Amex survey: Global B2B spending set to surge as recovery optimism rises

A

merican Express has announced the results of its inaugural Global Business Spend Indicator (GBSI), which highlighted bullish sentiment among global businesses, with 70% companies surveyed sharing an optimistic outlook for the next 12 months.

The survey also found that overall, since the beginning of the year, companies reported growth in all core categories of business-to-business (B2B) spending, and anticipate further rises in 2021.

Tony Tsai, VP and general manager – global commercial services, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and foreign currency solutions, Asia-Pacific at American Express, said: “While the Covid-19 pandemic has indeed posed challenges, overall optimism and rising B2B spending should give Hong Kong companies the confidence that the recovery is well under way.”

The GBSI, conducted by the Centre for Business and Economic Research, is designed to explore the importance of business spending in both the global and local economies.

This is based on a survey of more than 3,600 businesses of all sizes and in various industries in the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the US. B2B spending is classified as goods and services that a business purchases from another business to keep operations running.

The survey looked at nine B2B spending categories, and three additional categories of taxes, people/workforce, and travel, entertainment and expenses, to analyse the dynamics and impact of overall business spending.

The GBSI found that the technology spending category showed strong global growth, with 37% of businesses in six countries surveyed increasing their technology spend in the past year.

On average, businesses increased investment in technology such as automation and e-commerce by more than 10% between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021.