Saudi Arabia’s POS spending has reached SR58.51 billion equivalents to $15.6 billion in August 2024, while increasing by 9.67 percent over the same period last year, according to data published by the Saudi Central Bank, SAMA. A definite indicator, it is of a greater economic trend where this could simply suggest the changing needs of consumers in the Kingdom.
The food and beverage industry, comprising restaurants and cafes, occupies a share of 36 percent of the total spending in POS, with SR16.55 billion. This sector rose by 4.72 percent, mainly due to increased expenditure of consumers in eating out establishments. Besides this hospitality sector, other sectors registered different growth. The clothing and footwear industry occupy an approximately SR3.63 billion or 6.2 percent share of the total spending, while both health and transportation services reached about 6 percent, with an estimated SR3.38 billion each.
The brightest spot for the month was jewellery, whose sales increased by 15 percent over SR982.15 million. Telecommunication sales were up sharply at 14 percent, to SR493.5 million, and accounted for only 1 percent of POS spending over the period. Miscellaneous goods and services, including personal care and cleaning materials, rose by 12 percent to reach SR6.56 billion in August.
The majority of these factors are driven by various influences like the deepening economic transformation and digitalization of the Kingdom-pathways to increased spending at the point of sale, especially in the hospitality sector. Consumer preference for cashless consumption opportunities to their businesses is utilizing high-level point-of-sale systems toward greater operational efficiency besides experiencing better customer experiences. The hospitality sector can particularly immensely capitalize on such changes, influenced by a booming tourism sector besides proactive efforts from the government toward making the economy less dependent on oil.
In this fast-paced environment, TRAY, as a pioneer of cloud-native POS systems, has taken its partnership a step further with the leading financial and digital solutions provider in Saudi Arabia, Alraedah Finance. The collaboration is expected to further drive innovation in POS technology along with comprehensive support given to enterprise customers. With Alraedah’s mastery of data analytics and system integration, the resulting joint venture will be able to bring new POS solutions to SMEs as well as large corporations within the MENA region.
Public utilities spending contracted by 35 per cent year-on-year to SR324.7m. For the first eight months of 2024, spending in this sector contracted by 23 per cent compared with the same period last year, largely on account of privatization efforts in the utility sector of the Gulf. The participation of the private sector would have led to enhanced inroads made in water desalination and power generation. More efficient technologies lead to cost reduction and sustainability.
In August, Riyadh rose to the top of POS sales distribution, accounting for 34 percent of total sales, ahead of Jeddah at 14 percent. The capital’s thriving hospitality sector, along with tourism growth and the population’s willingness to embrace cashless transactions, makes Riyadh a crucial part of the evolving digital economy of the Kingdom.
