Digital Marketplaces and Small Business Growth

 Things are moving faster and new technology is appearing all the time. Because “do it or close it” is the option for many companies today, managers are searching for solutions to save money and increase their productivity. Choosing optimal employees was the first concern: “Do we need full-time staff for basic tasks?” Digitalization helps solve this, with Digital Marketplaces and Small Business Growth enabling more efficient, scalable solutions.

Businesses are transforming into the digital age which uses modern technologies to enhance business systems, raise productivity and communicate better with customers. A primary part of digitalization is making it easier and more comfortable for clients to interact with the company. So, depending on the definition of digitalization of business, we can add that it might also lead to these objectives. In recent times, more executives and business owners are becoming aware that their companies need changes. Trying to stop universal digitalization is pointless - we must accept it. It is important for companies to know how to incorporate it.

Digitalization of business

Image Source: Freepik.com

This is an area that is vital for the development of a new global technological breakthrough. By decreasing expenses and making production more efficient to protect the environment and save human, money and time resources as well as raise the general standard of living. Organizations that wait to start digital transformation will soon become ineffective and will be overtaken by more advanced and practical "digital" competitors. In 2023, IBM and Microsoft joined forces to help businesses get business digitalization tools for a more affordable price. Companies also gain from these practices - let’s go through some examples.

Clients buying 10 gingerbread cookies at the factory every month include Sergey. The one-time event for Alice is buying 1 gingerbread cookie. If the company offers countless products to many customers, it must arrange production by planning orders, so specialists are required to check consumer trends and make predictions. One algorithm can now analyze customer actions, the changing supply of goods and their usual buying habits every minute which helps make an estimate of the next month. By digitizing its logistics activities, a company has an excellent chance to cut down on costs now. After all, when the gingerbread has expired, it can’t interest anyone and losing the client means that business is over.

What is business digitalization

Image Source: Freepik.com

A big part of internal and external communications is automated as a business becomes more digital. Besides logistics, automating processes at the company such as partnering with contractors, is also possible. Formerly, these functions had to be performed. Using robots for customer service has the power to bring a company back from a serious crisis. A recent example is Best Buy which was once heavily influenced by Amazon investing in technology. Nobody could tell back then how CD seller would compete with a mainstream global online retailer.

This came about because the business processes at the enterprise were made digital. But the most important aspect was that the system automatically gathered and analyzed customer information. All the data from each visitor click enabled the company to cater to people as personally as possible. Yes, these days, Best Buy offers more advice and support than products for sale. References to big data, machine learning and robotics tend to make small and medium business owners reach for their wallets. It makes sense - back then, only huge companies hired teams of programmers to fill whole floors. Now, small and medium companies can digitize and work online and school students can do this as well.

The Importance of Implementing Digitalization

Image Source: Freepik.com

These new tools enable fast and efficient robot setup which can be used in most industries. Some might think: why does a beauty salon need to use digital tools? Here’s the most basic example: Nobody will give you a detailed roadmap for how to carry out digitalization. Knowing the business well allows you to choose the right goal and build a strategy for digitalizing the business. When moving toward digitalization, you must understand that you might make “wrong” decisions and handle them calmly.

These challenges are normal with change and while avoiding them is good, digital adoption is inevitable sooner or later. Initially, check all business activities and core assets to find out if all departments, production lines and communication systems are working well. Consider what digital technologies can do to make it better. Now, the company should clearly define what achievement it wants to reach by using digital tools. Figure out the main steps to reach the goal. Taking care and thinking thoroughly is very important to avoid any risks.

Conclusion

Image Source: Freepik.com

While designing a strategy, you need to keep in mind that new technology should mainly improve the way you handle business tasks, not fully change them. Set up a well-defined framework of what needs to be accomplished and how you will know it is accomplished for every process. Describe what success looks like at the end of the project. Some prefer to name this system defining key results (OKR), but it doesn’t have to be called that; you can make up your own terms. The goal is to identify a target and use fulfillment numbers such as how to save money and time and how to make customers happier. Applying all this advice should let you get the expected effect.

This came about because the business processes at the enterprise were made digital. But the most important aspect was that the system automatically gathered and analyzed customer information. All the data from each visitor click enabled the company to cater to people as personally as possible. Yes, these days, Best Buy offers more advice and support than products for sale. References to big data, machine learning and robotics tend to make small and medium business owners reach for their wallets. It makes sense - back then, only huge companies hired teams of programmers to fill whole floors. Now, small and medium companies can digitize and work online and school students can do this as well.