American Express Global Business & Spending Outlook Spending and Investment in 2017

by Shrutee K/DNS

New Delhi : Driven by positive economic sentiment, more than half (77%) of senior finance executives of Indian companies surveyed expect moderate to substantial economic expansion in 2017, according to the Global Business & Spending Outlook survey released today. The Survey, commissioned by American Express and conducted by Institutional Investor Custom Research Lab, states that Indian companies are expected to increase their spending and investment in the market place with 67% of Indian companies looking at focusing on spending and investment to support top-line growth while improving profitability this year. 

The survey further revealed that about 37% Indian finance executives expect their company’s level of spending and investment to increase by over 10% as compared to only 24% global executives, pointing towards Indian executives’ better preparedness at increasing their spending and investment as compared to their global counterparts.

Sharing her views, Saru Kaushal, Vice President and General Manager, Global Corporate Payments, American Express said, “Indian companies are expected to increase their spending and investment this year which is backed by positive economic sentiment. With focus on optimizing resources and efficiently managing spends across categories, India Inc. is headed towards a conducive growth chart.”

Ms. Kaushal further added, “It is our constant endeavor to facilitate finance executives around the world with business expenditure management and empower them with innovative tools for resource optimization hence positively impacting profitability.” 

IT-spending priority for the year

Indian executives are twice as likely to cite hardware and infrastructure as their top IT priority, compared with their global counterparts. According to 30% of executives from India, compared to 13% global and 14% executives in Asia and Australia, hardware and infrastructure will be top most priority for companies. This clearly indicates that companies are realizing the need and importance of digitization and therefore making a conscious effort in this direction. Another 10% of Indian executives want to concentrate on business intelligence and data analysis capabilities.

Exports to become much more important for the growth of companies

According to nearly half (47%) of the Indian executives surveyed, exports are expected to become important for their company’s growth in 2017. With the consistent growth of business in the domestic market, companies want to gradually secure their business in the foreign market as well and invest more in exports.  

India Inc. to focus on enhancing customer service

The survey revealed that according to 67% financial executives from India, pressure on their company to compete on the quality of its customer service has increased substantially. India leads when compared to the responses gathered from global (50%) and Asia and Australia (44%) markets for the same parameter. Clearly, Indian companies are concentrating on enhancing customer services. According to 40% executives from India, in comparison to 18% globally and 22% in Asia and Australia, dedicated relationship management is companies’ most valued attribution for its vendors and suppliers. 

Companies to focus on ways to manage cash and working capital effectively

A significant 60% of Indian executives feel that improving cash and working capital management (including payables, receivables, and inventories) will be more important for their company this year, compared to last year. Globally and in Asia and Australia, only 38% each say the same. The survey highlights that 61% of Indian respondents, in comparison with 46% global and 43% executives in Asia and Australia will make greater use of non-secured short-term financing (eg: overdraft, credit card) to manage their cash and working capital more effectively.

About American Express: American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com/in and connect with us on facebook.com/AmericanexpressIndia,linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/AmexIndia Key links to products, services and corporate responsibility information: charge and credit cards, travel services, merchant services, corporate card, insurance, and corporate responsibility.

About the Global Business & Spending Outlook survey

The 2017 Global Business & Spending Outlook was conducted by Institutional Investor Thought Leadership Studio (IITLS) and is based on a survey of 650 senior finance executives from companies around the world with annual revenues of $500 million or more. All survey responses were gathered after the 2016 U.S. election, in late November and early December 2016. IITLS estimates the margin of error for this population to be approximately +/-3.8% at a 95% level of confidence.