Small businesses in Yorkshire have been on the rise, particularly as entrepreneurs hope to take advantage of consumer shopping habits. 2020 saw a record high for new businesses and experts at the time were hopeful, albeit not optimistic, that this positive trend would continue.
The trepidation of experts would prove correct. Rising costs and supply chain disruptions across the globe have led to many entrepreneurs struggling to take their businesses to the next level.
In preparation for the upcoming challenges, more small businesses are focusing on adopting new technology in the hopes that this will become a stopgap solution against rising costs and labour shortages. What tech upgrades are there? If you’re a small business owner and hope to boost your operations, this list is for you.
Card payment machines
When asked how they most commonly pay for daily purchases, 48% of Yorkshire consumers in a KPMG research said they prefer to use contactless cards. With more than 13,000 digital and tech businesses, Yorkshire is clearly leading the way in adopting digital banking compared to other regions.
Many local stores have thus adapted to the changing market by offering their customers multiple ways to pay for purchases. A card payment machine is a necessity for any business as carrying cash diminishes in popularity. These payment solutions can accept all major debit and credit cards, and more modern innovations can even accept high-value contactless payment methods such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. In addition to online banking and business accounts such as Wire and Fire Accounts, this ensures that you can cater to a variety of customers with different payment channels
Smart tags
Doing physical counts of inventory is a tedious task and can take hours. For some merchants, it also requires closing the store temporarily. This is a waste of a business day and is highly inefficient, especially as the manual process is prone to human error.
To speed up the process, small businesses can invest in smart tags. These allow brands to quickly and accurately count inventory while also facilitating a broad range of other services, from instant in-store checking of product availability to discrete security systems. Customers even spend less time lining up for their purchases, generating more traffic in your store.
Online selling
While brick-and-mortar stores are still the backbone of Yorkshire’s thriving economy, many of today’s consumers depend on the internet when making informed choices about their purchases. YorkshireLive interviewed a couple of successful businesses and found that many had immediately turned to online selling when news of the lockdown in 2019 began. Craft and Berry in Sharrow, Sheffield, had a website ready in just two weeks, which was critical in balancing their books.
This shows us that small businesses must be open-minded to online selling, which has become standard consumer behaviour. Besides websites, marketplaces like Mercari are also available, allowing small businesses to sell their products without paying commissions.
Cybersecurity
The digital age is indeed full of opportunities, but they can also come with threats if we aren’t careful. That is why our previous write-up included a checklist for starting a small business in the UK that described the need to invest in cybersecurity. Consumers are entitled to compensation if they have been victims of a data breach within your business, which can severely damage your books and reputation.
Look toward high-quality software that can protect the sensitive information of your clients. Cloud storage backups, for one, store data separately from the business’ location while still being accessible at any time. This boosts productivity and even helps lessen expenses by minimising paper invoices or abandoned paper payslips.
By prioritising technology adoption, your small business can maximise its potential and growth within the digital era. Do your research beforehand, and you can future-proof operations for the next several decades.