Being a business owner means keeping up to date with all the latest news and current trends, this can be detrimental to keeping customers coming in. We have compiled a list of the current trends, what they could mean for your business and how to implement them into your sales.
Economy Shift
These past couple of years have been one hell of a journey, probably the strangest time you have and will have known. During the pandemic the economy shifted massively and now a massive 49% of people would rather stay at home and order online than go out to a physical shop. Up to 50% also work fully or partially from home.
With social distancing still in place in most areas thousands of people are turning to online shopping. This could be great for your business, promote everything you can online and share, share, share! If you own a physical shop, consider creating and online shop to run along it, you will be amazed at how many sales you will get!
Contactless Payments
As stated above, the current pandemic doesn’t seem to be disappearing any time soon and with the vast spread consumers are having to abide by regulations of minimal contact to stop the spread, this is where contactless payments were implemented. Contactless has been around for years but recently the cap has been raised meaning people can do bigger shops with just a tap of their card. So many people are worried about becoming ill and this really shows in statistics.
Since the pandemic started the amount of people using cash has dropped to as little as 17%, if you don’t have a payment system that includes contactless in your business you could be losing thousands. Experts have said they do not believe the contactless trend to end when the pandemic does so it really is worth investing if you haven’t already.
Social Commerce Growth
As we have already discussed online shops have been booming since the start of the pandemic, but did you know sales through Facebook and other social media platforms have also massively increased? Studies showed 87% of commerce shoppers get the inspiration from social media when it comes to shopping online. If you share a good review people are going to want to also try the product out, the more it is shared, the more people see it.
With more and more people turning to social media platforms nowadays it is very apparent how much impact this will have on businesses that also have social media, be sure to advertise on all platforms, offer competitions and always reply to any negative or positive feedback.
Collaborations
This is one that also heavily relies on social media, influencers are everywhere! It takes a lot to gather a following but once you have it your influence can do wonders for yours and other people’s businesses. Collaborations have been on the rise since the pandemic, this is because it is so easy to do remotely.
Influencers start as normal social media users who create engaging content with brand-related usage. So, they seem to be more relatable than celebrities, people then fall in love with these influencers and will do or buy almost anything they advertise. Be sure to check the current trends of who is out there and always offer the influencer something in return. Getting them on board is a very subtle way to promote your business but it really will steer thousands your way.
More Focus on Mental Health
I hate to call this one a ‘trend’ because it is so, so important. But since the start of the lockdown mental health has hit the news several times. Employers are focusing more on employee’s happiness and there are so many more ways to get help if you are struggling than a few years ago.
Researchers found that employees are happiest when they feel they are contributing to meaningful work. Therefore, this requires them to have a clear sense of mission and vision of the company, something to always remember when owning a business if you are thinking of hiring. Among companies in the US, the top five with the happiest employees are
- Netflix
- Bloomberg
- ServiceNow
- Tesla
You could research how these companies have made their employees so happy and implement some of their techniques into your own business.
With AI around us everywhere, nowadays owning a business can be super hard work, but going online and avoiding contact is the way to go for the foreseeable future. These tips will hopefully help your business grow to new strengths.
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