In the past 25 years, we’ve seen more advancements in business technology than at any other point in history. Businesses that recognize the tech trends early will be better prepared to take advantage of the latest tools and market conditions.
To succeed in business, adaptability is key. Not only do business owners need to adapt to changing consumer demands and spending patterns; it’s also essential to adapt to the natural progression of technology.
These are the three tech trends that online businesses will not be able to ignore in 2018.
Big Data, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence Will Continue to Grow in Importance
Machine learning can provide significant advantages to businesses that collect any kind of data about their market and consumers. Big data has been a buzzword for a number of years, but now it’s becoming clearer as to how businesses should use all of the data that is collected.
Artificial intelligence and automated machine learning can now make it simpler for businesses to analyze the data that they collect, enabling them to build better customer profiles, predict tech trends in the market, and develop better approaches to customer service and product/service design.
Even the smallest companies can take advantage of big data, thanks to a number of modern CRM services that can provide custom analytics to gain consumer and market insights.
Businesses will need to learn that efficient collection of customer data is essential to evolve and stay ahead of the competition.
Tech Trends, The Internet of Things
Any business owner that doesn’t see IoT as a key area of investment has not been keeping up in recent years. Interest in IoT has skyrocketed in the past three years, as businesses scramble to understand how new technologies and network infrastructures can benefit them.
In online business, IoT can provide a number of benefits. It can make data collection and analytics easier, it could assist in product delivery and tracking, and IoT devices and sensors could be used to track and manage inventory in a complex warehouse environment.
IoT is critical because it transcends industries and provides benefits to both consumers and businesses. In 2018 we expect to see IoT become more secure and advanced. LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) will become more widespread, and technologies like 5G should start to become a reality in many worldwide markets.
Businesses will need to investigate IoT to determine potential use-cases that will leverage this rapidly evolving area of technology.
Banking Will Become Almost Fully Digital
Online businesses need flexible banking solutions, and the traditional models simply don’t work anymore. Just like modern consumers, businesses don’t have the time to interact with banks at a physical location. Digital banking will grow this year (and into the future), with an expected 2 Billion worldwide users by 2020.
Online business owners can take advantages of services like PayPal and Amazon Payments, which will streamline the way that they transact with their customers. It is also advisable that businesses seek out banking providers that have comprehensive online services, to minimize the cost and time that it takes to perform banking at a physical branch.
By staying on top of current tech trends, businesses can improve efficiency, perform better service delivery, and take advantage of the benefits that online business technologies can provide.