SpendSmart™ Report


HALF YEAR 2020 | JANUARY 1, 2020 - JULY 31, 2020

The Certify SpendSmart™ Report analyzes the most recent business expense and vendor ratings data from Certify users. The findings offer valuable insights into key spending trends for financial professionals and suppliers to the T&E market.

H1 T&E BUDGET SPEND

Miscellaneous spending overtook Ride Hailing as the most expensed category with 16.5% of all transactions. Supplies also increased by 82% compared to H1 2019-reinforcing the value in reviewing and analyzing company spend annually.

T&E Category Benchmark Averages in H1 20201
% of receipts by category
Miscellaneous 16.5%
Meals 15.8%
Ride Hailing 13.3%
Fuel 12.0%
Airfare 11.0%
Hotel 9.0%
Supplies 8.7%
Cell Phone 5.3%
Car Rental 3.2%
Shipping 2.5%
Grocery 1.8%
Tolls 0.5%
Parking 0.4%
AVERAGE TRANSACTION BY EXPENSE CATEGORY

Eight out of thirteen categories saw an increase in average cost compared with H1 2019. The Miscellaneous category saw the largest increase at $31.85, while the Airfare and Supplies decreased.


Category H1 2020 Average Expense Change from H1 2019
Miscellaneous $135.93 +$31.85
Meals $45.35 +$7.18
Ride Hailing $27.12 -$1.31
Fuel $38.02 -$1.21
Airfare $290.10 -$17.40
Hotel $271.40 +$5.31
Supplies $94.11 -$30.01
Cell Phone $98.88 +$1.61
Car Rental $208.36 +$12.60
Shipping $165.94 +$18.05
Grocery $60.89 -$15.48
Tolls $41.97 +$2.54
Parking $41.26 +$4.18

MOST EXPENSED VENDORS OVERALL

Walmart jumped up the list from the ninth most expensed vendor in H1 2019 to fourth place, bumping Delta off the top-five. Ride hailing giant, Uber, maintains its number one spot with 10.3% of all transactions despite a significant decline.

Vendor H1 2020
Expense Percentage		 H1 2019
Expense Percentage		 H1 2018
Expense Percentage
Uber 10.3% 12.5% 10.6%
Amazon 7.8% 3.8% 3.9%
Starbucks 3.4% 3.9% 4.0%
Walmart 3.4% 2.6% 2.6%
Lyft 3.2% 3.7% 2.4
American Airlines 2.9% 3.4% 3.6%
Delta Airlines 2.8% 3.5% 3.6%
The Home Depot 2.8% * *
Shell 2.4% 2.4% 2.5%
United Airlines 2.3% 2.7% 2.7%
* Vendor did not reach threshold for most expensed vendors overall.

MOST EXPENSED Brands By Category

The most expensed brands by category remain unchanged from our 2019 Year in Review Report except for the airfare category. American Airlines overtook Delta as the most expensed airline in H1 2020.

Meals STARBUCKS 22.9%
Hotel MARRIOTT 16.7%
Car Rental NATIONAL CAR RENTAL 28.9%
Ride Hailing UBER 71.9%
Airfare AMERICAN AIRLINES 24.5%
THE BRANDS BUSINESS TRAVELERS LOVE MOST

The highest-rated brands3 in 2020 have found the right balance of convenience, quality, and price when catering to businesses and their employees' needs.

Meals CHICK-FIL-A 4.7
Hotel MARRIOTT 4.5
Car Rental ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR 4.6
Ride Hailing UBER 4.9
Airfare SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 4.7

Restaurant Summary

The restaurant summary includes data for all meal expenses (breakfast, lunch, dinner). See which vendors are most frequently expensed, the average amount per transaction, and average ratings.


MOST EXPENSED4
STARBUCKS 22.9%
MCDONALD'S 12.6%
CHICK-FIL-A 9.4%
PANERA BREAD 7.3%
DUNKIN' 6.6%
AVERAGE COST
PANERA BREAD $57.15
CHICK-FIL-A $37.46
MCDONALD'S $19.26
DUNKIN' $15.50
STARBUCKS $14.18
AVERAGE RATING5
CHICK-FIL-A 4.7
CHIPOTLE 4.6
JIMMY JOHN'S 4.6
PANERA BREAD 4.6
STARBUCKS 4.6

Lodging Summary

Encompassing data for all lodging expenses. See which vendors are most frequently expensed, the average expense amount, and average ratings.


MOST EXPENSED
MARRIOTT 16.7%
HAMPTON INN 14.8%
COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT 11.9%
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS 9.1%
HILTON GARDEN INN 7.6%
Average Cost
MARRIOTT $308.50
HAMPTON INN $244.86
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS $241.57
HILTON GARDEN INN $232.82
COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT $207.50
AVERAGE RATING
MARRIOTT 4.6
HYATT 4.5
EMBASSY SUITES 4.4
HILTON 4.4
HOMEWOOD SUITES 4.4

Airline Summary

The airline summary includes all expenses for booked airfare. Data identifies which vendor is most frequently expensed, the average expense amount, and the average ratings.


MOST EXPENSED
AMERICAN AIRLINES 24.5%
DELTA AIRLINES 23.8%
UNITED AIRLINES 18.8%
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 18.3%
ALASKA AIRLINES 2.8%
Average Cost
DELTA AIRLINES $414.05
UNITED AIRLINES $350.58
AMERICAN AIRLINES $327.49
ALASKA AIRLINES $268.93
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES $264.17
AVERAGE RATING
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 4.7
ALASKA AIRLINES 4.6
DELTA AIRLINES 4.6
JETBLUE AIRWAYS 4.5
UNITED AIRLINES 4.3

Car Rental Summary

The car rental summary includes all expenses for rental car bookings. See which vendors are most frequently expensed, the average expense amount, and average ratings.


MOST EXPENSED
NATIONAL CAR RENTAL 28.9%
ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR 22.8%
HERTZ CAR RENTAL 18.5%
BUDGET CAR RENTAL 17.8%
AVIS CAR RENTAL 12.0%
Average Cost
ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR $272.63
HERTZ CAR RENTAL $226.50
AVIS CAR RENTAL $222.31
NATIONAL CAR RENTAL $219.15
BUDGET CAR RENTAL $211.51
AVERAGE RATING
ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR 4.6
NATIONAL CAR RENTAL 4.5
BUDGET CAR RENTAL 4.3
HERTZ CAR RENTAL 4.2
AVIS CAR RENTAL 3.9

Scooter Rental Summary

Scooter rentals declined overall as in-office switched to the home office. First-to-market leaders Bird and Lime continue to dominate with a combined 75% of transactions in 2020 so far.


MOST EXPENSED
LIME 44.7%
BIRD 31.1%
RAZOR 11.9%
SPIN 7.1%
SCOOT 4.9%
Average Cost
LIME $9.92
BIRD $9.90
SPIN $9.79
RAZOR $6.97
SCOOT $3.70
AVERAGE RATING
BIRD 4.0
LIME 4.0
SPIN *
RAZOR *
SCOOT *
* Vendor did not reach threshold for average rating.

RIDE HAILING SUMMARY

Ride hailing companies held the majority of receipts, continuing to overshadow traditional taxis. The category experienced a sharp 32.7% decline when compared to H1 2019.


MOST EXPENSED
UBER 71.9%
LYFT 24.0%
TAXI 4.1%
AVERAGE COST PER RIDE6
TAXI $34.14
UBER $29.84
LYFT $25.64
AVERAGE RATING
UBER 4.9
LYFT 4.7
TAXI 4.1

FOOD DELIVERY SUMMARY

Even with travel decreasing, the desire for a comforting meal was a priority. Food delivery has seen a 110% year-over-year growth compared with the first half of 2019. Seamless took top marks for average rating but lacked the numbers to reach top-5 overall.


MOST EXPENSED
Doordash 36.0%
Grubhub 25.1%
Uber Eats 17.1%
Postmates 11.5%
CAVIAR 5.7%
Average Cost
CAVIAR $120.22
SEAMLESS $75.30
GRUBHUB $74.52
DELIVERY.COM $71.18
DOORDASH $57.51
AVERAGE RATING
SEAMLESS 5.0
DELIVERY.COM 4.8
UBER EATS 4.7
GRUBHUB 4.6
DOORDASH 4.4
DISCLAIMERS
  • 1 - Percent of total annual company travel and entertainment spend by expense category based on business traveler receipts and expenses processed by the Certify system in H1 2020.
  • 2 - Ride hailing category includes taxis and sharing economy vendors.
  • 3 - 2020 highest-rated brands in each category based on half-year SpendSmart user rating averages.
  • 4 - Represents the number of expenses divided by the total number of expenses for the type.
  • 5 - Represents the average 1- (lowest) through 5-star (highest) rating for each vendor's expenses.
  • 6 - Average cost may or may not include additional fees, gratuities, and service charges.

About This Report: The Certify SpendSmart™ Report provides a snapshot of the current spend trends of business travelers in North America with all data compiled from actual expense data from submitted expense reports.

For all media inquires please contact Tim Wheatcroft of Certify, pr@certify.com or 888-781-0088 x4468.

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