Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Outlook calls for gradual improvement in business spending

Businesses spent 12% more on shipping and freight year-over-year in Q4 as overall spend sentiment slowly continues to rise, survey shows.

Business spend sentiment gradually improves, research shows

Businesses are showing steady improvement in their spending outlook as 2021 gets underway, following a sharp decline in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Spend management technology vendor Coupa Software said business spend sentiment improved for the third straight quarter in Q4 and that the first-quarter outlook calls for gradual improvement, according to the firm’s Business Spend Index (BSI), Q1 2021 Outlook. 

The index grew 2.9% in Q4 but remained below trend, Coupa researchers said.


In general, businesses are spending more on shipping, technology, and contract or project-based workers. Year-over-year, the index tracked a 12.3% increase in business spending for shipping and freight in the fourth quarter, bolstered by heightened global demand in e-commerce, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries, according to Coupa. The BSI also noted a nearly 12% increase in business spending on technology and a nearly 23% increase on contingent workforce spending. The BSI tracked a 96% decrease in business spending on air travel and a 25% decrease in spending on office supplies year-over-year in Q4.

Businesses remain cautious about the global economic outlook, primarily due to the pandemic.

“While the Coupa BSI Q1 2021 Outlook shows modest improvement overall, a return to trend is unlikely until the number of new [Covid-19] cases reported daily has been significantly reduced,” Jeff Collins, chief economist at Coupa, said in a statement. “Although government action to combat the economic consequences of the pandemic has likely mitigated the depth of the downturn, we do not expect the U.S. economy to return to ‘normal’ levels of output or employment in the next three to six months.”

Among the specific industries BSI tracks, manufacturing and retail spend sentiment are improving but remain below trend, according to the data. 

The Coupa BSI analyzes billions of dollars of aggregated and anonymized business spend decisions across the company’s platform, according to Coupa. Researchers say the data serves as an early indicator of macroeconomic health over the next three to six months.

The Latest

More Stories

drone flying through warehouse

Robotic revolution

Robots are revolutionizing factories, warehouses, and distribution centers (DCs) around the world, thanks largely to heavy investments in the technology between 2019 and 2021. And although investment has slowed since then, the long-term outlook calls for steady growth over the next four years. According to data from research and consulting firm Interact Analysis, revenues from shipments of industrial robots are forecast to grow nearly 4% per year, on average, between 2024 and 2028 (see Exhibit 1).

market forecast for industrial robots - revenues graphEXHIBIT 1: Market forecast for industrial robots - revenuesInteract Analysis

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Freight Science dashboard screen
Freight Science

High-tech solution helps truckload carrier drive change

The trucking industry faces a range of challenges these days, particularly when it comes to load planning—a resource-intensive task that often results in suboptimal decisions, unnecessary empty miles, late deliveries, and inefficient asset utilization. What’s more, delays in decision-making due to a lack of real-time insights can hinder operational efficiency, making cost management a constant struggle.

Truckload carrier Paper Transport Inc. (PTI) experienced this firsthand when the company sought to expand its over the-road (OTR), intermodal, and brokerage offerings to include dedicated fleet services for high-volume shippers—adding a layer of complexity to the business. The additional personnel required for such a move would be extremely costly, leading PTI to investigate technology solutions that could help close the gap.

Keep ReadingShow less
indigo software screenshot WMS

Aptean adds British WMS vendor in latest acquisition

The Georgia-based enterprise software vendor Aptean today said it had acquired Indigo Software Ltd., a British provider of purpose-built warehouse management and logistics software solutions.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aptean said the move will add new capabilities to its warehouse management and supply chain management offerings for manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and 3PLs. Aptean currently provides enterprise resource planning (ERP), transportation management systems (TMS), and product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms.

Keep ReadingShow less
schneider app screenshot for owner operators

Schneider seeks more business with owner-operators

Transportation and logistics service provider Schneider National Inc. is reaching out to owner-operators, encouraging them to do more business with the Wisconsin company using an updated digital platform.

Schneider says its FreightPower platform now offers owner-operators significantly more access to Schneider’s range of freight options. That can help drivers to generate revenue and strengthen their business through: increased access to freight, high drop and hook rates of over 95% of loads, and a trip planning feature that calculates road miles.

Keep ReadingShow less
trucks used by jillamy 3PL

Texas 3PL Mode Global acquires Jillamy’s freight brokerage arm

The Texas third-party logistics firm (3PL) Mode Global has acquired the freight brokerage business of supply chain service provider Jillamy, saying on Monday that the deal advances its strategy of expanding its national footprint.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Mode Global said it will now assume Jillamy's comprehensive logistics and freight management solutions, while Jillamy's warehousing, packaging and fulfillment services remain unchanged. Under the agreement, Mode Global will gain more than 200 employees and add facilities in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Illinois, South Carolina, Maryland, and Ontario to its existing national footprint.

Keep ReadingShow less