Corporate spending higher this festive season

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Pvt Ltd, a B2B SaaS fintech company, a leading player in spend management with a differentiated value proposition and diversified user base. It has created a market niche in India by offering a combined solution for spend management through prepaid cards and employee management through software as a service (SaaS).

In an exclusive interview with BizzBuzz, Avinash Godkhindi, MD & CEO of Zaggle, reveals the current trends in the corporate spending patterns based on the insights derived from over 1,750 clients of Zaggle across corporates, SMEs and startups. He says that market has been ever growing since the pandemic. During the festive season, the corporates are largely spending on incentivisation.

What are the key trends observed with respect to how India Inc is spending this festive season?

As the economy starts opening up ahead of the festive season, Zaggle has witnessed a growth in demand for incentives, rewards, recognitionand festive gifting in terms of the Propel and Edge business. Channel incentivisation is witnessing prominence with 70 per cent market share.

Further employee incentivisation and rewards (8 per cent) and customer promotional activities (7 per cent) are in demand. Major spends are on digital platforms, key merchants & brands, gold & jewellery, utility and fuel.

What has the growth been like post pandemic, any demand trends for corporate spending?

Market has been ever growing since the pandemic. Post Covid, the demand has been strong. During the festive season, corporates are largely spending on incentivisation. At the end of the fiscal year usually both corporates and SMEs are spending on Zaggle's products SAVE and EMS solutions, which are beneficial for employees.

How is the festive season spending pattern different for large corporates Vs startups/ SMEs?

Large corporates having a company size of Rs 200 crore and above are majorly investing in channel incentivisation. On the other hand, SME's (Rs 100 crore and below) are spending low on this segment. For mid-sized corporates (Rs 100-200 crore), the focus is more on petty cash management and expense management products, as well as employee benefits like digitising tax savings.

Has consumer demand affected corporate spends, this festive season?

Consumer demands are majorly focussed on digital platforms fore-vouchers etc. Along with that tie-ups with significant merchants andbrands for example gold, jewellery and utility are also seeing anuptick. These insights are derived from the over 1,750 clients of Zaggle across corporates, SMEs, startups.

What is the scope of the spend management industry in India?

As per Coherent Market Insights, Global business spend management software market is expected to exhibit growth at the rate of 11.2 percent during the forecast period (2019–27). The addressable spendmanagement industry has a huge potential of nearly $1 trillion. We aim towards a growth trajectory of 50 per cent in revenue and aim to nearly double our profit.