One of the things we take for granted these days is the humble smartphone – it’s easy to forget the full range of its capabilities and features, which only continue to expand every year. Think of the number of separate items that have been packed into a single svelte device. To name just a few: a camera, watch, calendar, notebook, miniature TV, speakers, mp3 player, gaming console, calculator… and more! Even the computing capabilities of a modern smartphone would be considered to be on par with a supercomputer of the past.
The ever-increasing feature set of smartphones serves as a good analogy for the digital shift we’ve seen across the world. We use our smartphones to store and keep track of everything important to us in our personal lives – contacts, photos, music, appointments, and more – without worrying about losing any of this data, since it can be easily synced across devices.
Recent events have resulted in an even more significant change in consumer behaviours, with online activity and transactions increasing significantly – a report from ACI Worldwide showed that global ecommerce transactions grew 81 percent in May compared to the same period last year, whilst April saw a staggering 209 percent growth in a similar comparison. However, many small business owners aren’t adopting the same digital mindset when it comes to their businesses, and aren’t considering how the smartphone has become a powerful business enabler. Many still think that digitisation means huge investments in IT infrastructure and personnel, which is simply no longer the case. Perhaps more important than the in-built features that I had mentioned above are the apps that smartphones allow access to – powerful yet cost-efficient ways of bringing small businesses into the digital era.