In 2019, the world saw the rise of new business tech trends including cloud-based systems. It enables employees to work on the go to provide flexibility in location, email automation to keep track of emails, email marketing platforms, and so much more. However, 2020 bought a new set of problems for both large and small businesses. Pandemic shook the world. Technology with its several aspects played a major role and saved the day.
Today, markets have shifted and businesses are rapidly trying to adopt new to keep up it as tech us helping us from building trust and enhancing customer experience to staying productive and competitive. Reports Spiceworks said, “88% of businesses expect IT budgets to grow or stay steady over the next 12 months.” Companies with less than 100 employees will designate 31% to software, 35% to hardware, 22% to hosted and cloud-based services, and 11% to manage services.
Before businesses have started to increase their spending on tech tools, they must understand technology trends for small businesses that will impact them while implementing agile solutions. Let’s see 6 small business technology trends for 2020:
1. Mobile Experience
Today, everyone, from children to adults, has a mobile phone big or small. So, the simple fact remains that if a business website is not mobile-friendly then it might struggle to stay competitive. Also, the pandemic has increased the use of mobile. Keeping this in mind, businesses should expect more consumers to access information and payment options even in physical stores.
The three key areas businesses should focus on are mobile payments in-store, mobile payments online, and mobile marketing. According to Invesp, “32% of shoppers changed their minds about purchasing items after checking out the product information on their mobiles within brick-and-mortar stores.”
2. AI Service
The pandemic has paved the way for the adoption of newer technology in the business spectrum. SMBs will invest in AI as a service (AIaaS). “The total global revenue for AI software is expected to grow from $9.5 billion in 2019 to as much as $118.6 billion in 2025,” says Tactical. More and more companies are opting for third-party services because it allows them to decrease extra staff and outsource tasks via a monthly subscription. The decrease in staff leads to lowers cost and outsourcing tasks leads to an increase in productivity.
Furthermore, other than AI services businesses will invest and implement applications of artificial intelligence. Today, we have become accustomed to AI without even realizing it. With social distancing regulation in place, companies will be equipping their physical stores with AI-based mobile check deposits, fraud prevention, payment, and so much more. Brick and mortar stores will be powered by AI to provide the best customer experience.
3. More Automation
Pandemic had forced many SMBs out of business. For those who adopted and survived it has created immense pressure across several areas. Also, it has pushed owners to work with lesser staff while keeping them safe. Hence, they are considering ways to automate their front line workers. Despite these technologies being relatively old, SMBs are struggling to implement these solutions without a full IT team.
Modern tools are providing seamless integrations across the software. This can even enable less tech-savvy companies to adopt automation. Therefore, businesses will seek solutions including accounting, data management, email marketing, customer service, and others.
4. Social Media
There are several concerns small business owners face when it comes to social media- social media management is difficult and requires time and budget. Additionally, it is facing several issues, these ranges from a drop in organic reach to consumer privacy concerns.
However, as pandemic has spiked the need for online presence, businesses are trying to balance the needs to reach customers without incurring massive increasing costs. Hence, SMBs will focus on data-driven decisions by providing value and increasing trust, attracting attention from platforms besides Facebook and Instagram, and growing customer service.
5. Collaboration Tools
Businesses are under lockdown. This has created an immense need to create a remote workforce to help scale its business. To enable smooth communication across a remote workforce, collaboration software is becoming vital. These tools have the potential to connect in-house staff with contractors to increased productivity.
According to a survey by Gensler’s U.S.Workplace, 43% of respondents consider places that promote team building and collaboration as the best workplace. Besides, communication gaps are not an option in 2020. Instead, SMB owners will focus on developing strategies based on their staff interactions and the problems faced by them. They will then find several ways to deliver the most relevant data to all sides.
6. HR Technology
Today everything is shifting online while the labor market is filled with tech-savvy generations. Due to this change, businesses are investing in technologies. Human resources technology is going to be the next most crucial trend in 2020. Cloud-based HR tools can enable employers to make a real-time data-driven decision. Also, self-service apps offer employees a sense of control over their data. SMB owners will invest in HR technology to help them create a better experience for their staff in different areas, including recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, health and wellness, and ongoing training.
Author Bio:
By Shreeya Chourasia
Writing is food to my soul and the quote that inspires me to keep learning is “Learning never exhausts the mind” by Leonardo da Vinci. Tech Research Online has given me a platform to do just that, I learn and I write and then I learn a little more.
