The overall spend on flowers in the UAE has increased by 146 percent compared to 2015, with the number of transactions growing by 158 percent, according to the Mastercard Love Index 2018, which analysed credit, debit and prepaid transactions across the past three Valentine’s Day periods from 11-14 February in 2015 to 2017.
“The increase in e-commerce transactions around Valentine’s Day points in the direction of a growing online shopping culture in the country, supported by the fast adoption of mobile payment solutions such as Masterpass, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay,” said Girish Nanda, general manager, UAE & Oman, Mastercard.
The share of spend on restaurants remained stable over the past three years, taking a 9 percent share of spend and a 44 percent share of transactions in 2017.
In addition, data from the study suggested 28 percent of UAE residents no longer wait until the last minute to buy gifts for the occasion, and made purchases on February 11 instead.
However, 28 percent also made purchases on Valentine’s Day itself.
Spend on flowers also increased by 96 percent since 2015, with the number of transactions increasing by 71 percent.