The holiday sales season this year will provide opportunity for additional savings to the tune of AED500 million for UAE shoppers, a latest market study said.
The additional savings are to be accrued through attractive bank offers, including extra discounts, special deals, cashback, reward points, and add-on services offered on credit card payments, the study by new-age tech-focused advisory firm RedSeer, in collaboration with innovative card share providing venture Xare, said.
The study findings come amid reports about UAE retailers – online and offline – rolling out ‘better-than-ever’ deals and heavy discounts, with special bank promotions in tow, to tap the World Cup-led tourist and local shopping bonanza this year.
The end-of-year shopping season is expected to bring $350 billion in global online sales.
A recent Redseer study revealed that 60 percent of the UAE respondents are planning to make purchases during the year-end discount sale period, with 71 percent of them saying they would spend more this time compared to last year.
Online shoppers in the region have shown a clear preference for credit card payments, especially during the sale season, the study said.
“However, a majority of these card savings are lost to customers who do have the right cards,” the study revealed.
“The Black Friday shopping season continues to be the busiest of the year with brands offering unparalleled discounts. Shoppers can save nearly $25 billion globally by availing of the bank offers on sales,” said Abhishek Rajput, senior consultant at Redseer.
“This is especially significant in the current situation where people are feeling strong inflationary pressures. In this scenario, wealth sharing is a convincing solution, and fintech innovation now makes it possible for people to share their financial assets,” Rajput said.
Padmini Gupta, co-founder and chief executive officer of Xare, said as a mobile-based finance platform, Xare allows sharing of credit and debit cards among families and communities.
Gupta said card sharing was an ingenious way to maximise saving this holiday season.
“This is an exciting time for shoppers in the UAE who enjoy three whole months of back-to-back sales culminating in the DSF every year. With Xare, shoppers get the freedom to use a friend’s bank card with the best offers for the sale season,” she said.
Gupta said card owners also stand to benefit significantly as with more spends on their cards, they get to earn more cashback or rewards, discounts on next purchases or the chance to upgrade to a higher tier to enjoy more benefits.
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