India’s B2B spending grew by 9.4% in Q3 2021; may rise 10.3% in 2022: Report

Indian businesses reported three times faster growth in their spending than the expectations from its comparable peers from other nations. India’s total B2B spend grew by 9.4 per cent in Q3 2021 on a year-on-year basis and is forecast to grow by 10.3 per cent in 2022. Indian businesses reported an 8.8 per cent rise in overall spending in Q3 2021, according to the India Business Spend Indicator (IBSI) report, launched by American Express, India and Invest India in partnership with Centre for Business and Economic Research (CEBR).
 
“India saw the highest B2B spending growth compared to expectations of six other major economies. This year, the total B2B spend for India is expected to rise by 10.3 per cent compared to 2021,” SVP and CEO of American Express Banking Corporation, India Manoj Adlakha said.
 

Adlakha added, “This shows that the Indian economy is very much in its bounce-back phase from the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic crisis. The survey also reveals that some of the trends that have emerged or accelerated during the pandemic such as payments automation and new approaches to manage the supply chain are likely to stay.”
 
This report indicates that technology and automation are the key drivers for Indian businesses as 71 per cent business are expected to spend more on technology in Q4 2021 as compared to Q3 2021. This will help in improving productivity, remaining operational, enhancing quality of products/services and speed and effectiveness of making and receiving payments.
 

About 64 per cent businesses have benefitted from government initiatives like Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), RBI’s debt moratorium and export credit policy. Seventy-two per cent of eligible businesses, on the other hand, have benefitted from the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
 

Out of the companies surveyed, 38 per cent said that they automated their sales functions while 37 per cent automated their accounting processes. In a bit to prioritise convenience for users, 49 per cent respondents stated that using an integrated digital platform that provides insights across end-to-end payments helps their businesses.
 
Seventy-two per cent of businesses surveyed have made B2B payments using a debit card or credit card in Q3 2021. Of these, 47 per cent used cards for speed of online payments, 44 per cent for ease of use and 43 per cent used it for ability to track payments.  Companies also pointed out challenges like supply chain issues (81 per cent) and low level of trust for digital transactions (30 per cent).

(Correction: This story has been updated to say total B2B spend grew by 9.4 per cent in Q3 2021 instead of total B2B spend grew by 9.4 per cent in Q4 2021.)
 
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