Spend up but travellers not so lavish in Great Singapore Sale

US$37.5 million was spent by MasterCard cardholders in the first weekend of the Great Singapore Sale this year, a 1% lift compared to 2008, but most of the growth came from local cardholders.

Singaporean cardholders spent US$26.3 million in the first weekend, a jump of 7% of receipts when compared to last year’s figures, while tourists spent US11.2 million a dip of 12%.

Local spenders also spread the wealth around with 283,703 transactions made, a 15% jump in total receipts, while travellers made 67,226 transactions.  350,929 transactions were made in all a 13% increase compared to 2008 figures.

“It is encouraging to see that the hard work put in by the GSS committee, including the Singapore Retailers Association, Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Press Holdings and MasterCard, has paid off in making the Sale compelling to shoppers,” said Julienne Loh, MasterCard VP and Singapore Manager.

“The MasterCard cardholder expenditure data from the first weekend of the Great Singapore Sale supports the fact that Singaporeans are savvy shoppers. Singaporean cardholders spent 7% more than last year despite the challenging economic climate.”

Buying habits didn’t change too much from last year, with the two most popular places of card usage still eateries and department stores for all MasterCard cardholders.

Top three international spenders this year were Australians at number one, followed by travellers from the United States and Malaysia.

“Cardholders from Australia continued to be the top spenders for the first weekend of GSS 2009, spending US$ 1.6 million, while consumers from the United States came in a close second, spending US$ 1.5 million. Cardholders from Malaysia came in as the third largest group of spenders,” said MasterCard.

Duty Free Stores were the most popular for Australians, while Electronics were the focus for Americans.