Al Futtaim’s Cairo Festival City Mall has joined forces with Egypt’s first buy-now-pay-later platform Sympl to introduce flexible and attractive interest-free, delayed payment methods.
The tie-up will benefit customers who want to postpone paying without interest charges when shopping at affiliated merchants at the mall.
The partnership is in line with Al Futtaim Group’s strategy to capitalise on consumers’ preferences for digital shopping experiences, while enhancing its e-commerce features.
“Cairo Festival City Mall is one of the country’s largest and most successful malls, and we are thrilled to offer our services to CFC Mall consumers and be a part of their success, ” said Mohamed El-Feky, co-founder and CEO of Sympl.
“We are proud that Sympl is the first platform of its kind to empower sellers to sell their products and services directly to bank card holders on short-term, interest free payment plans that are the best fit with customer preferences. Besides, Sympl targets more than 26 million bank card holders in Egypt,” he said.
Sympl platform currently targets more than 26 million bank card holders in Egypt. It encompasses more than 350 merchants in the country.
Other Al Futtaim malls in Sympl’s portfolio comprise Dubai Festival City and Festival Plaza in the UAE and Doha Festival City in Qatar.
Al Futtaim Group has been steadily augmenting its digital transformation initiatives.
In 2020, it partnered with UAE-based BPNL start-up Tabby.
“We are eager to provide shoppers with Sympl’s seamless buying experience, as well as its instant and flexible payment plans, “ said Robert Hall, general manager at Al Futtaim Malls.
“We believe this collaboration will enhance customer satisfaction, and provide an exceptional and unique payment model when shopping at Cairo Festival City Mall.
“For more than nine years in the Egyptian market, Cairo Festival City Mall has succeeded in creating an integrated and innovative shopping experience. Throughout our journey, we have been always keen to establish successful specialized partnerships that ensure access to consumer friendly, secured and agile payments programs to shop at a wider range of brands at our properties,” Mr Hall said.
Established by Al Futtaim Group – Real Estate in 2013, Cairo Festival City Mall spans three million square metres and offers indoor and outdoor shopping, restaurants and entertainment.
The mall houses more than 300 shops, including a Carrefour hypermarket and 95 restaurants.
By 2023, the mall plans to add 80 more shops and 17 more restaurants to its portfolio.
Middle East Economic Digest, market researcher for the region, projected Egypt’s retail market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of five per cent, from its $200 billion value in 2020 to $254 billion in 2025.
