consumer

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s consumer spending held steady at SR15.8 billion ($4.2 billion) in the week ending Sept. 5, even as education-related transactions pulled back following the previous week’s back-to-school surge, official data showed. 

The Kingdom’s point-of-sale transactions edged up 0.2 percent from the previous week, while the number of transactions rose 4.8 percent to 267.75 million, according to figures from the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA.

The largely flat overall spending masked a sharp correction in education-related transactions, which fell 31 percent week on week to SR755.97 million, after climbing well above SR1 billion as the new academic year got underway. 

Talking to Arab News, economist Talat Hafiz said the pattern suggests that Saudi consumer demand is becoming broader, more normalized, and more resilient, rather than being driven mainly by seasonal spikes such as back-to-school spending. 

“The rise in transactions even as education spending normalizes indicates that households are continuing to spend across a wider range of goods and services,” he added.  

“Overall, this points to solid underlying household spending capacity heading into the last quarter of the year, particularly as inflation remains contained and employment and income conditions continue to support consumption,” said Hafiz. 

Sectoral spending 

According to SAMA, spending on food and beverages amounted to SR2.69 billion, representing a weekly increase of 3.9 percent. 

Transactions in restaurants and cafes stood at SR1.81 billion, up 1.9 percent, while spending on apparel, clothing and accessories totaled SR1.28 billion, down 9.6 percent. 

The transportation sector witnessed POS transactions worth SR1.15 billion, followed by spending at gas stations at SR1.1 billion. 

Across healthcare, the value of transactions stood at SR964.71 million, up 7.9 percent, while spending on professional businesses and services amounted to SR906.1 million, up 3.8 percent. 

Jewelry stood out as the week’s biggest gainer, with transactions surging 25.4 percent week on week to SR345.61 million, while books and stationery reversed course, falling 8.6 percent to SR182.49 million after the previous week’s back-to-school jump. 

Geographic breakdown 

Riyadh dominated POS transactions, with spending in the capital reaching SR5.53 billion, marking a 0.6 percent increase compared with the previous week, as the number of transactions climbed 5.6 percent to 88.2 million. 

Jeddah witnessed transactions amounting to SR2.14 billion, up 1.4 percent, while the total number of transactions stood at 29.68 million. 

In Dammam, consumer spending totaled SR762.42 million, roughly flat from the week before, followed by Makkah at SR614.20 million, down 1.9 percent, and Madinah at SR592.46 million, down 4.1 percent. 

Alkhobar recorded SR427.12 million in transactions, down 2.3 percent, while spending in Buraidah rose 2.9 percent to SR403.31 million.

Abha posted the sharpest citywide decline at 7.5 percent, with transactions falling to SR199.18 million. 

Walmart sales are slumping as US consumer spending pulls back, with the economic impact of tariffs and the United States’ tensions with Iran weighing on consumers, the big-box retailer’s most recent earnings report shows.

US same-store sales rose 2.6 percent in the second quarter, according to the company’s earnings released on Thursday, falling short of the 3.8 percent forecast by analysts at LSEG. That marked the slowest quarterly increase in six years.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said heightened petrol prices are to blame for the slowdown in spending.

“When fuel prices increase and get above $4, perhaps there’s a psychological impact to that … consumers are making trade-offs,” CFO John David Rainey said on a call with analysts on Thursday.

Prices are continuing to jump. The average price for a gallon (3.78 litres) of petrol rose to $4.10 on Thursday, up from $4.07 a week ago, according to the American Automobile Association, which tracks daily petrol prices. By comparison, the average price was $2.98 when the US and Israel first struck Iran.

The big-box retailer also said it expected $2bn in incremental fuel-related costs above its original guidance.

Sales dropped in Walmart’s US pharmacy business and also dipped elsewhere. Overall, quarterly revenue rose 3.4 percent, the slowest pace since the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

Consumers are spending more in the checkout line — 1.1 percent higher than the previous quarter — but it is still well below the 3.1 percent jump this time last year.

That comes as consumer inflation ticked up last month by 0.1 percent from the month prior and 3.4 percent from this time last year, according to the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The price of fresh fruit jumped 2.2 percent from a month ago, butter by 0.8 percent, and fresh fish by 1 percent, according to the BLS report.

This as overall retail sales dipped in July, dropping 0.6 percent, marking the biggest decrease since May 2025, according to the US Commerce Department data released last week.

Walmart also announced price cuts on Wednesday on 11,000 items, to be fuelled in part by the $2.9bn in tariff refunds it has received – a one-time boon – and a strategy also being deployed by rivals including Target.

Walmart said, however, that price changes took effect in July, so the effects might be more apparent in the company’s next earnings report.

“You don’t necessarily expect to have that offsetting benefit to the lower prices in the immediate period,” Rainey said.

However, fewer consumers are venturing into brick-and-mortar stores, with foot traffic increasing by 1.5 percent for the quarter, a drop from 3 percent in the previous quarter. However, Walmart’s e-commerce sales are on the upswing, with sales jumping 24 percent in the US.

As a result, Walmart upgraded its forecast for net sales growth, from 3.5–4.5 percent to 4–5 percent.

But that is limited because in-store sales are still the company’s premier offering.

“The bread and butter of the company is still in-store and in-person shopping,” Melius Research analyst Jacob Aiken-Phillips told the Reuters News Agency.

Mixed big-box earnings

Other big-box retailers also reported earnings in the last couple of days, with a pullback in consumer spending being an undertone. TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, reported sales growth of 1 percent for the quarter, a slowdown from 6 percent the quarter before.

“Our fear is that it relates to lower ticket [less purchases per shopping trip] given wider signs of consumer weakness and price increases over the last year-and-a-half,” William Blair analyst Dylan Carden told Reuters.

That comes alongside earnings from Target, one of Walmart’s closest competitors. On Wednesday, the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based big-box retailer reported net sales jumping 5.3 percent for the quarter compared to this time last year, at $26.5bn.

That was driven by a 3.6 percent rise in in-store traffic. The company has also cut prices over the last year on more than 10,000 items and received a $1bn tariff refund.

On Wall Street, Walmart is taking a hit on the heels of its earnings report, with shares down by 9.6 percent since the market opened. Other big-box retailers are lower, but not showing nearly as stark a drop. TJX stock was down 1.7 percent, and Target was down by 0.1 percent.