Digital wallets, online cabs top as cashless performers post note ban

Digital wallets, followed by online cabs, were the top performing categories for cashless transactions post demonetization, a study said. Food ordering platforms and grocery were also popular for cashless transactions following government's demonetization 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%, while Flipkart's and Snapdeal's traffic fell by over 50%. 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% less traffic online post-demonetization, followed by Kolkata at 26% lower traffic. Delhi saw a 7% decline, while Chennai saw 16% drop in online traffic.

The search term 'McDonald's online order' increased by 90% during this time, and online ordering platform FoodPanda saw over 11,000 new user orders within 10 days of demonetization. Other interesting findings include 400 domestic flight bookings on Yatra since demonetization, 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.