Small businesses can’t just press “pause” when new technologies emerge or as trends and external conditions change. So often, retailers must adjust their approach mid-stride, and deciding on your next step can be a challenge. Innovations has taken centre stage. With advancements in machine learning and AI, businesses of all sizes can readily adapt to evolving customer preferences and behaviours. Here are the top trends I think small to mid-sized businesses should watch this year and consider what may be useful to your own business.
The on-demand, or app economy as others call it, started way back in 2008. And, this is one of the biggest business trends to intensify in 2020. People want to get products and services almost immediately, more and more. And, as COVID-19 rapidly influenced customer behaviour in a matter of weeks, on-demand solutions saw a surge.
Today, about 49% of adult consumers avoid leaving their homes. Also, 50% of them work entirely or partially from home. Social distancing is being observed by around 57% of consumers. Digital solutions are being used to purchase important supplies. In fact, markets registered a 27% increase in sales from non-perishable groceries and 25% for frozen foods and also in household and cleaning supplies. Furthermore, a 12% increase registered in the sale of perishable groceries as well.
Trend 1: Sustainable, resilient operations
Every organization must seek to eliminate or reduce the environmental costs of doing business. Decarbonizing the supply chain is a sensible place to start, but forward-thinking businesses are looking beyond the supply chain to improve sustainability across all business operations. And of course, sustainability is linked to resilience, since resilience means being able to adapt and survive for the long term. Any business that ignores sustainability is unlikely to do well in this age of conscious consumption.
Trend 2: The balance between human workers and intelligent robots
We now have increasingly capable robots and AI systems that can take on tasks that were previously done by humans. This leaves employers with some key questions: how do we find the balance between intelligent machines and human intelligence? What roles should be given over to machines? Which roles are best suited to humans? There’s no doubt that automation will affect every industry, so business leaders must prepare their organizations – and their people – for the changing nature of work.
Trend 3: The shifting talent pool and changing employee experience
The way we work is evolving, with more younger people entering the workforce, more gig workers, and more remote workers. In their book The Human Cloud, Matthew Mottola and Matthew Coatney argue that traditional full-time employment will be a thing of the past, as organizations shift to hiring people on a contract basis – with those contractors working remotely.
Trend 4: Purposeful business
Linked to authenticity, this trend is all about ensuring your organization exists to serve a meaningful purpose – and not just serve up profits to shareholders. Purpose defines why the organization exists. (Not what the organization is or what it does or for whom. Therefore, purpose is different to mission and vision.) Importantly, a strong purpose has the promise of transformation or striving for something better – be it a better world, a better way to do something, or whatever is important to your organization.
Trend 5: Co-opetition and integration
We live in a time where pretty much anything can be achieved by outsourcing. The global business world has never been so integrated. And it’s a good job, because the need to work together to solve key business challenges (not to mention humanity’s biggest challenges) is great. Indeed, in the future, it will become increasingly difficult to succeed without really close partnerships with other organizations. In practice, this means greater supply chain integration, more data integration and sharing of data between organizations, and even cooperation between competitors
Online purchases with home delivery increased. And, so did online purchases for store pick-ups. In fact, a 20% increase in spending was recorded for frozen food delivery while a 7% increase in online spending for pick-ups. There was a 17% increase in online spending for perishable grocery delivery, as well as a 9% increase in online spending on pick-ups.
Consumer behaviour has changed dramatically. Today, people spend significantly more time playing games, following the news, and on their hobbies. And, generally, more time has been spent on online shopping and social media. This change in priorities may result in long-lasting effects as 50% of consumers are trying out new products, 48% are acquiring health and fitness habits, and 28% are picking up new hobbies.
As social media use became rampant, these social networks evolved to have a distinct minority that more or less holds sway over brand perception and purchasing decisions. These are the influencers. And, they are not necessarily celebrities; they start as normal social media users who create engaging content with ample brand-related usage. So, they seem to be more relatable than celebrities. They grow their followers to a point where their content creation gets sponsored by the very brands that they use and believe in. And, they also get discovered and sponsored by brands that want to penetrate their communities.
