OREANDA-NEWS. November 05, 2008. ZAO Citibank teams up with Russia's leading retail networks to launch www.SimpleShopping.ru - country's first Internet portal dedicated to discounts for Citibank cardholders, reported the press-centre of Citi.

Site visitors can search on-line catalogues to find special offers, discounts and promotions from a wide range of big-brand companies. Approximately 3,000 partner stores in 11 Russian cities are participating in this programme, alongside more than 30,000 partner stores around the world, which are engaged in the international discount programme World Privileges.

All the offers are conveniently brought together and grouped in more than 10 sections, such as Electronics, Household Goods, Clothes and Footwear, Restaurants, and others.

According to Citibank, more than 90% of customers in Russia respond positively to discounts, and even expect them. During short-term promotions conducted jointly by Citibank and high street brands spending via bank cards jumps by an average of 30%. Discount consumer preference research highlights five most popular sections: Clothes and Footwear, Cars, Restaurants, Household Goods and Electronics. For example, in the segment 'Clothes and Footwear', sales grew by 25%-40%, while the segment 'Household Goods' saw growth of 25%, and 'Electronics and White Goods' grew by 35% during respective promotional campaigns.

Mikhail Berner — Director of Credit Card Products and Business Development at Citibank, says: "The purpose of this project is to simplify shopping and enable our customers to take advantage of bargains. We plan to expand the range and number of permanent offers to 50-70 and launch 1-2 special promotions Russia-wide."

ZAO Citibank was one of the first, in 2003, to begin developing partnership programmes with retail networks, stores and service companies, with the goal of providing clients with discounts and special offers. Currently, according to data from MasterCard, Citibank-with more than 400,000 credit cards issued-is the market leader for the volume of retail transactions using credit cards in Russia.