The cash register was formerly the most sophisticated technology in most retail establishments, yet it was nothing more than a calculator with a cash drawer. It’s a new day! The consumer experience has been altered by mobile shopping applications, self-service kiosks, and more. The employment experience is often relatively low-tech. Therefore, as long as consumers desire to buy in shops, we’ll need real people to welcome, assist, and ring up their purchases.

Fewer retailers are using new technology in frontline personnel processes. With smart workplace technology integration, you can enable your sales associates to work more intelligently, efficiently, and effectively to support your brand and clients. However, you’ll need all the edge you can get, now that the USPS is promising even slower, messier delivery.

Modern technology is changing the rules for frontline staff in three ways.

1. Keeping technology in order.

If your workers can’t keep up with everyday activities like stocking stores and scrubbing restrooms, customers will suffer.

Many businesses now use task-management applications with reminders and even gamification to help staff remain on track. Instead of confusing lists pinned to break room bulletin boards, managers may utilize analytics to predict worker needs and online calendars to openly handle shift assignments.

But employers should be cautious. Salespeople aren’t interchangeable cogs, and you can’t expect them to be delighted if a computer rearranges their schedule or alters their shifts at the last minute.

Therefore, they utilize technology to listen to their employees and create fair timetables, enabling people to voice their preferences and preserve a feeling of autonomy.

2. Promoting new forms of connectivity.

ABC stands for “always be connected” for today’s sales teams.

Great teams join together and share their ideas, know-how, and insights to become more than the sum of their parts. Connectivity allows employees to learn from one another, fix errors, and push each other to new heights.

Of course, technology makes this possible. You can’t genuinely cooperate if your only chances to connect are all-hands meetings or daily breaks.

Instead, we have news feeds, instant messaging, push alerts, and social media. It enables managers to listen and learn from their staff. It enables us to collaborate in real-time, turning sales teams into a cohesive unit focused on success.

3. AI augmentation.

While AI may not seem like a natural match for retail personnel, there are several ways that AI may help frontline staff.

So, instead of traversing the aisles with a clipboard and stitching your notes together later in Excel, machine vision can manage inventory. Consequently, improve displays based on photographs collected in seconds by smartphone and automatically stitched together.

As a result of their performance and the experiences of others in the business, machine learning can intelligently curate the optimal learning experience for every employee. Consequently, AI systems can pool data from numerous shops.

Moreover, AI can quickly identify abnormalities like underperforming SKUs, price problems, inventory difficulties, and offering fixes.

Integrating AI capabilities into sales staff operations allows them to do extraordinary things.

Retail associates are technology educators.

Assisting retail associates with technology may improve their experience by increasing efficiency, decreasing active labor, and allowing them to think creatively and interact.

However, the goal is to integrate these technologies into a sales associate’s daily routine. Beginning with checking their online schedule to traversing the shop floor to check inventory.

Therefore, discuss a fresh idea or finish their shift by reading a learning resource to improve their skills. Right present, every retailer has labor concerns.

Recruiting and retaining brilliant workers will be simpler for merchants who consider their frontline personnel genuine knowledge workers. That is to say, provide them with intelligent mobile tools.

Giving retail employees digital superpowers and eliminating tedious work and hassles would help them learn quicker. Additionally, they stay happier, more engaged, and more likely to stick around.

After all, you rely on them to represent your brand, promote your goods, and build consumer connections. Therefore, this profession demands intellect, charm, efficiency, and competence. Employees, consumers, and the company benefit from incorporating cutting-edge technology into retail workers’ workflows.

In the end…

Keep checking your technology pulse. Don’t allow your business to get behind the 8 ball.

Make sure your small business knows how to keep up with the fintech crowd. Consumers will pay more for exceptional service, so just make sure you’re the first provider that comes to mind!

The post Technology Changes Retail Frontline Experience appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Even though small company owners confront great challenges, such as the ongoing supply chain issue, they continue to bounce back. And customers continue to support them. Even though finances can be troublesome.

As recently as last month, the National Retail Federation predicted that over 58 million people would shop on Small Business Saturday. Marketers had a chance to recover and reassess how to best serve the rising small company sector during the previous year.

We wanted to discover how small firms were reacting to the present climate, preparing for the future, and encouraging innovation. Recently, Forbes polled 500 small company owners in the United States to provide marketers with the information they required to effectively serve this market.

And, based on the statistics, the mood is upbeat!

Despite the fact that 41% of owners reported low growth last year, over half believe their company emerged stronger than before the pandemic. According to the same study, small company owners will be spending in five areas in the next year. What exactly are they?

Customer Satisfaction Challenges

Customers are at the forefront of small company owners’ digital developments. In the Forbes Small Business Survey, more than 80% of respondents stated they would concentrate on customer experience next year. One-third of respondents responded that the primary purpose of new technology investments is to serve more consumers.

Small company owners want to empower their teams when deciding what technology to invest in. Three out of four aim to improve their workers’ ability to create transformational client experiences.

It’s no surprise that many small company owners are turning to data to improve their client experience and reach a larger audience. According to our poll, 45% of respondents want to acquire consumer analytics software next year.

Initiatives Promoting Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

Brands will continue to prioritize diversity, equality, and inclusion next year, regardless of their size.

Despite this, 62% of small company owners want to invest in additional DE&I efforts in 2022, according to our poll. While Forbes is not a small business, it’s providing a good example for promoting a diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive workplace while assisting small companies. Forbes EQ is a dedicated area for companies, entrepreneurs, and charitable organizations.

Supporting underrepresented groups to share their experiences and insights with Forbes.com widens its audience through the BrandVoice content marketing platform.

The Challenge of Technology

According to 78% of poll respondents, technology will be a major investment challenge in 2022.

It’s perhaps no surprise that technology would be front and center for small company owners. However, they have no intention of investing in just any technology. Research also revealed that a staggering 80% of companies have invested in the cloud or intend to do so in the next year.

What is the primary goal of all of these investments? To service a more significant number of customers — and to do so successfully.

Workforce and Talent

Small company owners now aim to improve their employee experience, with 73% of owners predicting that personnel would be a major challenge and investment in 2022.

To empower their workers, 36% said they’ll concentrate on enhancing mental health and well-being while 35% said they’d focus on promoting work-life balance.

More than three-quarters of chief experience officers (CxOs) claimed they’ve already enhanced parental leave. CxOs have created clear limits around working hours to recruit and retain female talent. With “The Great Resignation” continuing in full gear, small companies will continue to prioritize talent in 2022.

2022 has arrived, and smaller companies are eagerly embracing it.

As an entrepreneur or small company owner, you need to be a futurist. Think past today. Imagine tomorrow, then act on your intuition, no matter how far-fetched.

Marketers will also need to be futurists in order to target small enterprises. Small businesses faced difficult times as a result of the epidemic. We’ve seen and heard about several firms that found creative methods to adapt and prosper.

Salesforce, the world’s largest cloud-based software firm, saw this coming a long time ago. At the height of the epidemic, Salesforce wanted to encourage small companies. They hoped to encourage them to keep pushing ahead while also recognizing those who had already made significant progress. This key action yielded great results.

So…find your blissful state when it comes to the modest requirements you have. Or, go big if you have the guts for it and are not risk-averse or fearful of challenge. Always remember that the longest journey begins with that single, first step.

The post Challenges to Small Business Owners in 2022 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Steady Rise of SMBs

In the beginning, there was apparently no such thing as SMBs, an acronym for “small to midsize businesses.” Some said it was a concept only dimly dreamed of by technical advisors, financial finaglers, and wild-eyed college professors.

So what happened? In all likelihood, someone in an MBA program got the bright idea to initialize a concept. They then took that concept to a thesis advisor, at which point the academic world was turned on its ears as the idea became more solidified.

This may sound like a lot of gibberish to those who do not own or operate a small business, but it should still ring true to anyone who has ever attempted to implement an ill-defined goal only to find that castles in the clouds do not translate well to ROI.

No Small Controversy

The whole matter descended into an embarrassing broil of controversy several years ago.

Social media can be thanked for opening up that particular SMBS can of worms. First Facebook and then Twitter began posting content that questioned the authenticity of SMBs. In fact, the whole thrust of this trolling campaign was that the category of “SMBs” as such didn’t exist at all. Amazingly, there are many groups who still believe that today.

So where do SMBs go when they need practical help and support? How can they obtain the advice and counsel they’re looking for to make a decent living?

How Can SMBs Get the Help They Need?

When the pandemic hit small businesses so hard last year, there was a flood of information on how to survive and even thrive during a disaster. Remember Chernobyl? It’s the same principle. For the small business owner, it simply meant keeping your head down and not giving up. This has always been the strength of the modest American business enterpriser.

For starters, SMBs need help in not seeming out of place when someone mentions the most recent craze. (You don’t want to be the one who responds with the statement that your “data fabric” is cotton, do you?)

Gartner has released its list of the 12 most important strategic technology trends for 2022, divided into three categories: growth, change, and trust. Let’s take a look at some of the ones you might want to pay particular attention to. Here are five technological small business trends that will be important in the New Year.

1. TX Stands for “Total Experience” in Business

This merges all of the Xs into one. The customer experience, the staff experience, and the end-user experience are all merged into a single entity. In Total Experience, each experience’s leader is held equally accountable for the demands of both consumers and staff while working together. The goal is to boost consumer and staff confidence, satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.

2. GAN, a.k.a. Generative Artificial Intelligence

GAN is a machine learning technique that uses machine learning to discover new insights about information or objects without training the model. Additionally, it may generate code, target marketing, identify new goods, and perform other tasks.

3. Hyper-Automation in SMBs

This includes defining tasks that can be computerized and doing them as quickly as feasible, allowing your team to concentrate on more significant challenges or problems you never believed they would be able to handle. According to Gartner, hyper-automation teams should focus on strengthening quality, speeding up decision-making, and objectives for the organization.

4. It’s All About the Data Fabric

The term “fabric” refers to the way we integrate data across platforms and business users. The goal is to make it simple to use the data you already have while also reducing data management requirements.

5. Mesh Network for Cybersecurity

There is no longer such thing as a perimeter, people. Anyone can find your business information anywhere. A cybersecurity mesh architecture, also known as a CSMA, understands this and tries to protect data no matter where it is stored.

Wrapping Up

The list of five above is necessarily incomplete. For example, we could draw at least some attention to the fact that there are other options, such as composable programs and distributed enterprise. Are you interested in learning what they mean for your business? You should be!

Set aside at least an hour or two every business week to study new technologies even if you don’t think they’re immediately applicable to your business. Make notes as you go. You never know when your research might help you gain a competitive edge.

The post Critical Strategic Tech for SMBs in the New Year appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Small Biz Success Story – Hannah Perry of the Giggling Pig

Small business is the engine that drives America’s economic progress, and it’s no secret that people come from other countries in search of the American Dream. In this inspirational story you’ll learn about Hannah Perry, who came to the United States from England with just $15 in her pocket to last her a week. Life was tough but she struggled and found success with her children’s art and after-school studio called Giggling Pig. In this article you can learn about her recipe for success and business advice, plus watch the video interview.

Click to read How Hannah Perry of the Giggling Pig Turned $15 Into Small Business Success.

5 Tips to Become More Profitable

As an entrepreneur, profit is one of your main goals; however, there are many ways you can unknowingly let that profit fall through the cracks. This article has five tips that will improve your profit by filling those cracks, careful planning, and developing healthy financial habits.

Click to read 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Become More Profitable.

Cloud Security Tips

These days 77 percent of business owners are using cloud technology. Cloud software and apps feature benefits such as easy access to business data on the go – however, with that convenience come additional security risks. If you use cloud technology in your business, you’ll want to check out this must-read article that covers 5 important things you should do to increase the security of the business and customer data you store in the cloud.

Click to read 5 Security Tips to Keep Your Business Data Safe in the Cloud.

So what are you looking for this week – perhaps inspiration for your small business journey, financial tips, or cloud security strategies? Explore the articles above, plus check out Smart Hustle for more important small business information.

The post Smart Hustle Recap: Small Biz Success Story, Ways to Increase Profit & Cloud Security Tips appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.