'E-wallets, online cabs top cashless performers post note ban'

MUMBAI: Digital wallets, followed by online cabs, were the top performing categories for cashless transactions post demonetisation, a study said.

Food ordering platforms and grocery were also popular for cashless transactions following government's demonetisation of high-value currency notes, which caused a cash shortage in November and December, according to the study by cashback platform CouponDunia.

Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik, Dominos Pizza and Yatra were the top performing brands, it added.

Interestingly, traffic on e-commerce sites dropped in the past two months. According to data provided by CouponDunia, Amazon's traffic fell by 22 per cent, while Flipkart's and Snapdeal's traffic fell by over 50 per cent.

Tier II towns were significantly more affected by the cash crunch compared to the top metro cities, it said.

Among the tier I cities, Mumbai was the most affected with 37 per cent less traffic online post-demonetisation, followed by Kolkata at 26 per cent lower traffic. Delhi saw a 7 per cent decline, while Chennai saw 16 per cent drop in online traffic.

The search term 'McDonald's online order' increased by 90 per cent during this time, and online ordering platform FoodPanda saw over 11,000 new user orders within 10 days of demonetisation.

Other interesting findings include 400 domestic flight bookings on Yatra since demonetisation, and over 3,500 Uber rides taken within a week of November 8, when the move was announced, CouponDunia said.

The study also noted that over 8,000 pizzas were ordered within three weeks of the announcement.