As we get closer to the end of another year, it’s time to start thinking about how we are going to better our business throughout the coming year. After all, with every year that passes by, there are new trends and technologies that emerge. With that in mind, read on to discover some of the most important business trends that you should look out for.
The rise of the experience economy
Customers crave experiences. Customers are more willing to spend money on the likes of trips, dinners, and concerts than products. Businesses are, therefore, trying to focus their efforts around this by building an emotional connection with their customers by building an effective sales process map. After all, clients are increasingly looking for businesses that have shared values. They want a business that is going to speak to their emotions and reasons. They want a story.
Owned and operated crowdfunding
Crowdfunding campaigns on third party platforms have been used to fund new projects for creatives, retailers, and other professionals. We expect to see more companies beginning to test crowdfunding on their own platforms.
Greater focus on project management
Over the past few years, project management has become a greater focus for business, and this is only set to continue. An increasing number of businesses will invest in project management training courses, as they recognise the importance of this for the overall success of their business.
Hyper personalised loyalty programs
Loyalty programs have become a key strategy for a lot of businesses throughout the UK and the rest of the world. However, we are likely to see loyalty programs progress further, as the savviest retailers gather heaps of customer information while people shop. They will use this to deliver more personalised loyalty incentives, providing offers that are more likely to engage the specific user in question.
Customer-generated content will become more prevalent
Customers trust user-generated content more than any other type of media. After all, when something comes directly from the company, they view it as a sales pitch. However, when it comes from another customer, they relate, as this person was once in their position. More and more businesses recognise this and are making an effort to include customer generated content on their website. There are number of ways this can be achieved, but generally, businesses will offer customers an incentive to provide content.
Browser extensions will influence competitive pricing
Last but not least, competitive pricing will be influenced by the browser-based extensions that are becoming popular for the likes of coupon aggregation, crosschecking pricing, and product recommendations. This will cause businesses to reassess their current pricing structure so that they can find ways to appeal to customers more via browser add-ons.
So there you have it – some of the top trends we are likely to see make a massive impact on businesses. From customer-generated content to project management training, which of these trends do you think your business
