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Month: July 2021

How the future of digital customer experience lies in emerging technology?

The recent years have certainly witnessed more importance on customer experience than the prices or products.

Experience that ignites those powerful emotions will transform and shape buying trends and patterns e.g.

The message is clear: Your brand will have to pay equal attention to becoming an “experience leader,” or you might lose your prospects to your competitors.

As the world accelerates towards becoming digital, the most significant part of customer experience will be delivered through online mediums and channels and thus making digital customer experience a prominent aspect.

However, going digital would also mean difficulty in interpreting customer reactions and sentiments. This will pose a new challenge for industries to overcome.

Whether you’re interacting with customers on the frontlines or fixing the bugs from behind the scenes, being more focussed on the technology, learning what works, and crafting that seamless digital customer experience is what you want to provide.

The clarity and authentic approach have to be the top-notch priority for every marketing team around the globe.

What is digital customer experience?

Digital customer experience refers to your brand’s online interaction with its audience or customers.

It can be through your company website, mobile apps, social media channels, chatbots, or any other virtual touchpoint.

The mode of communication can be any – what matters the most is the perception that your customers gain and take along. 

Online customer experience will become one of the most prominent aspects to build brand identity and care for your customers on a long-term basis. Such emotional connection adds to that icing of the cake apart from your best services.  

Overlooking the importance of operational aspects of the experience can be dangerous: From  Shopping Cart experience to Contact Us forms, every little customer interaction adds up to building that overall “feeling” towards your brand.

Your conversations tell a story. What story would you want your customers to share with others?

What is a great digital customer experience?

Digital customer experience is the wholesome experience consumers have upon interacting with your brand via any of the communication channels.

That ‘great’ digital customer experience strives to provide faster, frictionless, responsive, and most importantly, more reliable experience for customers when they juggle between brand-choosing and settling in “clients” journey.

Brands that focus and provide great Digital Customer Experience offer a cohesive and harmonious online experience that attracts and retains their customers. 

Emerging Technologies can Enhance Customer Digital Experience

Some studies revealed a surprising number of benefits from emerging technologies like improved speed, and smoothness of digital experiences. 

Faster loading speeds and more efficient AI (Artificial Intelligence) implementation will give room for enhanced and streamlined user experience irrespective of any device. 

Increasing interactivity doesn’t mean you should spam and over bother your audience as it might backfire.

Thus it’s important to ensure a healthy gap between interacting and spamming.

What Are Emerging Technologies?

Emerging Technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), are a few of the scalable infrastructures available, acting as significant factors driving a massive impact on Customer Experience. Let’s have a closer look.

Intelligent Objects

We are the generation with Intelligent Connected Objects surrounded. 

These objects can interact through speech, touch, and gesture; in fact, they can adjust their performance based on temperature, humidity, light and more.

They are capable of notifying human beings while sensing any change and in some way, they trigger enticing digital experiences.

Intelligent thermostats, ones by Nest, Philip’s Smart lighting, and Smart appliances by Samsung are some of the few examples of these intelligent objects.

Intelligent Self

Human beings are moving forward to having “technology” becoming their extending selves.

Since already surrounded by so many devices like GPS tracking mobile apps, phone cameras, and microphones, people are constantly being monitored by brands who use the same data to enhance their services.

The data users normally track about themselves relating to health or finances are vigorously used by enterprises for providing more related experiences.

The examples of Levi for creating an interactive jacket capable of conveying every user gesture into an input. The camera-enabled contact lens was supported by Samsung.

Intelligent Places

Today, hotel guests can open their door rooms and adjust their AC temperature with a few clicks through mobile apps – these and many more examples show how technology made places more accessible, responsive, and personalized.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies provided plenty of possibilities, where earlier such experience of being “virtually-present” was inaccessible to customers.

Digitization on places has left a tremendous mark in shaping the online customer experience. We can’t find a day so far when Intelligent Places will take part in managing almost every sort of business.

Emerging Technologies shaping Digital Experiences

Emerging technology has the capacity to create new digital experiences utterly different from what we have been witnessing so far.  

Let’s take a look at a few of those principles:

Contextualizing Customer Experience

To be effective, your customers’ journey must be contextualized and personalized – for your buyers shopping preferences.

Brands need to convey the value gained from this understanding but also enable customers to control the use of their data. Understanding important moments from a customer perspective is very important and these listening posts should be set when the customer agrees.

The experience has to resonate and take into account the users’ context. For example, lights shouldn’t be automatically switched on just because somebody entered the room.

The situation of the buyer should be considered first for providing an excellent and practical customer experience.

Nudge the Customers to Make Positive Choices

With lives moving forward to more complexity, ‘nudging’ becomes important to invite your customers to react positively or consent to defaults pre-set by the brand policy. 

Over a decade of behavioral economics research has shown that such nudges are effective in influencing consumer behaviors.

Technology has also been helping in making the right decision – well-designed product or service defaults benefit both company and consumer by simplifying decision making, enhancing customer satisfaction, reducing risk, and driving profitable purchases.

Understanding user context, needs, and emotional states are equally crucial for enterprises in such a situation.

Providing the best customer experience will require focussing on the user’s present emotional state also.

Appealing to User Senses

It is said that successful ads touch hearts and minds.

95% of our purchasing decisions are made subconsciously – the statistic from The Harvard Business Review shows clearly how our mind is ruled by emotion and justified with logic. 

The brand’s job is to create users’ experience by stimulating their five senses. In other words, an effective approach allows customers to subconsciously smell, touch, hear or see your product or services as if they were actually using it. 

Consider your target audience and the goals for each specific campaign, then select the senses that can drive the strongest results with your specific product or service and focus on those areas in your copy. 

Brands also take part in designing the interfaces appealing to the user senses using tactile and natural interfaces (NUIs) that blend well with AR/VR technology.

No matter if you’re looking to tap into positive or negative feedback, emotional advertising is the optimal solution to engage your target audience. 

Conclusion

With the emerging technologies still in the evolution phase, online customer digital experiences are subjected to constant transformation.

The calling is for product managers, associates, developers, and designers to keep pace with the constant change and adapt their processes to create valuable customer experience.

Tech Innovations in Consumer Goods Manufacturing

Consumer-goods (CG) companies have already started to apply digital solutions to their manufacturing processes. The new pandemic measures and globalization added further difficulties to all supply chain parts and product life cycles.  

With little margin for error, CG companies are looking into new ways to improve their products and processes. In order to provide the best service and customer experience, while keeping the costs low, many CG companies are turning towards agile or lean manufacturing. 

Source: consumergoods.com

Industry 4.0 brings the digitization of the entire manufacturing chain where Big Data, Cloud and IoT technologies help manufacturers to get an overview of the entire value chain. 

Some companies are not sure what parts of the manufacturing process can benefit the most from digitization and what they should plan next. 

So let’s see how companies can apply technology and use advanced analytics to optimize their manufacturing processes. 

Source: ielts-adviser.com

Lean Transformation 

Lean transformation is the process of ‘introducing changes into an organization to maximize the flow of value produced for the customer.’ The result is removal of wasteful activities for optimized operational processes.  

The best way for a company is to centralize data and assets into a cloud-based hub. Such a hub can contain different suites of tools to support daily lean operations (performance tracking, management system, platform for sharing information and real time collaboration etc.). 

Such an organization enables key people to access company information (via dashboards, graphs etc.), enabling them to detect any performance gaps and compare metrics by custom  filters. A cloud-based hub can automate data collection and exporting, tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs) and generating email reports, thus significantly reducing the amount of administrative workload.

Sharing data quickly enables more productive collaboration between different sectors in the company and more efficient communication where your employees can more likely discover issues in real time. 

Preventing small problems to become major disruptions is crucial while scaling up. 

When companies succeed in deploying digital tools to business quickly with minimal resources, it may improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by up to 20% within a few months. 

Source: lean.org

Advanced Analytics 

Advanced analytics have had a massive effect within particular sectors like Quality Control, Predictive Maintenance and Supply Chain Optimization. 

Quality Control

Assets in many consumer-goods companies are difficult to keep optimized due to uncertain conditions. This can prevent the company from achieving the quality targets.

Depending on your area of operation, manufacturers can exploit the data collected by sensors or other devices in order to improve their quality control. 

For example, if you produce and distribute polymer solutions (or any other product), you can adjust your warehouse process using customized algorithms to analyze sensor data and deliver productivity increase. Usage of sensors can significantly reduce the time necessary for employees to complete the tasks (scanning the labels, monitoring the storage facility etc.). Quicker inputs and more efficient communication reduces administrative workload. 

CG companies should always analyze their own data for the entire manufacturing process/facility to improve the quality of their products/services. 

Source: graphocproducts.com

Data Collection

All manufacturing companies gather data whether manually or automatically. Even when you collect data on a regular basis, you should always strive for MORE data. 

Theory says that increased data collection will ensure your facility to prevent release of improper products, avoid injuries, increase efficiency, and more. 

But to put theory into practice, DO NOT focus on the amount of data, but on the quality of data and its proper analysis. The data you gather must be meaningful in order to provide you with insights. 

To make a greater impact, you should try to identify the worst-performing stages in the production or storage process. Then adjust and use the analytics to determine your facility’s shortcomings. Such an approach will provide you with insights into operations while identifying areas for improvement. 

A proactive approach can always help you to quickly begin reducing costs and deficiencies. 

Source: pinterest.com

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is already in use by some consumer-goods companies for maintenance activities resulting in possible maintenance cost reduction from 10-40%. 

Consumer companies can deploy sensors to collect data and later use for analysis (or comparative analysis) via custom algorithms and determine the optimal time for a certain action (replacement of a machine parts, product processing stages etc.). Such precision predictions based on thorough analysis can increase your product quality and lower inventory or other costs. 

Vehicle sensor information can also be used for predictive maintenance – maximizing the lifetime of company equipment (vehicles, forklifts, trucks etc.) with preventive maintenance based on the overall data. 

Source: manufacturingtomorrow.com

Supply Chain Optimization

Consumer goods companies are putting all their efforts to reduce costs and optimize most of the supply processes. 

Some companies use analytics software solutions to determine the best distribution plans per area considering storage capacity or local demand. Such analytics enable companies to increase profits with little or no change in production capacity. 

These analytics solutions include Big Data for warehouse management and data inputs from bar codes, RFID, GPS etc. They can obtain traffic sensor data, road network and vehicle data in real time enabling logistics teams to optimize transportation or delivery processes. Moreover, they can react to unforeseen events (accidents, blockage) more effectively; track cargo or vehicles in real time and provide customers with real-time updates. 

When talking ‘Big’, the common practice should be to implement Big Data first into individual departments in the supply chain and only then repeat the success across other departments. Such an approach will help managers to mitigate internal resistance and review the strategic business goals driving the specific operational unit. 

The ‘Big Data’ approach requires a whole architecture together with hardware, software and internal protocols for collecting, analyzing and storing the data in real time. Such architecture will allow data scientists to search and filter information, generate relevant reports and share actionable plans across the company’s various departments. 

The architecture MUST be scalable as the volume of data will grow and it MUST be secured as any consumer privacy data must be protected. It also must communicate with customer relationship management systems providing real time intelligence providing insights to relevant stakeholders. 

Supply chain optimization software can generally help manufacturers to connect the entire manufacturing value chain, from procurement to the final production and delivery. Using such software helps you to track, predict and eliminate operational bottlenecks within the supply chain.

Source: Mckinsey.com

Internet of Things (IoT)

The consumer goods industry as a whole has been increasingly embracing IoT technology. 

The Internet of Things represents different devices that are connected online or via the Internet. IoT could not be possible without the Internet as well as cloud computing and small sensors which enable more devices to get interconnected quickly. 

Some of the benefits of IoT technology in manufacturing are cost reduction, increased efficiency, improved safety and product innovation. 

Most companies were enabled to make more informed decisions based on real-time information and coupled with other tech innovations, IoT technology can help manufacturing companies drive more efficient short or long-term goals. 

IoT adoption has increased significantly over the past years as manufacturers are realizing its potential and value much more.

ERP systems

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are the basics to keep your company competitive and apply lean methods. 

ERP systems automate and optimize the company’s processes using real time information. This helps to reduce operational costs and prevent any bottlenecks through the operational process. 

ERP systems provide businesses with real-time access to enterprise data enabling efficient communication from any part of the world. This way, ERP systems facilitate the vital flow of data and support global markets.  

Such systems enable companies to efficiently manage warehouse operations, organize and stock inventory as per sale forecasted results, 

ERP systems provide quicker communication with vendors or suppliers across the globe while supporting drop ship purchase orders, saving extra expenses and labor. 

Coupled with forecasting and predictive analytics, ERP systems can help you not only to improve operational efficiency but also build a better consumer-friendly brand. 

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual and Augmented Reality have become increasingly utilized in several industries, where consumer goods companies successfully follow the latest trend. 

A good example is Walmart, which opened another ‘test store’ in October 2020 for the purpose of implementing AR technology for inventory control. Their application helps employees with inventory control – employees hold up a handheld device which highlights the boxes ready to go to the sales floor, improving the process so they do not have to scan each individual box. This is a great example of AR used for a more streamlined workflow. 

An exciting area for VR is marketing – using VR in marketing can boost conversion rates as consumers are more prone to buy a product they interacted with virtually. A compelling example are virtual reality car showrooms – Audi and BMW provide VR experience for their customers to simulate sitting in the genuine car model with all the texture leather and the knobs included. 

There are many more examples of AR/VR use cases, where manufacturers and consumer goods companies offer a complete customer-driven experience thus increasing their online presence and building a stronger brand.

Source: business.libertymutual.com

3D Printing

Manufacturers in the consumer goods industry have seen a variety of benefits from 3D printing with reduced production costs in the first place. Prototyping with 3D printing is much quicker allowing designers to fine-tune and test the products quickly. 

3D printing made it possible to produce prototypes much quicker than with traditional manufacturing methods, like CNC. It speeds up the process of designing concepts and making changes with 3D prototypes – you can produce them overnight and they will be ready for testing the next day.  

3D printing enables companies to produce complex features which lead to innovative products, optimized for durability and/or strength. 

Customization is another benefit of 3D printing because it does not require expensive tooling changes for individual specifications. As data is transferred to the 3D printer, there is no need for other tools other than the printer itself. Zero tooling means printing a variety of designs at no extra production cost. 

Thanks to the use of this technology, the companies can also design and test new machine parts in less time and costs involved. 

3D printing allows manufacturers to make products on-demand, meaning that companies can experiment with more designs without needing a large investment. As the printing process is adding layers to produce a part, it can significantly reduce material waste and make the entire manufacturing process more sustainable. 

Source: amfg.ai

Final Word

Consumer goods companies are already benefiting from usage of digital tools; however, companies must also undertake an organizational transformation if they want to keep the pace with digitization within consumer goods manufacturing. Such transformation involves each department within the company and requires full commitment of every employee. 

Consumer companies should turn to digital transformation and then can hope to reap greater benefits from digital tools. 

Implementing digital solutions will leverage the benefits to the company and in the long run, it will start a new era of manufacturing efficiency. 

Useful Meditation Apps to Help You Reduce Workplace Anxiety

Life has been quite stressful recently due to the pandemic and anxiety can affect anyone as it has nothing to do with your social or financial status. Negativity and stress at work can be caused by many elements, from tight deadlines to inability to resolve certain issues. 

Prevalence of smartphones has led to an increase in well-being related apps – many of these apps help people deal with ordinary stressors or day-to-day mood issues through anxiety.  

In this post, we will list some modern applications that can help you reduce negative energy and the stress caused by challenges in the workplace. That way you will be able to sooth your mind and restore your productivity.

What are Anti-stress Applications?

Anti-stress apps are online applications that can help you to meditate and reduce stress and negative energy from your mind. Meditation is not a new term – it is an ancient practice that has been around for many centuries. As there are many applications on the market for various purposes, like educational apps or apps to help you improve specific skills, there are also meditation apps helping you to channel your stress and improve your well being. 

Nowadays, in 2021, the practice of meditation has changed. Today you have mobile applications that can provide you with full-on sessions for meditation. These antistress apps are also known as mind relaxing utilities. 

Source: theinfoblog.com

We have listed below some of the top-notch options in this league:

Best Antistress Apps in 2021

There are hundreds of antistress games available on the Internet, but not all of them are as effective as the ones that are mentioned in this section:

Antistress, Relaxing, Anxiety & Stress Relief Game

Today, meditation practices exist in various formats. One of the popular ways of releasing stress is by playing mind relaxing games apps. 

This relaxing game on Android application is very effective and reliable and ranked among the top antistress game apps available on the Playstore. 

Some of the features this relaxing game meditation mobile app offers are:

  • Realistic 3D brain exercises 
  • High quality relaxing sounds to release stress
  • 3D fidget toys
  • Calming Games
  • More than thirty different free games for mind relaxation and more.

If you are a user fond of playing online games, then this mobile app would definitely be a match for you. 

Source: mtv.com

Calm – Free meditation sessions for everyone

Calm is a very popular antistress application on the app store. This app stands out from the crowd because it offers simple and impressive meditation sessions to its users. If you want to get rid of stress in your workplace or increase focus on your work, you can rely on Calm.

There are multiple 10-minute sessions in this app that can help you to focus better at your workplace. Some of these sessions include:

  1. Mindfulness meditation
  2. Spiritual meditation
  3. Movement meditation,
  4. Mantra meditation and more

The basic meditation sessions of calm are free and are considered to be best for a person who is facing minor anxiety.

Source: businessofapps.com

Headspace – The ultimate breathing exercise and antistress app!

Headspace is another antistress mobile app designed to relieve stress both physically and mentally. It provides you with plenty of breathing exercises, meditation sessions, and fun exercises which can help you reduce stress. 

Headspace offers you different kinds of techniques for free, including:

  1. Diaphragmatic breathing
  2. Breath Focus technique 
  3. Lion’s Breath
  4. Equal breathing 
  5. coherent breathing etc. 

Breathing is known to be one of the top keys for dealing with stress and anxiety. If you share the same viewpoint, try out this application and see whether it works for you!

Source: headspace.com

Aura – Emotion, Stress, & Sleep Management expert!

Aura mobile app is best for self-care for people of all ages, improving your sleep cycle and relieving stress. There are many good things about this mind relaxing games app that makes it a popular choice for readers from all across the globe:

  1. The app provides personalization preferences.
  2. You are not bugged with default sounds and sessions.
  3. You can get customized meditations according to your mood
  4. It offers a free version.
  5. It has a very simple and intuitive UI!

Aura allows you to select your preferences and provides you with automatic sessions and activities for relaxation. As a user, you might not be able to select the right session for you but you can surely tell the application what mood you are in. 

In this Covid pandemic, Aura is also providing free sessions for three months which provides users with plenty of time to try it out!

Simple Habit

Simple Habit is another mobile application that is most suitable for busy lifestyles – you can tune in when you wake up, even while driving or going to sleep.  

IT was said to be a number #1 wellness mobile app and was recommended by top psychologists and mental health experts. 

You are given a choice of a 5-minute meditation guided by the world’s best experts, you can track your progress with Mindful Minutes and access your meditations offline with Premium Subscription to be able to meditate at any time. 

The app lists a variety of benefits like improved focus, better sleep, reduction of stress, increased sense of perspective and more. The app also offers both versions, Android and iOS. 

Conclusion 

We’ve provided you with a list of a few top meditation apps that can help you to get rid of stress accumulated at the workplace. 

Maintaining your mental health is important as it can affect your overall health so make sure to try out some of the meditation apps and see if any suits your own needs!

5 Reasons Businesses Should Adopt New Technologies

Most of the largest businesses today keep up with the drastic changes in the world. One of their top secrets for cementing their position at the top is staying updated when it comes to business trends that includes deploying the latest technologies for businesses.

A classic example of a company that went bankrupt because it failed to innovate is Kodak. Kodak sold millions in the 1990s as it was the top camera brand back then. They successfully created a hype that went on for years using their popular “Kodak moment” catchphrase. However, technology developed dramatically and digital cameras were born leaving Kodak behind with nothing left but a declaration of bankruptcy.

Ironically, it was Kodak’s researchers that first came up with the digital camera concept in the 1970s. Their mistake was that they dismissed the idea of creating a digital version of their classic film camera and let the others leverage the technology.

Let’s now look at Starbucks. This 1970s-born coffee company has grown bigger until its global presence and people still can’t get enough of their products. While the best selling point of Starbucks is its aromatic and addicting coffee blends, the company invested in several technologies to make their customers keep coming back for more.

Starbucks invested in apps that they believed will boost customer experience. And they were right because their mobile payment and gamification apps helped the company recover from the great depression and eventually engage more coffee drinkers.

Source: technologydecisions.com.au

Small Businesses and Technology

To some people, technology trends sound “expensive.” The price of innovation is one of the reasons why many businesses prefer traditional strategies. While it’s true that some technologies require a big budget, there are other innovations that even small businesses and startups can afford and still deliver results that lead to their growth.

The use of technology is one way that a small business can stand against big companies. The simple use of mobile apps for rewards program can bring more revenue in a month. The secret is designing the best rewards program and developing a user-friendly app.

Let’s look into the other reasons why businesses, big and small, should start adopting new technologies.

Reasons to Use New Technologies in Businesses

Regardless of the size of your business, technology will bring diverse benefits to your company. 

We listed down the most important reasons why you should invest in new technology to make your business successful in this modern world.

1. Efficient Communication with Customers

Communication between a company and consumer is an important ingredient for a profitable business transaction. In the past, businesses could only leverage telephones and snail mail to respond to their customers who can’t be physically present at their offices. This process took days before deals were successfully closed.

Nowadays, communication is almost instant through social media and apps messaging as well as emailing. Thanks to the new generation phones, all these are possible while putting an end to the slow-moving and less safe postal mailing.

Phone calls remained, but the beauty in smartphones is that customers and companies can now talk via video call. This offers better engagement as companies can attend to their customers’ needs without the customer visiting the store thus increasing the chance of selling. 

Also, this is most helpful today as the Covid pandemic still poses danger to brick-and-mortar shopping.

Source: inspiremessage.com

2. Technology Streamlines Workflow

Today, everything on the business side is fast-paced. Businesses that aren’t able to employ the right technologies in their operations cannot keep up with the pace of others that are using different technologies to streamline their processes.

A basic example is communicating with clients. As mentioned, businesses used to send important documents through snail mail until fax messaging happened. When email services emerged, they also made sending video, audio, and PDF files possible through the computer, tablets, and other smart devices.

That said, technology provides businesses with the best tools to improve work processes while saving time and money.

3. Technology Enhances Collaboration Within a Team

Technology breaks barriers between workers. 

For example, the construction site is a place where technology can connect members within a team as well as enable cross-functional communication between various departments.

On a construction site, there’s usually the main team which is subdivided again into different teams depending on their assignments. There are also subcontracting teams hired according to their specializations. With so many people working at the site, without proper collaboration, their work quality can be compromised.

Technology made it possible to connect all the employees and teams through collaboration apps – these are usually installed on smartphones and tablets that each construction worker has. Through the app, the members can see what tasks are being worked on or accomplished thus enabling everyone to stay updated on the project’s progress. 

Through the app, workers are also able to know if any task is assigned to them as some tasks can only commence after others accomplish their own work.

The overall result is better collaboration results in a more organized process that eliminates disputes between different teams and costly errors.

Source: blog.honey.is

4. Technology Offers Unbreakable Protection for Business Assets

There are different technologies used by businesses today to protect their assets. Since assets can come in digital and physical forms, successful businesses are investing in both digital and physical security.

Digital data saved in the company’s network are vulnerable to hacking and malware attacks. This is why advanced antivirus software, encryption software, machine learning, and AI are continuously being developed to stop cybercriminals from stealing or destroying a company’s intellectual property.

Likewise, physical assets may include new machines and devices as well as servers. These investments can be secured in a biometrics-locked room that can also be monitored by high-definition CCTV cameras and alarms.

5. Technology Delivered Analytics Tools

A company’s research capacity is important for it to come up with products/services that are relevant to the customers’ needs. In order to help businesses to stay relevant despite the continuous change in consumer trend, technology made a way to develop accurate analytics tools.

Analytics tools increase the research capacity of businesses. Using the data on Google, which is the ultimate go-to for consumers when finding products or reading reviews about the product they want to buy, businesses can see what questions are often asked by shoppers and what products are being researched. 

This way, businesses can adjust their marketing strategies to appear to consumer searches or get an idea of a new product or service to develop.

Source: medium.com

New Technologies Used by Businesses in 2021

Now that we know how implementing new technologies in a business can help increase profits, improve processes, and grow company operations, it’s time to look into some new technologies worth investing in.

1. Cybersecurity

Everything can go to waste when assets are not protected. Since the trend in business documentation, collaboration and communication prompt companies to process them in a virtual space, a sort of cybersecurity technology should be employed.

The most advanced antivirus software today, developed by world-leading brands like AVG, Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, and Avast, has features that meet the most stringent security standards and fight the newest threat of viruses and malware that are used by hackers.

Encryption is also one way to add a layer of protection to your documents saved online as well as your office computers. Bigger businesses are also using machine learning and AI to detect abnormal activities in their network as well as attempts of hacking.

Source: teachera.org

2. Artificial Intelligence + Machine Learning + Behavioral Analytics

Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are utilized by CRM analytics tools to know more about consumers. 

They provide more accurate and valuable data than traditional methods on consumer behaviour, wishes, and expectations. 

Businesses can then leverage this information and improve their services and products to provide the best customer experience.

3. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Speaking of customer experience, nothing beats first-hand testing of products and services in convincing consumers to buy products like new technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR). 

Customers don’t want to waste their money. That’s why they need to know about the product or service before they finally purchase it. In order to give them the best preview of a service or product, some businesses are already using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality to bring products and information to life.

For instance, Nike has been using a VR app to let their customers see how a pair of shoes will look like on them even without shopping in their physical stores. On the other hand, numerous training institutes are using augmented reality to give people a realistic and immersive pre-training overview.

Source: business.com

4. Productivity Software and Apps

Productivity software and apps should be a basic technology that all businesses should invest in. Since the rise of computers, pen and paper documentation has become a thing of the past. And being on the computer, you’ll need a complete suite of apps for documentation.

Microsoft Office apps are the most popular productivity tools today. The suite provides apps for creating different documents on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They can be saved in different file formats to suit the requirements of your clients. Also, they now come with other advanced features that help streamline time management and collaboration within and beyond the office walls.

Conclusion

For an entrepreneur who wants his company to stay successful in business and stand side by side with the large companies in the field, investing in new technologies is a must. 

Keeping up with the latest technological changes is the key to any successful enterprise. 

The right technology can increase your company’s flexibility and profits, streamline operations, help you cope with changes in the marketplace, and hence, keep your company relevant in the eyes of consumers.