Tribal’s survey also found that travel and electronics rank second and third in corporate spending.
A survey carried out by Tribal revealed that digital advertising was the highest common spend in transactions carried out with corporate cards of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in Latin America, between the first half of 2021 and the end of the first half of 2022.
According to the survey that analyzed 2,500 companies in the region, spending was also in first place across Latin America, with a difference of 10% in relation to the second highest value item, which was technology.
According to Tribal, 9 of the 10 companies where companies buy the most are related to online transactions.
In the ecosystem of companies in the initial or growth stages, digital platforms are fundamental pieces for expanding the business and in the search for new customers. In social media, investment in digital ads has become indispensable for corporate pages and, only in Brazil, the amount transacted with this objective has doubled compared to the first and second quarters of 2022, according to research data.
“It is important to take into account that SMEs continue to adapt to new times with the revolution in technologies and many are accelerating their digitization processes. Companies are using their capital resources and corporate credit to make payments, primarily through e-commerce, directly related to increased business growth,” said Ricardo Pedraza, Business Development Director for Latin America at Tribal.
Still within the Brazilian market, in second place are corporate travel expenses and the costs involved, such as transport, agencies and accommodation. According to data from Abracorp (Brazilian Association of Corporate Travel Agencies), it is already possible to notice the recovery of the sector, which earned R$ 869 million in March this year, a value only 2% lower than in 2019.
With the return of business travel, the survey showed that this is the fastest growing category in Brazil and ranks second in terms of corporate spending growth in Latin America.
Third are expenses for electronics such as software, hardware, and other programming devices. Remote work required the adoption of a series of technologies to adapt to new work models and, consequently, new expenditures in the area of information technology.
In the overall ranking of Latin America, corporate spending using Tribal cards was classified as follows: digital advertising, electronic products, corporate services, general purchases (retail), and lastly, travel.
