Bank and shop? Try Emirates NBD's newest e-commerce platform, SkyShopper

Dubai - Customers will be able to consolidate all items under one shopping cart before paying with Emirates NBD cards

Emirates NBD on Thursday announced the launch of SkyShopper, the region's first e-commerce platform from a bank.
The new region-first initiative comes in the wake of the bank's successful launch of the region's first digital banking platform for millennials and blockchain technology.
The lender's latest offering, SkyShopper, which has been designed for customers, will enable credit and debit card customers of Dubai's largest bank to shop and pay for purchases ranging from flights, hotels, electronics and fashion items to entertainment, groceries, as well as international shopping, all from the same portal and using one consolidated check-out.
"The launch of SkyShopper is to enrich the shopping experience and provide added value to Emirates NBD customers who are increasingly making online purchases" said Suvo Sarkar, senior executive vice-president and group head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD.
The bank said it has partnered with prominent retailers and e-tailers to offer its customers a wide variety of products and services along with a seamless and safe shopping experience. SkyShopper's current partners include travel booking sites Cleartrip and Musafir, fashion and lifestyle portal Namshi and electronics stores such as Axiom, Jumbo and Sharaf DG. Customers will also be able to book tickets to shows on Platinumlist while also ordering daily groceries through Trolley.ae.
In addition, customers will also be able to shop on international online stores with delivery to the UAE consolidated and routed through a US shipping address (MyUS.com) and at My Smart Price (MSP) India with delivery anywhere in India. New partnerships in the pipeline include Booking.com, The Luxury Closet, 6thStreet.com and Headout. "Despite its rapid growth, the UAE's e-commerce sector continues to be based largely on cash on delivery. SkyShopper is uniquely positioned to change that by providing customers the security and convenience of purchasing everything from airline tickets to mobile phones and luxury items to groceries via Emirates NBD's trusted payment platform, in addition to exclusive deals and promotions," Sarkar added.
Customers will be able to consolidate all items under one shopping cart before proceeding to pay using their Emirates NBD credit or debit card. SkyShopper taps into the UAE's booming e-commerce market valued at over Dh20 billion annually and forecast to double by 2020.
According to a recent report by A.T. Kearney, the GCC region has the potential to become the world's fastest growing e-commerce market. In 2015, it contributed $5.3 billion or 0.4 per cent to GDP compared to an average of three per cent in parts of Europe, Asia and North America.
A.T. Kearney says the GCC e-commerce market could reach Dh74 billion by 2020 if several obstacles to growth were removed including: consumer trust and awareness, gaps in payment systems, distribution and logistical infrastructure, government policies, data security and fraud.
"We expect the growth of e-commerce in the GCC to transform the future of businesses, economics and lives across the region - but only with the right set of enablers in place," said Laurent Viviez, a partner at A.T. Kearney.
Liv., the UAE's first digital bank targeted at millennials, was launched in February as part of Emirates NBD's planned investment of Dh500 million towards digital innovation and multichannel transformation over the next three years.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com