With over 1 million purchases, record year for Carlo in 2023

Launched in 2019, the Carlo app now has 65,000 users.

“We wanted to give consumers real benefits, and we’ve succeeded in doing just that.” These words from Carlo’s creator, Antoine Bahri, sum up a record-breaking year for the payment app designed exclusively for the Principality. “We now have 629 partner businesses in Monaco, that’s a healthy majority of them!” At the heart of the Carlo scheme is the 5% cashback for every transaction made in these shops.

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150% more purchases in 2023

Between January and December 2023, Carlo users made some 1,200,000 purchases, an increase of 150% on 2022. According to Antoine Bahri, there are several reasons for this significant increase. “It’s thanks to the retailers who are getting involved, but also thanks to the Carlo community, who are taking advantage of some very attractive offers.” He says: “With the accumulated cashback, they prefer to shop here in Monaco. The more time goes by, the more they buy with Carlo.”

The figures bear this out. In 2022, users made an average of 4 to 5 transactions a month with Carlo, compared with 6 to 7 today. It’s also worth noting that the average shopping basket in Monaco totals around €80.

3.7M euros ready to be spent

Since its launch in 2019, Carlo has been giving its users cashback on every purchase in a partner store. “If we take into account all the cashback paid out, 98% has been re-spent,” says Antoine Bahri. At present, Carlo wallets total €3.7 million, ready to be spent.

And where do app users make all these purchases? “Among the retail categories, the first is restaurants, followed by off-the-peg fashion, health and beauty, and then electronics.” In 2023, on average, an active user spent €2,650 via Carlo.

What are the plans for 2024?

Before talking about what’s next for Carlo, Antoine Bahri wanted to look back at the success of the projects carried out in 2023. One in particular has been embraced by local users: payments between friends. Introduced at the end of 2022, this feature allows users to gift money to others via Carlo sales, to be spent in Monaco. “It’s practical for families, for example, because it means you can share your cashback,” he says, referring to “a success story with more than 6,000 payments made between friends.”

In 2024, users would like to see an option to stagger payments. In practical terms, this would enable users to pay for their purchases in several instalments in Monegasque shops. “It’s still under development, but it’s a feature that a lot of people are asking for,” says Antoine Bahri. Also in the pipeline is the launch of Carlo in a third city after Aix-en-Provence, where the application has been available since the end of 2022.