As technology advances, customer demands for the latest tech increase too. For businesses, keeping up with the latest tech trends ensures that you can give your customers what they want. It also help retain a competitive edge and embrace the fast-paced changes to stay relevant in the industry. If your business does not keep up with the changing technology, you face the risk of being left behind.

Here are a few ways in which you can keep your business up to date with the latest technology:

Be prepared

It is essential to offer you’re your customers with products and services built with the latest technology. Innovating and improving products and services with the latest technology prepares your business for the future. Web technology, Mobile applications and new features such as AI, VR and AR can dramatically add value to customer experiences.
 
Don’t forget to check: How To Bulletproof Your Digital Business With Technology

Follow trends

Technology update is not a one-time thing. It keeps evolving. New trends are constantly around the corner. Having all this information gives you an insight into what you should include in your business growth strategies. Following latest trends will ensure that you are ready for what the future may bring in terms of technology.

 

Check out the competition

With competition getting fiercer, it is getting more and more important to understand what technology are others in a similar business using. This will ensure that you and offering similar or better services to your customers with advanced technology solutions. Checking out the competitors will help you strategize better about your tech strategy.

Keeping your business updated with the latest technology is beneficial in many ways. It enables businesses to offer better services to their customers and stay relevant in a fiercely competitive business world. Latest technology will ensure that your business is future ready.

As smartphones become more accessible and high-speed internet is no longer a premium infrastructure in many countries, users are now directly connected to the internet. This easy access to the internet has given a boost to mobile shopping. Many brands are hence embracing mobile commerce on top of the eCommerce platforms. Shopping apps with easy to browse catalogs are becoming more and more popular.

The emergence of mobile commerce changes how brick and mortar businesses operate. It’s important to note that mobile commerce growth is steadily increasing hitting an estimated $284 billion or 45% of eCommerce at the end of 2021. The mobile payments market is also catching on. This means that the likelihood of people making mobile purchases on their smartphones is also huge.

Wide audience

The sheer number of mobile users is reason enough to motivate businesses to embrace eCommerce and introducing mobile shopping as a part of their sales strategy.

Enhanced user experience

Use experience is one of the main reasons for increased conversions. Various technologies can be used like AR that makes shopping experiences more immersive and interesting.

Customer support availability

With the aid of a chatbot and messenger app, business owners can support their customers even outside business hours. Customer support bots have grown in intelligence and intuitiveness making these bots more efficient in dealing with common queries.

Variety of payment methods

Customers have a number of payment methods when it comes to M-commerce. Whether it is a conventional credit card or PayPal, it can be integrated into the mobile store.

You can also read : Mobile App with Online Ordering for Your Local Business

With the entire world owning some or the other kind of mobile devices, businesses cannot afford to not have a mobile strategy. Mobile shopping is definitely becoming popular by the day and most businesses are reaping the benefits from going mobile!

When the whole world literally came to a halt in 2020, but rather than causing any destruction in the retail world – it provided a boost to this industry in the online world. The entire volume of retail growth reallocated to the E-Commerce channels, which enjoyed an 18% bump in total growth. This growth cannot be accredited solely to the pandemic. The world has seen steady progress towards the online for well over a decade. In the aftermath of a year filled with social distancing and quarantines, the retail industry looks to emerge as a changed entity. Let’s look at what the future holds for the E-Commerce industry:

Voice commerce will catch on

Voice commerce uses voice assistants such as Alexa or Siri to give shoppers a hands-free shopping experience. In a world of contactless and social distancing, voice shopping will be a great addition to E-Commerce.

New demographics will embrace this trend

Voice commerce has enjoyed success in the E-Commerce industry. However, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the older demographics, as they are required to adhere to strict quarantine measures. But they still need groceries and essential items. This will encourage the use of E-Commerce solutions and hence the use of voice commerce.

Increased socialization with E-Commerce experiences will be expected

E-Commerce has undoubtedly been a life raft for many who were stuck at home. It’s probably been the only surviving tool. Although it is very convenient and quick, – at its core it is a very impersonal experience. E-Commerce and voice commerce will find its applications for enhancing online shopping experiences.

AR shopping to emerge

E-Commerce has become a significant retail channel. Technology does not stay static for long. Modern devices with advanced capabilities will enable a lot more AR functions. AR is one of the technologies that will be a game-changer for the E-Commerce industry in 2022.

Predictions cannot be 100% accurate, but it’s true that 2022 with set the stage for new and advanced features that will take E-Commerce experiences to the next level.

Developing an excellent product and a great sales strategy is only half the battle won for a business. Providing good customer support after you have sold a product is also important. Shopping is not merely a transaction – the entire experience counts. By providing excellent customer support you can offer your customers better experiences while shopping with your brand. Shoppers that ‘feel good’ while making a purchase, will definitely be back for more.

There are 4 key reasons why customer support is important for your online business

  • It adds value to your product
  • It increases customer retention leading to recurring revenue
  • Results in positive brand image
  • Boosts employee moral
  • Adds value to your brand

What exactly is good customer support and why is it essential?

Customer support empowers customers through the entire purchasing process and post purchase experiences. It helps you better assist customers who are interested in purchasing your product by offering quick and accurate answers. Next, it is also useful during the purchasing process. You can provide customers with orders, errors while placing orders, or provide better package tracking details. Lastly, you can offer customers with support if they face any issues post purchase. You can make cancellations and returns easy to process or offer the ability to exchange faulty products.

A good product or service can only get you so far. If you add good customer support to the equation, the value of your offering as well as your brand instantly increases. It also has the potential to reduce negative reviews. This added value translates to increased revenue and customer retention.

With customer support, businesses can offer a lot more than sales transactions. You can give them a reason to love your products and your business!

Local departmental stores are the most popular businesses and dominate the market in a particular area. The main reason is their accessibility and simple approach, hassle free buying experiences, friendly behaviour and most importantly, emotional attachment of the customers. Especially those who are regular customers, it’s a matter of trust and loyalty too. But, this model of operation is highly contact based. Times have changed and there is a need to change this model of operation too. With the increasing emphasis on contactless operations for local businesses, how can local businesses maintain their existing customer base’s loyalty and trust?

The answer is – by offering them with easier and convenient means to contact them without actually visiting the store. Lokaly offers exactly this.

In a contactless safe distancing world, Lokaly helps take your local store online and helps keep your regular customers. You can instantly take your products online and accept online payments too.

Here’s what you get with Lokaly:

Completely White-label solution – create your very own store. Lokaly can be completely rebranded -with your specific branding requirements.

Customized & Branded Solution on App Store – Although you can simply download and use as – is, Lokaly can also be customized if need be. You can add your store specific features that caters to your customer base.

Your own Marketplace subscription model – It’s usually a notion that mobile applications are bound to be costly. This is where Lokaly differs from the expensive development options. You can simply pay as you go!

Customizable Features – If your business requires features that are not built in the product, we can customize it and include the features you wish.

Increase your revenue – Apart from your regular customers, a mobile store will enable you to increase your customer base and revenues!

Ensure your business continuity in the Lockdown or stay home period – sign up for a solution that can take your business online within a few clicks!

Attracting customers to your online store requires smart marketing techniques to engage and convert them to long-term buyers. Over the past 12 months, online sales have skyrocketed – mainly because, the whole world has been locked down and people are confined to their homes. The regular stores had been shut down too. The online marketplaces however thrived. So, if you already have an online store, here are some smart marketing tips to keep your existing customers and attract new ones to drive epic growth for your business. Ecommerce purchases have accounted for 16% of all the sales in the US last year. The eCommerce sales are predicted to keep growing even in the post COVID era.

Content personalization – If your store is online, it is very important to note that content is the main driver for your customers. So, content personalization is one trend to look out for. When you display products that are relevant to the customer buying at your store – they are urged to buy and you get increased sales.

Audience, Competition, and trends – create your marketing strategies with your audience in mind. It’s also essential to do complete competition analysis. Check the latest trends and create a comprehensive plan for your products.

Social media – social media is one of the most trending places today. People share what they purchased, how they found it, and what were their experiences while they used the product. Ensure that your products are talked about on social media!

Emails – emails are more powerful than we think. They can be used to target new customers, retarget the old ones, and also used as reminders for abandoned shopping carts. These are a powerful means of getting people to buy more.

So, if you have already taken your store online – there were a few smart ways to do more with your store to drive sales.

The restaurant business is hyper-local and the lockdown made them close shop and depend on take away orders for sustaining. Not many restaurants were prepared for an online model of operation. But, with the pandemic and the lockdown that followed, it became imperative for restaurants to take the leap and go online quickly. This is exactly where Lokaly can help:

Instant setup

Lokaly helps quickly set up an online restaurant that can instantly enable you to reach out to your customers. Take-away and food delivery options help keep these restaurants afloat even in times of crisis. Restaurants can create an online food ordering system and share their latest menu items with customers.

Discounts and offers

One way to ensure customer loyalty is to offer special offers and discounts on various items on the menu. The Lokaly app enables you to quickly set up discounts and offers. You can update combos, bestsellers, enable users to find various cuisines, and get a restaurant list by selecting cuisines.

Attract new customers & keep the old

Discounts and offers not only attract new customers but also help retain the existing ones. Further, they offer a great means to give value to customer’s money. Discounts not only add to the overall customer experience but also help boost sales and improve your engagements with customers.

Lokaly offers restaurants the one ingredient that could enable you to not only go from a brick and mortar model to an online model with great features to support better customer experiences and drive more sales – even in times of crisis. Customers tend to trust their regular restaurants and seeing your mobile application that offers all their favourite menu items for online order placement will definitely create a positive impact and drive more sales.

Get your restaurant online instantly with Lokaly!

Lokaly is a ready-to-use marketplace where local businesses and departmental stores, grocery stores etc. can take their store online within a few clicks. Recently, we implemented this solution for a US based grocery store for delivery service to their local customers.

The client was able to take grocery delivery to the next level via a website and mobile app to give their customers the convenience of shopping south Asian groceries online.

The solution also provides fast and contactless payments which are a need of the hour.

Lokaly offers a white label solution which is completely re-brandable and customizable too.

Here’s what grocery stores can do to make it their own:

Branding – With Lokaly, customers could create an online store – complete with products, colour palette, logo, currency options and a lot more re-branding options were added. The customer could add all their branding and personalization elements easily to set up shop online.

Quick to launch – Lokaly is a ready product with excellent features to help businesses who wish to go to market quickly. Rather than spending months on the development of an eCommerce platform from scratch, Lokaly offers departmental stores and grocery stores a ready-to-use and ready-to-launch platform. Businesses can instantly upload products and begin selling!

Completely customizable – Although Lokaly is a ready-to-use platform, it also offers a means to customize features as per your business requirements.

Despite the pandemic and the lockdown that shut down the whole world, client saw an opportunity that could enable them to keep in touch with their customers. Creating an online presence instantly enabled them to take their grocery store online.

Lokaly has many such successful implementations. To understand more about our products and services you can drop us an email at info@lokaly.in or call us at +91 79 40007881 and our experts will be happy to help you with your requirements.

Lokal stores form a high percentage of local businesses – anywhere in the world. These local stores offer a simple approach, friendly customer service, and hassle free buying experiences. Many times, these local stores also offer door-step delivery, easy pick-up, and emotional attachment with the local residents within that particular area.

But, ever since the pandemic shut the world down in early 2020, local stores were the first to shut down. These local stores such as grocery, vegetable and fruit stores, and pharmaceutical stores were the first to get impacted as customers couldn’t go out and they had no immediate means to go online to take orders and deliver goods. This is exactly where Lokaly can help.

Lokaly ensures that customers get easier access to their favourite stores and adhere to the safe distancing rules by making online payments too.

Now where businesses are moving towards delivering the best customer experience with the help of Advanced technology. Using Artificial Intelligence or AI it is possible. Different form of AI provides predictive analysis, understands customer’s behaviour and shopping patterns. Based on that businesses can sense and predict their customer’s needs accurately on very large scale.

Lokaly is implementing AI-based Dashboard that help businesses to understand their customers, sales and order pattern more efficiently.
  • Top products sold via Lokaly
  • Products ordered together
  • Products peak hours where it sold the most
  • Days of the week product X sold most
  • Top reordered products

This is how Lokaly – Super App help their sellers to provide new kind of customer service and sell based on proven future trends and analytics.

It seems overwhelming – to take an entire store online. But, that’s just it. It’s not as overwhelming as it seems. The cost is one of the major factors that make mobile and web stores seem out of reach for small businesses and local departmental stores. This is exactly where Lokaly can help. Lokaly empowers sellers to derive maximum benefits from the Digital movement. Local departmental stores can easily go online within a few clicks and set up their mobile presence. This takes their products right into the hands of customers.

The good part is, the pricing is seller friendly. If you wish to take your store online with Lokaly, there are a number of ways to make this possible. Firstly, choose what kind of store you would like to set up. Here’s what Lokaly has to offer to make your transition online less daunting in terms of the price you pay for the technology and software.

Lokaly is a ready to use mobile store where departmental stores can easily create their stores and serve their local customers. Here are the pricing models For B2C:

  • No Set-Up Cost
  • No Commission on Orders
  • No Transaction Fee
  • No Restriction on Features
  • No Minimum Commitment
  • No Infrastructure Cost
  • No Maintenance Cost
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Customers
  • Unlimited Staff Users

Lokaly is a complete package for those who wish to start quick and sell fast. It is based on a subscription model and allows users to pay as they use. It has customizable features and can be made to look unique for every store that is created.

In times of crisis – when the whole world is ‘at home’ and there is a tinge of fear to venture out into the streets, departmental stores took the initial hit. Lokaly is one way to take your products to your customers – especially since they cannot come to you!