MasterCard Records S$2.1 Billion in Sales During GSS 2015

Despite increasing competition globally for retail spending whether by travel or through e-commerce, spend and transaction volumes on MasterCard cards continued to grow for the Great Singapore Sale this year.

Spend on MasterCard cards alone during the GSS 2015 (30 May to 26 July 2015) amounted to S$2.12 billion, a 2.2% increase on last year.

During the eight-week GSS period, Singapore merchants saw over 14.5 million transactions made by local and overseas-issued MasterCard cards, a 7.3% growth from 2014.

Compared to 2011, local and visiting cardholder spend grew by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% and usage of MasterCard cards grew at a CAGR of 12% in 2015 compared to five years ago at Singapore’s annual mid-year shopping extravaganza.

Overall GSS figures were boosted by tourists, with double digit increases recorded in both spend amount and transaction volume. Compared to last year, visiting MasterCard cardholders spent 15.3% more and used their cards 21.8% more.

MasterCard data revealed that the GSS continues to appeal strongly to its key tourist markets, with the same five countries topping the 2015 list as last year.

In order of ranking, Australia, Malaysia and China have retained their top spots while Indonesia has overtaken Japan this year for fourth placing, leaving Japan in fifth place.

Local cardholders contributed to the bulk of the GSS spend, making up two-thirds of spend volume, with spend dipping slightly from S$1.46 billion to S$1.41 billion. This year also saw more MasterCard card payments from local cardholders, growing by 2.6% from the year before to 10.5 million transactions.

Deborah Heng, group head and general manager, Singapore, MasterCard, said, “The attractiveness of offers at the GSS and Singapore’s appeal as a tourist destination are holding strong as evidenced by the growth in both spend and transactions made on MasterCard cards this year. What’s interesting is that this year we are seeing dining places emerge consistently as a top spend category for visitors – an indication that fine dining may be growing in appeal for travellers to Singapore. Visitors are also increasingly recognising the benefit of electronic payments, as seen by the growth in the number of transactions made on MasterCard cards from 2011 to 2015. ” 

There is also a growing market for e-commerce at Singapore-based online merchants. S$303.5 million was spent online by Singapore cardholders in Singapore during the GSS, a 5.6% increase from 2014. The number of e-commerce transactions also rose by 9.8% with 2.3 million MasterCard card transactions recorded during GSS 2015.