Alipay, the world’s largest online and mobile payment platform, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, has today revealed that The Dubai Mall accounted for 84% of its transactions in the United Arab Emirates during Chinese national holiday Golden Week (1^st – 7^th October).

The Golden Week holiday is a hugely popular time for Chinese nationals to travel abroad, with Alipay, and the Middle-East and UAE are growing in popularity as destinations among them. According to the data, the average Alipay user spent 3,414 Chinese yuan (equivalent 1,809 Dirhams or 493 US Dollars) at The Dubai Mall during Golden Week. The Dubai Mall has been a world champion of digital payment growth according to data from Alipay, with the increase in Alipay transactions at the mall 200 times greater than a year earlier. The Dubai Mall also has the most comprehensive Alipay coverage of merchants among the commercial areas of Europe and the Middle East.

In the run-up to Golden Week, Alipay partnered with The Dubai Mall to provide users of its mobile wallet with exclusive discounts at key merchants via their app, as well as $1 dollar meals at partner restaurants and a promotional teddy bear. The campaign, which started on 1^st September and runs until 20^th October, has also seen Alipay set up two stands within The Dubai Mall, to provide Chinese visitors with information on where to access these deals and how to make the most of their mobile wallets.

The Golden Week partnership signifies the growing popularity of both The UAE and Dubai Mall as destinations for Chinese travelers. Over 400,000 Chinese visited Dubai in the first five months of 2018*, and the Emirate was Alipay’s first entry point in the Middle-East. Last year a total of 700,000 Chinese tourists visited Dubai Mall – a 20% increase on the year before. In addition to this, around 200,000 Chinese nationals live and work in Dubai, many of whom use Alipay and visit the mall regularly. Chinese visitors are a growing and valuable customer demographic for Dubai Mall and its merchants. Ninety percent of Chinese visitors to the mall have an Alipay mobile wallet on their smartphone – highlighting the scale of the opportunity.

Chinese visitors to The Dubai Mall can use the Alipay mobile wallet app to make purchases at at more than 400 stores including Galeries Lafayette and Tiffany & Co. The merchants include all luxury brands at The Dubai Mall, such as Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Patek Philippe, Gap, Coach, and Bloomingdale’s. In addition, visitors can use their mobile wallets at a number of The Dubai Mall’s other attractions, including Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and At the Top, Burj Khalifa.

The Alipay mobile wallet is the perfect shopping companion for Chinese visitors to Dubai Mall, going beyond simply facilitating payments. Geo-location technology and push notifications allow guests to find their favourite stores, discover tailored promotions and seek assistance with purchase decisions. For example, during Golden Week over 3 million Alipay E-coupons were used by overseas travelers around the world to secure discounts for shopping, dining and taxi rides. Alipay users with higher level of Ant Membership can also receive preferential foreign exchange rates.

With a total internal floor area of 5.9 million sq ft, The Dubai Mall has 3.77 million sq ft of gross leasable space and over 1,300 retail outlets including over 200 global food and beverage outlets. The Dubai Mall offers an unparalleled retail mix combined with world-class dining, entertainment and leisure attractions. The Dubai Mall, the world’s most visited shopping and entertainment destination, is part of Downtown Dubai, Emaar Properties’ flagship mega-development.

Globally, Alipay processed 2.2 times as many overseas in-store transactions during this year’s Golden Week holiday compared to last year. There were twice as many women as men who used Alipay overseas during Golden Week, and Those born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s accounted for 96% of all those who used Alipay overseas .

As part of the holiday season, Alipay launched a lucky draw campaign this year with over 3.1 million participants, which received over 230 million views on social media for Alipay and its merchant partners. On October 7th, a 26-year-old woman from Beijing was announced as the winner. She received prizes provided by over 200 merchants across 15 countries and regions globally.

Li Wang, Director of Alipay EMEA, commented: “Dubai Mall is one of the world’s premier retail and entertainment destinations, and is very popular among the growing number of Chinese nationals choosing to holiday in the Middle East and UAE. Retail is a very important attraction for Chinese tourists, and it is no surprise that there was a huge increase in the number of Alipay transactions at the The Dubai Mall during Golden Week, which is one of China’s most important national holidays.”

“The strategic partnership between Alipay and The Dubai Mall has changed the landscape of digital payments in UAE. Retailers are keen to partner with Alipay, having witnessed how it can improve transform their marketing and customer engagement. By harnessing Chinese spending power, Alipay and The Dubai Mall were able to grow some merchants’ businesses by as much as 50% across Golden Week – and we aspire to achieve something even greater.”