Dubai: The influence of Chinese buyers is showing up in the UAE’s retail sector as well, with luxury retailer Al Tayer Insignia confirming that it will accept Alipay, China’s leading third-party mobile payment platform, at select outlets.
These include Harvey Nichols’ Dubai store, Bloomingdale’s Dubai fashion and home stores, and leather accessories label Coach.
In addition, Alipay transactions can also be deployed at Al Tayer Group’s food and beverage outlets across Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, including Almaz by Momo, Caffe Nero, Emporio Armani Caffe, Magnolia Bakery and More Cafe.
Al Tayer Insignia intends to roll out the payment system to its other stores across the UAE before summer. Many leading retail chains and other consumer-facing operations are already dealing in the Apple and Samsung payment versions.
“We will be the first UAE retailer to launch this payment solution in our stores,” said Khalid Al Tayer, CEO, Al Tayer Insignia. “China represents one of the fastest-growing tourism markets for Dubai, so with the addition of Alipay into our payment options, we know that our visitors from China will enjoy a greatly enhanced shopping experience and a smooth transaction at the point of sale.”
Alipay is the largest third-party payment platform in the world. It was created in 2004 to provide escrow payment services to online buyers and sellers in China and beyond.
It now has over 520 million active users in China and almost all Chinese tourists going overseas are Alipay users.
