Earlier Spike in Travel Expenses Due to GE14
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ShopBack, the leading online Cashback platform that partners majority of transportation and accommodation booking sites in Malaysia, observes a 26% increase in travel purchases among its local users since the unveiling of the 14th General Election’s voting day (May 9th).
“The next peak period for travel booking after March’s MATTA fair is supposed to be two weeks to a month prior to Hari Raya, but the purchasing trend came sooner this year as GE14 falls before Ramadhan,” says Alvin Gill, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia.
According to ShopBack Malaysia’s data, partners that offered a discount in flight and bus tickets, as well as reloadable petrol card, are the most sought-after stores under travel category on ShopBack’s web and app.
“The daily average sales of our travel merchants has got a 26% increment since the voting day announcement. The demand remained strong in the past weeks, and we reckon part of the contributing factors was that AirAsia introduced fixed fares for all voters. ShopBack Malaysia’s users could purchase AirAsia’s tickets via Traveloka and Expedia; at the same time obtain cashback savings from every transaction made. In addition, bus tickets, Petronas gift cards from Lazada and 11street were also among the best-selling products in April,” Alvin explained.
To cater for those who haven’t got transportation bookings sorted out yet, ShopBack Malaysia will organise a Mid-Year Travel Fair from April 30th to May 6thand offer up to 7.5% cashback together with its travel partners including Malaysia Airlines, Traveloka, Expedia, BusOnlineTicket, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc. Malaysians could seize the chance and optimise their spending by visiting ShopBack’s website or download its mobile app.
Malaysia is the No.1 Travel Destination for Locals, Not Overseas
““The daily average sales of our travel merchants has got a 26% increment since the voting day announcement.”
On the other hand, ShopBack Malaysia’s data also shows Malaysians frequently visits domestic destinations, especially Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Johor Bahru. Japan is the second most popular country, followed by Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand.
“Malaysians love to travel, and they didn’t stop travelling due to the economy challenges. Instead of flying out, many of them chose to travel within Malaysia and spent on better accommodation, such as 4-star hotel i.e. KSL Hotel & Resort and Hatten Hotel Melaka. Even so, the daily average spending for domestic travel is still significantly lower than Japan and Taiwan (four times lower than Japan and about half of Taiwan’s expenses).”
Delving into customer purchasing pattern, he said if there’s no special occasion, travel transactions usually happens on Monday and Wednesday, between 3 pm – 6 pm. The year-end holiday season makes the heaviest travel months throughout the entire year, and Malaysians’ online travel spending also tends to spike before every festive period, and during MATTA Fair.
“Although MATTA fair is an offline event, online booking sites such as Malaysia Airlines, Traveloka, Expedia will jump on the bandwagon and as the platform that empowers shoppers to shop and save smart, ShopBack Malaysia works closely with them to tailor-make best deals and upsized cashback for our users. It is a win-win situation as the result usually is very encouraging – for example, we noticed local airlines achieved 2.5 times more bookings during the past MATTA fair,” Alvin said.
To date, ShopBack has more than 1 million users in Malaysia and it has rewarded them with more than RM25 million worth of cashback. What’s better is users are able to stack this on top of their credit card’s cashback, and transfer the money to their bank account once it gets validated. Other than Malaysia, ShopBack is also available in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Questions & Answers
Q.How much has ShopBack Malaysia rewarded its users with in total cashback?
How much has ShopBack Malaysia rewarded its users with in total cashback?
ShopBack Malaysia has rewarded its users with over RM25 million worth of cashback to date. This cashback can be stacked with credit card cashback and transferred to a bank account.
Q.Does ShopBack operate only in Malaysia, or in other countries too?
Does ShopBack operate only in Malaysia, or in other countries too?
Besides Malaysia, ShopBack also operates in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. This indicates a broader regional presence for the cashback platform.
Q.Which online booking sites typically see increased activity during the offline MATTA fair?
Which online booking sites typically see increased activity during the offline MATTA fair?
Online booking sites such as Malaysia Airlines, Traveloka, and Expedia typically experience increased bookings during the MATTA fair, even though it is an offline event. Local airlines saw 2.5 times more bookings during the last fair.
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