PORTLAND, Maine, July 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Certify has released its Q2 2019 SpendSmart™ Report, which aggregates expenses submitted by Certify users and highlights the most popular airline, meal, lodging, and transportation services among North American companies and business travelers. Certify analyzes over 10 million expenses submitted by business travelers every quarter, and has processed over a quarter-billion expenses since the SpendSmart Report was launched in 2013.
For the first time since Certify began reporting on ride hailing in Q1 2015, Uber and Lyft combined to appear on over 16% of all expense reports submitted by users of Certify’s desktop and mobile applications. Uber was the most expensed vendor overall in Q2 2019, with 12.71% of expenses compared to Lyft, which finished third overall, with 3.75% of all expenses. Lyft’s third place position on the list is a notable increase from just three months ago. In Q1 2019, Lyft was the sixth most expensed vendor—in one quarter, it has overtaken Amazon, American Airlines, and Delta Airlines.
Starbucks was the second most-expensed vendor this past quarter, with 4.01% of expenses. Amazon (3.63%) and Delta Airlines (3.56%) finished fourth and fifth respectively. The complete list of the Top 10 Most Expensed Vendors in Q2 2019 according to Certify’s user data can be found here.
Ride hailing giant Uber, which went public this past May, was responsible for 72.80% of all car-related ride hailing transactions in the second quarter of 2019. Meanwhile Lyft held 21.57% of receipts in the category for the quarter—a slight increase over Q2 2018. Taxis accounted for the remaining 5.63% of second quarter ride hailing transactions.
The average cost of an Uber ride remained consistent to previous quarters at $25.37 per ride compared to $25.51 for Lyft. Taxis once again were the most expensive option, with an average transaction of $36.17.* After five consecutive quarters as the top-rated ride hailing service, Lyft (4.4 stars) fell behind Uber’s average rating of 4.6 stars, according to Certify’s 5-star customer rating system.**
Uber continued to control the car ride hailing market regionally in Q2 2019, taking the largest percentage of expenses in eight major metros analyzed by Certify. Of the metro areas Certify analyzed, Uber use was up in Q2 2019 from Q2 2018 in all but Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Lyft was up nearly across the board; San Francisco and Boston were the only metros showing a decline. Taxi use decreased compared with Q2 2018 despite recent ride-hailing regulations meant to level the playing field.
In scooters, Lime became the frontrunner in Q2 2019, collecting 57.50% of all receipts/expenses compared to 30.17% for Bird—a 15% increase compared to Q1 2019. Razor was third with 7.59% of scooter transactions, Skip followed with 3.79%, and Spin claimed 0.95% of receipts in the category. Spin was the least expensive scooter service this quarter, with an average receipt of $4.28 versus Skip at $4.31, Razor at $4.76, Lime at $6.63, and Bird at $8.92. Bird and Lime were also the top-rated scooters in Q2 2019, each earning a 4.9-star customer rating.
The food delivery market, another disruptive force in corporate T&E, stabilized somewhat in Q2 2019. Grubhub topped the list at 27.39% of all transactions compared to 23.88% for DoorDash, 21.72% for Uber Eats, 12.34% for Postmates, 9.03% for Caviar, and 5.64% for Seamless.†
Seamless was the most expensive food delivery service in Q2 2019, with an average receipt of $133.26 compared to $103.83 for Caviar, $64.53 for Grubhub, $63.41 for DoorDash, $60.91 for Postmates, and $30.19 for Uber Eats. DoorDash was the highest rated service in Q2, scoring 4.9 stars in Certify’s 5-star rating system, followed by Caviar, and Uber Eats tied with 4.6 stars.
Other items of note from Certify’s Q2 2019 SpendSmart report:
- Starbucks was the most expensed food option in Q2 2019, with 4.01% of transactions.
- Starbucks was the most expensed breakfast option, taking 17.39% of all breakfast receipts/expenses in Q2 2019, while McDonald’s was the top lunch and dinner choice at 2.83% and 1.68% of transactions for those meals, respectively.
- Marriott (10.30%) topped Hampton Inn (8.99%) as the most expensed lodging service in Q2 2019; Marriott was also the most expensive, with an average cost of $306.50 per stay.
- Delta was the most expensed airline in Q2 2019, earning 19.57% of all category transactions, compared to 18.83% for American Airlines, 14.97% for United Airlines, and 11.22% for Southwest Airlines.
- JetBlue ties with Southwest Airlines as the top-rated airline vendor, with an average user rating of 4.6 stars.
“Our latest report shows just how ingrained sharing economy services have become among businesses and business travelers,” says Robert Neveu, CEO of Certify, Inc./Chrome River. “It’s been clear for a long time that business travelers preferred Uber and Lyft to taxis, but the rise of on-demand food delivery and scooter services really underscores how important convenience is to the business travel community.”
* The average transaction prices for all car-related expenses analyzed by Certify may or may not include tips.
** Average ratings are calculated from Certify’s voluntary user rating system, with 5-stars being the highest rating and 1-star being the lowest.
† Certify does not have visibility into whether food delivery services were used by workers while traveling, or from their offices.
About Certify
Certify is the leading online spend management solution for companies of all sizes. Organizations worldwide book travel, complete expense reports, and digitize the procure-to-pay process quickly and easily using Certify cloud and mobile applications.
For more information about Certify, please call 1-207-773-6100 or visit www.certify.com.
Media contact:
Kevin Wolf
TGPR
(650) 483-1552
kevin@tgprllc.com