MasterCard’s Love Index Shows Valentine’s Spending Habits in the Middle East
It is Valentine’s Day, and everywhere we go someone is buying a gift. A lot of money is being spent as you read this, and it is not only on gifts for loved ones, single people are also spoiling themselves. The annual MasterCard love index, an analysis of payment card transactions over a three-year period, was just released showing us the Middle East’s spending habits on Valentine’s day.
In the past three years, 192,000 transactions in the UAE alone happen on February 13th. There is a 30% increase in the sale of flowers in Africa. The Middle East also shows that 43% used their Mastercard for a romantic night’s stay at a hotel and 22% spent money on jewelry.
Romance has turned to the Internet as well and became digital. The latest survey shows 80% increase in the number of online transactions from Valentine’s Day 2014 to 2016. Data showed that the majority of the purchases happen during a last-minute dash on February 13th, with over 2,800 transactions taking place that day alone over the past three years in Jordan.
“The Mastercard Love Index highlights key global and regional trends to hopefully offer retailers some priceless insight into how customers want to spend the most romantic day of the year,” commented Basel Eltell, General Manager, Saudi Arabia and Levant Cluster, Mastercard.
