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 Noon Payments confirmed that the back-to-school season in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt is witnessing a remarkable shift in consumer behavior, as families increasingly rely on mobile phones, digital wallets, and "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) options to purchase school supplies.

The company explained that back-to-school shopping is no longer limited to a single store visit to buy uniforms and stationery. Instead, it has evolved into a multi-week season where families search, compare, and purchase via smartphones, leaning toward consolidating a larger number of products into a single order.

The variance in average order values across the three markets reflects differing levels of price sensitivity and household spending patterns. The UAE recorded higher average spends compared to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, making the provision of diverse and flexible payment options a critical factor for merchants during this peak demand period.

The Transition to Mobile and Digital Wallets

Relying on card-centric payment systems and checkout experiences designed primarily for desktop computers is no longer adequate, especially as a growing segment of product discovery and purchasing shifts to mobile devices.

Noon Payments noted that digital wallets have transitioned from an alternative payment method to a primary choice for an expanding base of shoppers. This is driven by the proliferation of services like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay, which enable rapid transaction completion without the need to enter card details repeatedly.

In Saudi Arabia, electronic payments accounted for approximately 85% of total retail payments in 2025, up from 79% the previous year, highlighting a rapidly growing reliance on digital payment methods over cash.

To cater to this trend, Noon Payments enables merchants in Saudi Arabia to offer Apple Pay directly linked to mada cards at checkout, alongside standard Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay for credit cards. Customers can finalize payments using Face ID or Touch ID in under three seconds, bypassing the need for manual card entry, lengthy forms, or waiting for a One-Time Password (OTP).

The speed and seamlessness of the payment process have become decisive factors in completing purchases, particularly as consumers increasingly place bulk orders covering multiple children or product categories in a single transaction.

Key Back-to-School E-Commerce Metrics

Metric / TrendDetails

Mobile Shopping (UAE)Smartphone purchases for back-to-school rose from 39% in 2023 to 47% in 2025.

KSA Digital PaymentsReached 85% of total retail payments in 2025.

BNPL Adoption DriversHigher cart values, multi-child household needs, and diverse product categories (electronics, apparel, stationery).

Market BehaviorsUAE: Strong in fashion/electronics. KSA: Rapid user growth aided by regulations. Egypt: Growing alongside digital wallet adoption.

47% of UAE Back-to-School Purchases Made via Mobile

Highlighting the mobile-first shift, Noon Payments revealed that 47% of back-to-school purchases in the UAE are now conducted via smartphones, reflecting families' heavy reliance on apps and social media platforms for shopping.

This transformation dictates that merchants must provide fast, mobile-optimized checkout pages with minimal input fields, particularly to capture on-the-go or impulse purchases.

Furthermore, Noon Payments allows merchants to generate secure payment links that can be shared via email, SMS, or WhatsApp. This facilitates frictionless checkout for conversational commerce, supported by software development kits (SDKs) to seamlessly embed payments within iOS and Android merchant applications.

Installments Boost Purchasing Power

"Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) services have become intrinsically linked to the back-to-school season. As families face high-value shopping carts encompassing clothing, shoes, electronics, and supplies for multiple children, BNPL provides crucial financial flexibility.

The GCC boasts some of the highest BNPL penetration rates globally. Industry data suggests that offering checkout installment plans significantly boosts average order values by distributing the financial burden over several payments. Noon Payments allows merchants to integrate multiple BNPL providers through a single gateway, sparing them the complexity of individual technical integrations.

Ultimately, Noon Payments emphasized that blending digital wallets, installment plans, and a mobile-optimized checkout is now mandatory for merchants looking to capture the surging back-to-school demand across the UAE, KSA, and Egypt.

The company advises merchants to actively promote digital wallets, prominently display BNPL options for high-ticket items, utilize payment links for direct-chat sales, and rigorously monitor payment acceptance rates during peak traffic to minimize cart abandonment. All these capabilities are delivered through a single, PCI DSS-compliant integration by Noon Payments.