Singapore consumers are ramping up spending on travel, entertainment and home purchases this September, according to the inaugural edition of ShopBack‘s Singapore Snapshot, a new monthly data report drawn from the platform’s own transaction data.
The report finds that the September school holidays coincide with a notable shift in consumer behaviour, with Travel & Leisure spending rising to 1.11 times its typical daily average, up from 0.98x in August. Digital spending also edged up to 1.07x, driven partly by a rise in VPN subscriptions as families spend more time online during the break.
Home and discretionary spending climb
Home emerged as the strongest in-store discretionary category in September at 1.06x, outperforming both beauty and fashion, while online discretionary retail also rose to 1.06x from 1.01x in August. ShopBack attributes this to households spending more time together and beginning to plan for the year-end festive period.
The rise in VPN spending is a notable strand within the digital category. ShopBack noted that families are turning to VPNs both for privacy while browsing at home and for securing connections on public Wi-Fi while travelling, suggesting the tool is shifting from a niche utility to an everyday one.
Singapore leads APAC in early travel planning
The data also points to September as the start of a sustained year-end travel booking season rather than a short-lived spike. ShopBack found that Singapore users typically book hotels a median of 69 days before check-in, more than three times the lead time seen in markets such as Indonesia and South Korea, making Singapore APAC’s earliest travel planning market.
- Travel & Leisure spending averaged 1.11x in September, 1.18x in October and 1.24x in November across 2023 to 2025
- Digital spending rose to 1.07x, with VPN subscriptions a contributing factor
- Home category spending hit 1.06x, the strongest in-store discretionary category for the month
- Median hotel booking lead time in Singapore is 69 days before check-in
The Singapore Snapshot is based on ShopBack’s own transaction data across in-store payments made with ShopBack Pay and online purchases through the platform, averaged across 2023 to 2025 to identify seasonal spending patterns.
