Saudi POS sales climb 14% in six months

Riyadh – Point of sale (POS) terminals in Saudi Arabia signalled a 14% annual surge in the first half (H1) of 2020, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic activity and consumers’ spending, and was recovered to its highest-ever in June before the value-added tax (VAT) was tripled to 15% from 5% starting early July.

POS sales volume hiked by SAR 19.15 billion in H1-20 to SAR 155.9 billion from SAR 136.8 billion in H1-19, according to data collected by Mubasher based on official figures.

In June of this year, POS sales leapt 78.3% year-on-year (YoY) to record SAR 37.02 billion, crossing a December 2019 record high of SAR 27.93 billion.

During the second quarter, POS sales showed a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline of 3.3% at SAR 76.65 billion when compared to SAR 79.26 billion in Q1-20, attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. Annually, the value grew by 5.4%.

Over the January-June period, the number of transactions through POS advanced 51.9% yearly or 357.5 million, hitting 1.05 billion from 688.5 million in H1-19.

Food and beverages dominated SAR 30.33 billion on POS purchases through 316.15 million transactions. Restaurants and cafes held the second sport with SAR 14.09 billion via 251.91 million transactions.

Across the kingdom, Riyadh came in first place in terms of spending with SAR 47.84 billion through 313.93 million transactions, followed by Jeddah with SAR 23.81 billion via 139.33 million transactions.