Small businesses that leverage digital technology to streamline workflows and processes can expect double the revenue per employee, create three times more jobs, and experience a growth rate four times higher compared to organizations that do not. To help entrepreneurs reap these business benefits, this article by Clear Line Interactive explores four of the best technology investments to consider.
Inventory Management Software
When it comes to managing inventory, both understocking and overstocking are harmful to the business. Having low stock will lead to reduced revenue due to limited sales. Conversely, having excess stock of undersold goods will attract unwanted storage and insurance costs. Using an inventory management software will help overcome both these scenarios and provide you with the following benefits:
- Increased Profits: accurate stock management will ensure a high inventory turnover, resulting in more sales and profit.
- Better Vendor Management: depending on the performance of products, you can place larger orders for in-demand goods, which could attract discounts.
- Transparency: the software allows you to generate up-to-date performance reports at any time, which provide insights regarding orders, costs, warehouse management, and more.
A Mobile App
Around 75% of all eCommerce sales are done via mobile, according to research by Oberlo. Additionally, emarketer reports that on average, adults in the US spend four hours browsing the internet, 88% of which is done via mobile apps. Based on these statistics, it’s clear that businesses aspiring to be successful need to follow a mobile-first approach. An effective way to achieve this is by developing a mobile app. If you lack the in-house expertise for app development, consider outsourcing the project to an agency or freelance developers.
Here are important features your app should include and the benefits it’ll provide:
Product/Service Catalog
Customers should be able to make appointments or order goods seamlessly through the app. Encourage customers to create an account before placing orders, this allows you to collect data that can be used to improve app and business process performance.
Payment Options
Integrate a payment gateway with your application to provide customers the option to choose from various payment options. This will result in low cart abandonment and increased revenue. To ensure all payments from your app are secure, integrate a bank account authentication API.
Business Process Management Software
Typically, software used by businesses can be divided into three buckets – front office, back office, and employee communication. Each of these applications is used by individual teams — for instance, Salesforce is used by sales teams, Workday by human resources, and so on. While the efficiency of teams and process workflows may increase by using these applications (as individual software cannot communicate with each other), it restricts the flow of information, leading to slower decision-making and a lack of efficiency.
Business process management platform serves as a bridge between all the different tools used by teams, helping automate recurring business processes. You can click here for more info, but the common benefits of business process management include:
- Higher productivity across the organization as time-consuming processes are eliminated via automation.
- Better collaboration among teams leads to fast decision-making.
- Lower business costs due to efficient utilization of labor and resources.
Social Media Management Software
Regardless of your industry and niche, digital media will be the driving force for promoting your business, developing a customer base, and making sales. The key to being successful in your digital marketing efforts is to make a plan, create engaging content, and post regularly. This process can be made easy and may even be automated by using a social media management platform. Most platforms have a free version that provides ample features to meet small business needs, such as:
- Ability to link multiple social media profiles
- Social media calendar templates
- Option to schedule posts and track engagement
- On-demand performance reports, using which you can make necessary changes to campaign goals, messaging, post timings, and more.
When it comes to creating social media posts and videos, consider using online graphic design software that provides you with hundreds of customizable templates to work with.
Take Advantage of Technology
Leveraging technology in all major business areas will streamline operations, helping you save money, improve efficiency, and take the business to the next level. Essentially, the right tools and the ability to automate processes ensure that you and your team work smart, not hard. Whether you are integrating a social media management system or a business process management system, these automation tools can make a huge difference in your business’s efficiency and productivity.
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Are you looking for help to make your website a more successful platform for your business? Let the technology and marketing experts at ClearLine Interactive help. Call us today at 603-759-0422 to learn more.
