Visa’s Middle East merchant sales volume for 2002 reveals continued growth in point of sale transactions and a marked shift away from the traditional card payment sectors of travel and entertainment towards the retail markets of groceries, clothing and jewelry.
According to annual cardholder figures for the year ending December 2002 comprising eight countries within the Middle East, grocery stores saw the highest rise in Visa sales volume with cardholders spending a further $57 million in supermarkets across the region compared with the year ending December 2001.
This was closely followed by clothing stores, with a $37 million increase in Visa expenditure and jewelry stores with a $21 million increase throughout 2002. Peter Scriven, general manager for Middle East, Visa International said: “Only a few years ago, card use was low and largely confined to international travel expenditure and cash withdrawals. Over time we have seen steady growth in Visa retail purchases proving that people have grown to rely on their Visa cards for every kind of spending in every kind of merchant.”
“Furthermore, when we break these figures down into separate merchant categories, we can see a shift in consumer payments from traditional sectors such as hotels and restaurants, to card use for ordinary goods and services including groceries, clothes and electronics.”
When comparing all categories, groceries stores were amongst the top ten merchants in every country and accounted for nearly 14 percent of the total sales expenditure in the region. Clothing and jewelry stores are the next most popular merchant categories, followed by telecommunications equipment and services which was ranked in fourth position, ahead of hotels and restaurants which reached fifth and ninth position.
Department stores are another key area of retail spending recording the sixth highest sales volume in the region. Electronics and furniture stores also saw strong increases to achieve seventh and eighth position out of all merchants in the Middle East. Interestingly, cosmetic stores also saw growth to be positioned amongst the 30 highest sales volume merchants in every Middle East country.
Scriven explained: “Every market in the region has grocery stores within its top ten highest spending merchants. Moreover, we have calculated the average Visa transaction value in grocery stores to be only $46, suggesting that cards are used is for low cost purchases and everyday items.”
In terms of country growth, United Arab Emirates (UAE) merchants lead the Middle East region with the highest volume of Visa card sales expenditure excluding ATM withdrawals. This is followed by merchants in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which have witnessed tremendous surge in point of sale transactions.
Lebanon is the fastest growing country in terms of merchant sales volume with an annual growth rate of 46 percent across all shops and service outlets in the country. Next in line is Oman with 30 percent annual growth, closely followed by Jordan and Qatar which recorded a 29 percent increase in Visa sales expenditure at merchants.
Visa payment brand cards generate more than $2.3 trillion in annual volume. Visa’s global acceptance includes 810,000 ATMs and 21,000 member financial institutions. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
