From traditional crafts to video games, every industry and sector has seen huge changes over the last few decades. The technological revolution has touched even the most staid organisations, changing everything about the way we do business from inter-office communication to international banking.
Businesses that embraced new technology got ahead of the game with many establishing themselves in their industry and capitalising on their online presence. Businesses have had to create websites in order to be visible to 21st-century customers and clients, and many organisations have changed the way they operate altogether.
Some industries have been completely revolutionised by the advent of technology, including retail which has completely changed. Gone are the days when a business relied on passing trade and local customers – now, even the smallest, most niche businesses can reach an international market easily.
The impact of technology on businesses
As well as doing business online, many organisations have digitised their internal processes allowing them to operate much more efficiently. Storing data in digital form makes processing and retrieving records much easier, allowing businesses to streamline their operations.
Being able to create a searchable database has made it much easier to manage all kinds of information including:
- Customer contact information
- Product details
- Invoices
- Promotions
- Staff rotas
- Payroll
- Inventory tracking
Being able to store information digitally has made it much easier for businesses to analyse the information they hold. From sales volume to staff absence, the information that can be retrieved from these systems can drive changes to everything from product development to employee incentives.
The era of efficiency
Organisations are at their most cost-effective when they are running efficiently and there are plenty of tools that can be deployed to improve an organisation’s efficiency. The very earliest innovations, such as mail merges, have been refined and improved significantly over the years to allow businesses to use their data as efficiently as possible.
Small businesses might use technology to keep track of stock, calculate prices, and advertise online. Larger organisations can streamline their customer service operations by using artificial intelligence to answer queries and route callers to the correct department.
Whatever size they are, almost any organisation can find some recent technology that will make their day-to-day operations easier, faster, and cheaper. Being able to save time and money on administrative tasks makes it a lot easier to dedicate energy towards things such as product development and future planning.
This is also the case with some of the tasks that are associated with administering a business, such as merging PDFs into a single document. This can help keep files organised and allow them to be stored securely by encrypting them at the same time.
For vital jobs that can be time-consuming, there are often purpose-designed apps that help to achieve the desired outcome with a variety of options and variables that can be customised to make them work effectively.
The change in consumer behaviour
With most of our shopping now taking place online, on-demand entertainment constantly at our fingertips, and the totality of human knowledge available on the phones in our pockets, it’s no surprise that consumer behaviour has changed significantly. Customers have high expectations of the businesses they frequent, asking for everything from stock updates to procurement policies.
The ability to share information and offer customers a higher degree of transparency than ever before gives forward-thinking businesses the edge over their competitors. Consumers are savvier than ever before and many want to know as much about a potential purchase as they can before committing.
From high-speed broadband to renewable energy and augmented reality to real-time travel updates, there are many ways that business innovation can drive positive change. Anyone that works in product development will be familiar with the latest technology and be looking for ways to incorporate new technology into everything from shoes to satellite dishes.