iWhen properly harnessed, technology has the ability to revolutionize businesses. This is especially true for small and medium scale enterprises. Does this mean that technology can negate the effects of bad business strategies, poor management, or inept leadership? No.
However, it does mean that these small businesses that, at least, perform well in most areas can benefit immensely from technology by growing and becoming more effective.
eCommerce companies like Jumia, has employed and deployed technology as well as the internet to bring convenience to the doorsteps of Nigerians over the past 6 years. From humble beginnings as one vertical business that offers online shopping, it has evolved into a company that provides different eCommerce services including hotel and flight bookings, logistics and ordering of food. Thanks to technology. So, how can your business scale technology to do more for less?
Social media
Social media allows businesses to do several things that were nearly impossible to accomplish as a business. Social media allows businesses to observe nearly every aspect of the audience’s behaviour. This gives you a big insight into what your customers’ motivations are. In turn, you can use this knowledge to become a better seller by leveraging the marketing potential of social media.
Analytical tools
There are numerous analytical tools that you can use to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Thanks to the internet, many of these tools can be deployed within a matter of seconds and it is free. For instance, you can gauge the percentage of visitors to your website that browses your site on their mobile browsers or you can assess your page load speeds. When it comes to measuring your company’s key performance indicators, you have enough data. This data can be used to improve your business and you do not need to pay anyone for this data.
Web-based payment systems
Web-based payment systems make it easy to send or receive payments just like Jumia’s payment gateway, Jumia Pay. Jumia Pay offers a flexible and secure payment platform to Jumia customers to make payment for transaction easy. As a result of this newfound payment flexibility, businesses can gain access to entirely new customer segments. Ultimately, this means more clients that you can offer your products and services to just by virtue of accepting another method of payment.
Better marketing campaigns
Digital marketing campaigns have the potential to offer highly specific targeting, immediate results, easy testing environments, and two-way engagements. More importantly, they tend to offer higher returns on marketing spend than some traditional forms of advertising. These characteristics make digital marketing much more accessible to businesses than other types of marketing. One of the reasons online marketing appeals to businesses is that unlike print, radio, or TV advertising, you don’t have to wait until the campaign is over to review campaign results.
Improved customer service
Recent technological advances have made communication and interaction with customers very seamless. Not only is it ridiculously easy to communicate in this day and age, but communicating with your customers is both lightning fast and incredibly affordable. The options are infinite and they include Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and mobile phones. You do not have any excuse for not having a good Net Promoter Score.
– Ogunfowoke, Adeniyi Ayuba| PR Associate | Jumia Travel & Food