collection and service pages, journal, analytics, SEO migration |
| Kolonell Premium | USD 8,900 fixed | USD 8,900 | The multilingual tier, Arabic and English, RTL scope set in the quote |
Local figures are prudent ranges from typical agency quotes, converted at the pegged rate of 3.75 SAR per USD. Kolonell tiers include a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks (Premium 4 to 6) and 3 months of support. A private client area, waitlist portal, stock feed or CRM integration is on quote, as is maintenance after the included three months. The details of each tier are on the international offer page.
Timeline and the risks that matter
| Phase | Starter / Growth | Premium | What you provide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit, URL inventory, brand guideline review | Week 1 | Week 1 | Dealer guidelines, current analytics access |
| Art direction and page design | Weeks 1 to 2 | Weeks 1 to 2 | Approved imagery, logo usage rules |
| Build and content integration | Weeks 2 to 3 | Weeks 2 to 4 | Final copy, certificates, service details |
| Arabic layout and RTL checks | Not applicable | Weeks 4 to 5 | Arabic copy approval |
| Redirects, testing, go-live | Weeks 3 to 4 | Weeks 5 to 6 | Sign-off from brand and legal |
These durations start once content is ready. In this niche the slowest item is usually brand approval, not development.
| Risk | What goes wrong | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Lost rankings | Old reference and brand pages disappear, brand + city queries drop | Full URL inventory, 301 redirect map, Search Console monitoring for 8 weeks |
| Brand guideline breach | Unapproved logos or imagery trigger a dealer warning | Guideline review in week 1, brand sign-off before launch |
| Content migration gaps | Pre-owned listings lose provenance notes | Field-by-field migration sheet checked by your team |
| Personal data exposure | Appointment forms collect ID or budget details | Minimal forms, explicit consent, storage reviewed against PDPL |
| Downtime | Site offline during a launch weekend | Staging site, switch scheduled on a quiet weekday morning |
Questions to ask any provider, and when a local agency is the better choice
Ask every provider, including Kolonell: who checks the site against each brand's digital guidelines; how redirects are mapped and monitored; who writes the Arabic copy, and whether it is native; where appointment data is stored; what is fixed in the price and what is on quote.
A Riyadh agency is the better choice when you need on-site photo and video shoots every season, in-person workshops with several brand representatives, or a team that walks into your boutique every month. If your art direction, imagery and contracts already exist and you need a precise, well-migrated site, a fixed-price remote studio is usually enough.
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Mini case study
Illustrative example: "Maison Qamar", a fictional Riyadh jeweller with two boutiques and a certified pre-owned watch corner, receives a local premium agency quote of SAR 120,000 (about USD 32,000). It compares this with Kolonell Premium at USD 8,900, the multilingual tier in Arabic and English, plus native Arabic copy review at USD 2,000 (market assumption) and a product photography refresh at USD 3,500 (market assumption): USD 14,400 in total.
The gap is USD 17,600 (32,000 minus 14,400). Maison Qamar keeps part of it for a private client area later, priced on quote once the brands confirm what may be shown behind a login.
FAQ
How long does a redesign take?
With Kolonell, 3 to 4 weeks for Starter or Growth and 4 to 6 weeks for Premium, once content and brand approvals are ready. Brand sign-off often adds one to two weeks on the client side.
Can we sell watches online on the new site?
That depends on each brand's dealer agreement, and some references are restricted. The site can show availability and booking requests; full checkout and stock integration are on quote.
Will we lose our Google rankings?
Rankings drop when old URLs vanish without redirects. A complete URL inventory and a 301 map, followed by about 8 weeks of Search Console monitoring, keep most of the existing visibility.
Is Arabic included?
Arabic with a right-to-left layout belongs to Premium, at USD 8,900, the multilingual tier, with Arabic and English and the RTL scope set in the quote. A retailer starting in English only can take Growth at USD 4,900 and extend it later on quote.
What happens after launch?
Three months of support are included in every tier. Maintenance afterwards is on quote; Riyadh agencies often charge SAR 1,500 to 5,000 per month (market assumption).
Let's scope your project. Share your current site, brand guidelines and boutique list, and we will confirm the tier, the Arabic scope and a 3 to 6 week schedule. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
