You might be wondering, what is inventory management? Inventory management refers to the process of ordering, storing, using and selling a company’s inventory. This includes the management of raw materials, components and finished products as well as warehousing and processing of such items. It tries to efficiently streamline inventories to avoid both surpluses as well as shortages. A company’s inventory is one of its most valuable assets. In retail, manufacturing, food services and other inventory intensive sectors, a company’s inputs and finished products are the core of its business. A shortage of inventory when and where it’s needed can be extremely damaging.

That is to say, inventory can be thought of as a liability if not in an accounting sense. A large inventory carries the risk of spoilage, theft, damage, or shifts in demand. That is to say, Inventory must be insured and if it is not sold in time, it may have to be disposed of at clearance prices or simply destroyed.

While the inventory is generally counted by hand, in the modern era, inventory management software has started to make work easier for a lot of businesses. It is a software system for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales and deliveries that isn’t all it can be used for. For example, inventory management software can be used in manufacturing industries to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. In addition, many companies use it to avoid product overstock and shortages. Now that you know what is inventory management, let us move forward to learning more about it.

What Are The Different Types Of Inventory Management?

While you know, what is inventory management, next we will move on to what are the different types of inventory management. Depending on the type of business or product being analysed, a company will use various inventory methods. While these methods are a sub-category of inventory management, most companies have started going digital. SIPL offers custom inventory management software that suits your needs. Below are some of the methods of inventory management:

• Just-in-Time Management (JIT)

This method allows companies to save significant amounts of money and reduce waste by keeping only the inventory they need to produce and sell products. This approach reduces storage and insurance costs, as well as the cost of liquidating or discarding excess inventory. But this method can be risky. That is to say, if demand unexpectedly spikes, the manufacturer may not be able to source the inventory it needs to meet that demand, damaging its reputation with customers and driving business toward competitors. As a result, the smallest delays can be problematic as if a key input does not arrive in time, a bottleneck can result.

• Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)

This inventory management method is sales forecast dependent, meaning that manufacturers must have accurate sales records to enable accurate planning of inventory needs and to communicate those needs with materials suppliers in a timely manner. Inability to accurately forecast sales and plan inventory acquisitions result in a manufacturer’s inability to fulfil orders.

• Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)

This method is used by calculating the number of units a company should add to its inventory while assuming constant consumer demand. The costs of inventory in the model include holding and setup costs. This method aims to ensure that the right amount of inventory is ordered per batch so a company does not have to make orders too frequently and there is not an excess of inventory sitting on hand.

• Days Sales Of Inventory (DSI)

This method is a financial ratio that indicates the average time in days that a company takes to turn its inventory including goods that are a work of progress into sales. Indicating the liquidity of the inventory, the figure represents how many days a company’s current stock of inventory will last. Generally, a lower DSI is preferred as it indicates a shorter duration to clear off the inventory, though the average DSI varies from one industry to another.

Now that you know what is inventory management and the different methods, let us move forward to what it can do for your business.

What Are Its Benefits?

You have learnt what is inventory management above but you might still be wondering what are its benefits. Accurate inventory management is the key to running a successful business. Tracking stock regularly can help avoid stock errors and other problems. The following are some of the benefits of strong inventory management:

• Better Inventory Accuracy

With solid inventory management, you can know what is in stock and order only the amount of inventory you need to meet the demand.

• Reduced Risk Of Overselling

It helps you track what is in stock and what is on backorder so you don’t oversell products.

• Cost Savings

Stock costs money until it sells. That is to say, carrying costs include storage handling, transportation fees, insurance as well as employee salaries.

• Avoiding Shortages & Overstocking

Proper planning and management help a business minimise the number of days that an item is out of stock and avoid carrying too much inventory.

• Greater Insights

With inventory tracking and stock control, you can also easily spot sales trends or track recalled products or expiry dates.

• Better Terms With Vendors & Suppliers

It provides insight about which products sell and in what volume. This knowledge is used as leverage to negotiate better prices and terms with suppliers.

• More Productivity

Proper inventory management solutions save time that can be spent on other activities.

• Increased Profits

A better understanding of both availability and demand leads to higher inventory turnover which leads to greater profits.

• More Organised Warehouses

An efficient warehouse with items organised based on demand, which items are often sold together and other factors reduces labour costs and speeds up order fulfilment.

• Better Customer Experience

Customers that receive what they ordered on time are more loyal to your store.

In this blog SIPL, you will learn everything about taking your business online. Imagine you are out shopping and find a small local shop selling a hand-carved bamboo pitcher that catches your attention. Like shoppers in our digital age, you decide to go online and check if you can get it for less. As price-savvy customers, it is normal to want the lowest price and most e-commerce stores run on an “unbeatable price” business model. Because of the lack of digital presence, most micro and small businesses rely heavily on selling through large e-commerce platforms because of the sheer volume of customers they draw.

But, these small businesses are often unaware of the losses they incur from the drastic price variation, monthly charges, referral fees and other fees they have to pay based on the services they choose. According to a recent report, select foreign e-commerce platforms like Amazon do actively undercut micro and small retailers in India. Fortunately, with technology, these businesses can now compete with online retail giants through affordable technology and better adoption support. If you are a small business owner, you may have reconsidered a tech upgrade many times. Either because of the fear of high costs and thinking the digital method wouldn’t work as well. Let us debunk some of these digital transition myths:

• The Cost Of Professionalism

Small businesses often hesitate over a digital transition, assuming that even a straightforward cloud-based operating system might have hidden costs too. This is a valid notion, given that most small businesses in India are accustomed to both legacy systems and large e-commerce platforms known for periodic maintenance investments or increasing annual costs. Fortunately, the benefits gained from taking your business online far outweigh these fears.

• Invoicing Solutions Made Easy

For many small business owners, invoices serve as a vital record in their accounting process. They often function as the sole documentation of the client’s agreement to pay for the services or products received. That is to say, as digital transformation continues to accelerate, businesses are warming up to using technology to drive productivity and enable faster payments from customers and clients. Due to both the pandemic and implementation of GST, these small business owners are becoming more open to GST-friendly SaaS tools and services.

• Designing Solutions For Small Business

Micro and small retailers transitioning from a brick and mortar business generally need basic digital tools. That is to say, with its predesigned store templates, you can find maximum value in a sensible time frame. It is an important feature as most small business owners and their employees juggle multiple responsibilities.

• Localised Services

Small or micro business owners likely put in a lot more work than what the consumer sees. For example, someone in an online catering business might make the effort to get to know their customers and offer them specialised services that bigger online catering businesses can’t. That is to say, a promise to replace the food if found unsatisfactory or using locally grown organic produce.

• Taking Inventory

For most small business owners, supply chain development is now a central part of taking your business online. This implies that inventory appears in several forms in their supply chain. Using inventory management software for this will allow you to track your inventory and at the same time communicate honestly with your customers about stock and availability.

Tips For Taking Your Business Online

There is a lot of talk for taking your business online and it can easily be overwhelming, with all the processes and steps involved. If you are a small or local business looking to share your services and products with a larger crowd by going online then it is truly the right time to get started. That is to say, the pandemic has brought significant changes to the economy. It has also created big opportunities for online businesses, including the ability to connect with customers across the globe. Below are some tips to give you a headstart with taking your business online:

• Make A Plan For Your Goals

Setting your goals for creating an online store should be your first step. That is to say, goals outline what you want to accomplish, and choosing clearly defined goals is crucial. In addition, once you have chosen a goal, you can analyse if it is achievable and avoid setting vague expectations. That is to say, it is important to set long term goals to make your business grow. Likewise, it is important to set short term goals that can lead you towards the long term goals.

• Build An Online Presence

Taking your business online also means that your customers can find you with a click of their mouse. In addition, they can more easily assess whether you have the products/services they need, and more easily become a customer. It is important to create content that is aimed at answering the questions your leads and customers will have and satisfying their needs. You can also create social media accounts to update customers and leads with the latest information about your products and services, sales, offers etc.

• Develop A Strong Brand Identity

A brand is what defines you. It separates you from the rest of the competitors in the market. Building a strong and successful brand from the ground isn’t an easy task. That is to say, you need to figure out what your branding will look like and who your target audience is. Your unique value proposition should also be a part of your brand messaging. But that is not all, your visual branding needs to be consistent whenever and wherever customers interact with you. For every part of your business, from your website to customer service emails, the look and feel must be consistent.

• Ensure Easy Shopping Experience

The next step in taking your business online is customer service. It is the heart of any business and providing high-quality service helps you turn visitors into returning customers. It is important to stand out, as customers have plenty of places they can make purchases, and you want them to choose you. In addition, you should create an eCommerce store to sell your products and services. That is to say, setting this up will allow you to accept orders and payments. After all, a comprehensive e-commerce solution can create a smooth shopping experience.

• Engage & Build Connections Online

Networking is important, especially when you are new to online business. By engaging online with customers and other connections, you can open up a sea of opportunities. You can promote your offerings when it is appropriate, but more importantly, you have the chance to learn about customer expectations and needs by interacting with them. That is to say while using social media as a tool to expand connections with business contacts, clients, and potential partners, make sure to post engaging content and not just content focused on your business and your needs.

In this blog, you will learn how can you use software to keep your clients happy. That is to say, for any business, it’s the relationship part of Customer Relationship Management that really matters. There is this old saying “Keep your customers happy and they’ll keep you in business.” which holds true especially in this social-media-centric era. To sum up, customers now are a part of your community. In addition, they want instant answers to their problems and they drive your business.

As a result, customer satisfaction improves loyalty and retention. It costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to hold one, so getting your customers to stick around can lower costs and increase profits. 68% leave a brand because they are upset with the treatment they’ve received. This is often because the employees are overworked. This can be prevented with software integration, reducing the burden on the employees.

How To Use Software To Keep Your Clients Happy?

Some of you might still be wondering can you use software to keep your clients happy? While it is true that there is never a “one size fits all” solution, it’s still possible to tell all your customers that you’re there for them and that you’re listening to them. Here are some ways to how can you use software to keep your clients happy:

• Be Aware Of Every Inch Of Your Product

If you aren’t confident about your own product, what is the customer going to think? Being knowledgeable and confident about every part of your product always helps because only then will you be able to pass on that conviction to the customer.

• State The Facts

To sum up, honesty is the best policy. Playing around with your customers’ expectations just because you want to hold them is a bad idea.

• Be Willing To Educate

Telling more is always good. That is to say, not just about your product/service but about the industry, latest trends or the value addition that you can bring in over your competitors.

• Be In Touch

A call or an email once in a while, telling them about the latest in your product/service or even a tweet will do. Reaching out is simple yet effective.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Software?

Any merging of software applications should produce a business benefit. For example, a tangible saving or an improvement or an ROI. These benefits can be realised as a result of enhancements to existing software systems by improving the way data is collected and shared. In some cases, the benefits are realised as a result of improved capability and capacity and not just through the time-saving workflow. Below are some of the said benefits:

• Simplified Decision Making

Obtaining one complete view by merging your software systems simplifies the decision-making process. It removes the need to move between different applications to get the data that may influence your decisions.

• Increased Productivity

Merging applications that use the same data sources will allow you to improve your operations’ productivity. This is relevant where the same data is entered multiple times into different software systems. That is to say, with one point of data entry and no need to switch between different software applications, the processing is simpler and quicker.

• More Reliable data

Merging your software systems reduces the risk of using inaccurate data. A single point of view will allow your business to work from one perspective and remove conflicting data values.

• Enhanced Analysis

Related data is more meaningful and powerful when it is pulled together in one application. Analysis of multiple data sources is better handled by bringing the data together where trends and conclusions can be drawn sooner.

• Improved Data Security

Managing the security of your data is much easier on one system rather than on multiple systems of data. By merging the management, backup and administration, tasks are simplified.

• Better Customer Service

The ability to access customer information quickly and easily is vital for maintaining good relationships.

• Increased Sales Potential

Merging systems that streamline any element of your end-to-end sales process and improve your order fulfilment rate will have a positive impact on your overall sales potential. 

In this blog, you will learn can small businesses benefit from custom software apps. That is to say, every business can benefit from custom software apps. To sum up, no matter the service or product they offer, if you spend on the right custom software app, your small business will benefit from it. Above all, the question of can small businesses benefit from custom software apps has a simple answer. We look at the key performance indicators of any business such as the data about its customer practices and business process management. What we learn from this is how effectively the small business uses its data to provide better and relevant solutions to what keeps them on the charts. In this modern era, all the data has multiple copies stored at multiple locations, leading to ineffective use of resources.

Why insist on custom software apps instead of off-the-shelf apps? Because every business is different and has different needs. That is to say, custom software apps provide you with a special set of skills that best suits your business needs. Customization not only costs less but also speaks your language. With custom software apps, you can get right to the point without having to pay for multiple programs that suit just one aspect of your needs. They make your business efficient and suit small businesses owners. Even for small businesses that plan on creating their own custom software apps in-house, it offers real benefits. But for small businesses that do not have in-house developers, SIPL has got you covered. Now that you know can small businesses benefit from custom software apps or not, let us move on to the basics.

What Are Small Businesses?

Above you learnt, can small businesses benefit from custom software apps or not. But some of you might be wondering, what are small businesses? Small businesses surround us. They are on every other street and on every corner. Every second thing someone buys comes from a small business. In India, small businesses have gained a special position in the industrial structure because of their ability to utilise labour and create employment.

Small businesses are either service or retail organisations like grocery stores, medical stores, tradespeople, bakeries and small manufacturing units. They are independently owned organisations that require less capital and a smaller workforce with less or no machinery. These businesses are ideally suited to operate on a smaller scale to serve the local community and provide profits to the owners. The Indian government defines small businesses on the basis of the business’s ability to invest in the plant and machinery. Some of the examples of small businesses are as such:

• Small-scale manufacturing industries
• Handlooms and power loom
• Khadi
• Agro-based industries
• Tuition centres
• Photography
• Breakfast joint
• Printing

Advantages Of Using Software For Small Businesses

Above you learnt the meaning of small businesses and can small businesses benefit from custom software apps, let us move forward to the advantages. Starting your first business takes a lot of courage, passion and decision-making skills. That is to say, once you cross that stage of starting up an enterprise with all the love, guts and determination. The next step is to focus on maximising business growth and efficiency. An efficient business always brings in more income than a company operating half its capacity. That is to say, software solutions for any business process not only helps in improving the business flow but also saves a lot of time, money and workforce. Some ways how can small businesses benefit from custom software apps are as listed below:

• Simplify Employee Tasks

Employees often have a full plate so it’s smart to figure out how to simplify the tasks they need to complete. This is where custom software apps come into play. For example, time tracking software allows employees to complete their timesheets as needed. This makes things simpler for not only the employees but the managers and other supervisors as well. To sum up, there are many ways small businesses can stop feeling overwhelmed each day and one of those is through the integration of software.

• Follow Sales Leads

You may have some leads you are hoping to convert on your quest to scale your small business. Don’t let those potential sales fall to the wayside. For example, lead management software can do the job for you. It makes the process easy and convenient to store new leads, capture existing ones and track future sales prospects. With this, your sales team can easily contact customers and pick up right where they left off.

• Better Manage Customer Relationships

Trust and communication are important for great customer relationships. Custom software apps make it easier to effectively manage customer relationships, boosting satisfaction, loyalty and repeat business. They allow you to update the database in real-time as you learn more information about your contacts, making it easier to collect, organise and manage customers’ information. In addition, make sure to monitor your application services so you can detect and resolve application issues in a timely manner.

• Offer A Competitive Advantage

One of the most valuable attributes software has for a business is to give it an edge over its competitors. The software can be customised to your business, making you the only company that has a special solution. Consider using a single system for marketing, sales, project management and more. To sum up, it will simplify tasks making the day-to-day list of to-dos much shorter.

• Bill Clients And Get Paid Faster

Invoicing is probably one of the most challenging tasks that bring stress to small business owners. A lot of time and effort is required to ensure all bills are paid. To sum up, using software to compliment your business’s financial activities like sending invoices, managing expenses and accounting will save your business a lot of time and headache.

Now you know how can small businesses benefit from custom software apps and all the advantages that come along with them. 

We have all seen films where machines or more specifically AI are taking over the planet and overthrowing mankind. Real automation vs. workforce scenario if one were to label it. And as technology and innovations continue to further progress, people are starting to wonder whether their fears that automation is in fact phasing out humans at least in the workplace are warranted. That is to say, the manufacturing industry is relying more and more on automation. Does this mean the human part of our workforce will soon be dated?

It does sound like a legitimate cause for concern. But, the reality is far simpler and less dramatic. In the case of automation vs. workforce, automated machinery has long been creeping into manufacturing and job shop floors. For example, virtual assistants, autonomous cars, IoT, 3D printing, etc. What we have already done is embrace automation whether at home or at work.

What Is Automation?

Let us go into detail about automation vs. workforce. Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes. That is to say, predetermining decision norms, subprocess relationships, and related actions – and blending those predeterminations in machines can reduce human intervention. In addition, automation includes the use of various equipment and control systems. For example, machinery, processes in factories, boilers and heat-treating ovens, switching on telephone networks, steering, and stabilisation of ships, aircraft and other applications and vehicles with reduced human intervention.

That is to say, automation covers applications ranging from a household thermostat controlling a boiler to a large industrial control system with tens of thousands of input measurements and output control signals. It has also found space in the banking sector. It can range from simple on-off control to multi-variable high-level algorithms. With automation vs. workforce, there are four different types of automation. They are as such:

• Basic Automation

This type of automation takes simple tasks and automates them. This level of automation is about digitizing work by using tools to streamline and centralise routine tasks. That is to say, using a shared messaging system instead of having information in disconnected silos. For example, Business Process Management (BPM) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are two types of basic automation.

• Process Automation

Process automation manages business processes for uniformity and transparency. Using this type of automation can increase productivity and efficiency within your business. It can also deliver new insights into business challenges and suggest solutions. Process mining and workflow automation are types of process automation.

• Integration Automation

This is where machines can mimic human tasks and repeat the actions once humans define the machine rules. One example is the “digital worker”. That is to say, people have defined digital workers as software robots that are trained to work with humans to perform specific tasks. They can be “hired” to work on teams because of their specific set of skills.

• AI Automation

This is the most complex level of automation. The addition of AI means that machines can “learn” and make decisions based on past situations they have encountered and analyzed. For example, in customer service, virtual assistants powered can reduce costs while empowering both customers and human agents, creating an optimal customer service experience.

What Is Workforce?

Now let us learn about the workforce part of automation vs. workforce. The workforce is the labour pool either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, state, or country. That is to say, the workforce of a country includes both the employed and the unemployed. To clarify, the labour force participation rate, LFPR is the ratio between the labour force and the overall size of their partner (that is to say, the national population of the same age range). The term generally excludes employers or management and can imply those involved in manual labour. It may also mean all those who are available for work.

There are two different types of workforce. They are as such:

• Formal Labour

Any sort of employment that is structured and paid in a formal way is known as formal labour. In addition, formal labour within a country contributes to that country’s gross national product. This type of employment is more reliable and generally yields higher income and greater benefits and securities.

• Informal Labour

Informal labour is labour that falls short of being a formal arrangement in law or practice. It is always unstructured and unregulated. The contribution of informal labourers is huge. It is expanding globally, most significantly in developing countries.

Automation And How It Impacts The Workforce

In our debate of automation vs. workforce, the World Economic Forum’s report “The Future of Jobs 2020” states that the global workforce is automating faster than expected, with 85 million jobs expected to be displaced by the end of 2025. But, they indicate that the robot revolution should create 97 million new jobs. Machines replacing humans in the workplace have been an endless concern since the Industrial Revolution and an increasing topic of discussion with the rise of automation in the last few decades. If there is anything that the pandemic has taught us, it is that humans are still a vital part of the workplace.

In many nations, it was clear that without these essential workers, many economies would suffer immensely. This resulted in industries clamouring to outfit their workers and workplaces with the mandated health and safety codes in order for their shops to resume much-needed operations. This proves that even the most high-tech industries need humans in order to operate. If anything, automation on job shop floors will create more opportunities. Think of these machines as supplemental rather than them taking over jobs. The presence of robots pushes us to create work that is a cut above the mechanical labour that these machines can produce.

Many might be wondering what is mobile application development? It is a process for building applications that run on mobile devices. These applications can be pre-installed on the device during the manufacturing phase or downloaded by the user later. They can also be delivered as web applications using server-side or client-side processing to provide an application-like experience within a web browser. The developers must also consider a long array of screen sizes, hardware specifications, and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software and changes within each of the platforms. Now that you know what is mobile application development. It has been steadily growing, in revenues and in jobs created. However, to develop mobile applications, you also need to consider screen sizes, hardware requirements, and many other aspects of the development process.

There are two most important mobile operating systems, namely iOS from Apple Inc. and Android from Google. iOS is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system built specifically for iPhones. On the other hand, Android runs on mobile devices manufactured by various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Google. While there are multiple similarities between the two, the different software development kits (SDKs) are used on different platforms. For example, Apple uses iOS exclusively for their own devices. On the other hand, Google has made android available for other companies that meet specific requirements. In addition, to date over 1.5 million applications have been made for both platforms.

Importance Of Mobile Application Development

Now that you know what is mobile application development, let us move to its importance. Developing mobile apps for a business not only benefits the business owners but also the customers. This is important for maintaining customer satisfaction. Some of the reasons why it is important are as bellow:

• Ease Of Purchase

Mobile applications are favoured by customers, more than their respective websites because of their portable design and easy access. Customers often don’t want to use a business website for a variety of reasons. That is to say, by downloading a mobile app, they have access to the entire catalogue with relative ease. In addition, all information related to pricing, shipping and other important details is displayed clearly. The process of making the final payment is also streamlined and integrated with the app.

• Getting Notifications

They are a great way for business owners to send out notifications to their existing customer base. Various events like product launches, discounts and rewards can be sent as notifications which are vital for maintaining the number of customers.

• One-Touch Access

Mobile apps make life easier for consumers as the purchasing process is simple and hassle-free. It relays all the important business and product information to customers quickly and efficiently. As a result, saving their time.

• Scheduling

In the service industry, the need for organizing applications and appointment schedules is important. Previously extra personnel were required to handle the incoming appointments and to organize them. All of them can now be handled by a mobile app. In addition, customers can directly make the appointments which also decreases the chances of human error.

Mobile apps are a crucial part of customer relations. This is why most companies nowadays prefer to hire developers in order to remain viable in today’s modern market.

Advantages Of Mobile Application Development

Now that you know what is mobile application development as well as its importance, let us move forward to the advantages that it provides us.

• Cultivating Customer Loyalty

Mobile apps give business owners an instant and direct connection with their customer base. As a result, they can introduce online coupons, discounts and offers which are readily displayed in the app. In addition, this helps in boosting customer sales as well as developing a sense of brand loyalty. 

• Reinforcing Brand Value

The key to the success of a good marketing campaign is to capture the customer’s attention. The development of a mobile application can help sustain the brand image with a lasting effect that is beneficial for retaining customers.

• Increasing Brand Visibility

Mobile phones and other related devices are amongst the most used devices in our daily lives. They pose a great opportunity for marketers to use these devices as an instrument to expand their brand image. As a result, by taking advantage of the frequent use of mobile devices, mobile apps help to keep the company’s image fresh in the mind of the consumer.

• Expanding Customer Base

They can help a great deal when the company acquires new customers. As most apps are available for almost all platforms, it indirectly increases the scope of marketing. That is to say, the products gain wider exposure as the number of potential customers increases.

• Reaching Customers On The Go

They are a new way to send notifications, advertisement messages and promotional rewards to customers who are on the move. They are amongst one of the most heavily used accessories in modern life. As a result, mobile apps use this as an advantage to yield a better success rate than email marketing.

Types Of Mobile Applications

Now that you know what is mobile application development, let us move to its different types. In the early years of mobile apps, the only way to ensure an app could perform optimally on any device was to develop it natively. That is to say, the new code had to be written specifically for each device’s specific processor.

In the past, if an application needed to be cross-platform and run on multiple operating systems, there was little code that could be reused from the initial development project. Importantly, each device required its own mobile application development project with its own codebase. Modern tools use common languages such as JavaScript to share code across projects. In addition, they merge well with application lifecycle management tools. For example, Jenkins. This enables developers to use a single codebase for Apple iOS, Google Android and progressive web apps (PWAs). They are built to take advantage of native mobile device features without requiring the end-user to visit an application store, make a purchase and download software locally. But they can be located with a search engine query and accessed immediately through a browser. As a result, eliminates the need for e-commerce merchants to develop native apps for multiple mobiles OSes.

Before developing an app, you need to determine which type you’ll be creating. Here’s a breakdown of several types of mobile application development technologies:

• Native applications

These applications are built using integrated development environments (IDEs) and languages for mobile OSes. For example, Apple iOS or Google Android. That is to say, native apps enable you to customize necessary features, but they can be more costly than other technologies.

• Hybrid Apps

These are web apps that act like native apps. They are developed using technologies such as HTML, JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). In addition, hybrid apps are more cost-effective to develop and can be created faster, but they aren’t as feature-rich as a native app.

• Progressive Web Apps

A PWA is a website that looks and behaves as if it is a mobile app. These applications are developed with web technologies such as Facebook React.

• Encapsulated Apps

An encapsulated application runs within a container app. Products such as the Microsoft Power App drag-and-drop app creation tool enable less experienced developers to build a mobile app rapidly. But the lack of isolation from the core OS, OS lock-in and the relative newness could pose problems.

• Frameworks & Libraries

You can use this reusable code written by someone else to accelerate your development of a mobile app.

Now you know what is mobile application development as well as the benefits that come with it and its importance to your business.

You might be wondering what is IoT? The “Internet of Things (IoT)” refers to the billions of physical devices around the world that are now connected to the internet collecting and sharing data. Thanks to the arrival of super-cheap computer chips and the ubiquity of wireless networks, it’s possible to turn anything from something as small as a pill to something as big as an aeroplane, into a part of the IoT. Connecting up all these different objects and adding sensors to them adds a level of digital intelligence to devices and enables them to communicate real-time data without involving a human being. What is IoT? It makes the fabric of the world around us smarter and more responsive, merging digital and physical universes. Any physical object can be transformed into an IoT device if it can be connected to the internet to be controlled or communicate information. Examples of what is IoT are as such: A lightbulb that can be switched on using a smartphone app is an IoT device, as is a motion sensor or a smart thermostat in your office etc. It could be as fluffy as a child’s toy or as serious as a self-driving truck. Some larger objects may themselves be filled with many smaller IoT components, such as a jet engine now filled with thousands of sensors collecting and transmitting data back to make sure it is operating efficiently. On a bigger scale, smart city projects are filling entire regions with sensors to help us understand and control the environment. Now that you know, what is IoT, let us move towards how it can help your business.

How Does It Help Your Business?

The benefits of the IoT for business depends on the particular implementation; agility and efficiency are usually top considerations. Enterprises should have access to more data about their own products and their own internal systems as well as a greater ability to make changes as a result. Additionally, manufacturers nowadays are adding sensors to the components of their products so that they can transmit data back about how they are performing. This can help companies spot when a component is likely to fail and swap it out before it causes damage. However, they can also use the data generated by these sensors to make their systems and their supply chains more efficient because they will have more accurate data about the current events.

IoT’s enterprise uses can be divided into two segments. That is to say, the industry-specific offerings like sensors in a generating plant or real-time location devices for healthcare; and IoT devices that can be used in all industries, like smart air conditioning or security systems.

What Are Its Benefits?

Now that you know what is IoT and how it helps your business, let us move forward to its benefits. IoT can make our environment such as our homes, offices and vehicles smarter. For example, smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo and Google Home make it easier to play music, set timers or even get information. In addition, home security systems make it easier to monitor what is going on inside as well as outside or to see and talk to visitors. Not only that, self-driving cars and smart cities could change how we build and manage our public spaces.

One of the benefits of IoT is it may be able to keep older people independent and in their own homes longer by making it easier for their family and carers to communicate with them as well as see how they are getting on. In addition, a better understanding of how our homes operate and the ability to tweak those settings can help save energy. Now you know what is IoT as well as some of its benefits, let us learn more about it.

Is It Private?

With all the sensors collecting data on everything you do, the IoT is a potentially vast privacy and security headache. For example, the smart home. It can tell when you wake up (when the smart coffee machine is activated) or what radio station you listen to (thanks to your smart speaker) etc. While companies will make money from selling you the smart device, their IoT business model probably involves selling at least some of that data too. That is to say, what happens to that data is a vitally important privacy matter. Not all smart home companies build their business model around harvesting and selling your data but some do.

In addition, IoT data can be combined with other bits of data to create a surprisingly detailed picture of you. It is surprisingly easy to find out a lot about a person from a few different sensor readings. A researcher found that by analysing data charting just the home’s energy consumption, temperature, humidity and such throughout the day they could work out what someone was having for dinner. Consumers need to understand the exchange they are making and whether they are happy with that. That is to say, some of the same issues apply to business. One survey found that four out of five companies would be unable to identify all the IoT devices on their network. Now you know what is IoT and everything else there is about it.

 

You might be wondering, what is digitalisation? Digitalisation is the process of adopting digital technology by a company to improve business processes, value for customers and innovation. It is typically defined as the process of converting analogue information into a digital format. When planning for a digital transformation, organizations must factor in cultural changes required when adopting unfamiliar technologies.

Many mistake digitisation and digitalisation as the same thing but there is a much deeper difference between the two. Digitisation refers to the act of converting a physical document into a digital one. On the other hand, digitalisation means transforming and improving an entire business model using digital processes. In this blog, we will learn about what is digitalisation?

How Can Digitalisation Help Your Business?

You know what is digitalisation, now let us learn how it can help your business. That is to say, the main reason to digitalise your business is that it is not a trend but the way the whole world is heading. The purpose is to enable automation, increase data quality, and collect and structure all that data so we can apply advanced technology such as better and smarter software. The outcome of digitalisation is higher process efficiency, lower costs and better control. That is to say, both for the individual company and the network of connected businesses. The digitalisation of business helps to improve the efficiency of its process, consistency, and quality. It can:

• Integrate conventional records or files into a digitalised form, eliminating redundancies and shortening the communications chain
• Improve informational exchange
• Help in providing customer service anywhere in the world
• Reduce operational cost
• Prevent human error
• Take advantage of analytics & real user data
• Improve the continuity of business growth

Digitalisation implies an enhancement of business activities with the support of information technology to simplify communication systems. It helps firms identify the best partner companies and collaborate with them. It helps in generating new growth opportunities. In addition, it helps in capturing and holding customers and potential customers directly. It is important for companies to adopt digitalisation in their businesses in order to gain a competitive edge and keep pace with competitors. That is to say, Digitalisation is growing and is being accepted across industries. With the world rapidly shifting from offline to an online model of business, digitalisation is now a strategic imperative for organizations across domains.

You learnt about what is digitalisation but you might still be wondering how it can improve your relationship with consumers. Below are some reasons as to why you should digitalise:

• Increase Productivity

Digitalisation allows you to better evaluate all production processes, test each step and identify problems accurately. That is to say, it allows businesses to be more efficient.

• Reduce Operating Costs

It reduced the operating costs up to 20% and improves efficiency. In addition, it enables efficient cost management that implies a more effective control of production and sale processes. It also allows companies to create new business models and income sources.

• Improve Customer Experience

Moreover, it helps provide a better customer experience and improves communication with customers. It generates a closer bond with clients and prospective customers. In addition, it allows the use of new sales channels. For example, e-commerce or social media networks. To sum up, just developing a website allows companies to be in the market twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

• Facilitate Internal Process Integration

It allows business systematization and organizational development. As a result, this process increases consistency in work output because everyone doing the same job is following the same instructions. In addition, due to a standard process to work from, everyone has the same efficiency.

• Open New Market Possibilities

It enables the incursion into new markets. That is to say, before the rise of technologies, the distance was an obstacle for business internalization. But now all you need is a good digital communication strategy and have the right logistics to reach new markets.

• Strengthen & Enhance Your Brand

For many businesses, digitization not only implies a great fluency of their internal processes but also gives the organization a competitive advantage in the market.

How Can You Digitalise Your Business?

Now that we know what is digitalisation, it is time to learn how can you digitalise your business? The digitalisation of an organisation is not a goal but a way to improve business management and increase productivity. That is to say, digitalisation is not an option, but a necessity if you want your company to be successful. Due to the constant technological transformations, the market has evolved. Effective business digitalisation is based on these steps:

• Start From The Bottom Up By Establishing A Business Network

Most digitalisation showcases are singled out projects. That is to say, the tendency is to start with wireless networks because the source is limited. Why does the space not extend further between businesses at a faster pace? Considering the technology to do so is already available? That is to say, not having an established business network or a network of companies strategically working together to improve business operations between suppliers, customers, distributors and other third-party entities. It is better to embrace the business dynamics and build your digitalisation strategy around networks that connect your different ERPs and applications. To sum up, without a business network, your underlying data quality will not be good enough for the rest of your business applications to reach their full potential.

• Tap Into The Power Of High-Quality Data

The crudest way to start digitalising written business communication is to scan physical documents and digitise these business transactions. That is to say, today the infrastructure, regulations and technology to implement end-to-end digitalisation of your business transactions already exist in most places across our globe. In addition, once you have all your transactions digitised, you can start collecting data. And this is when it starts to get interesting. Essentially, any business is a small step from realising a digitalisation strategy and tapping into big data. Most stop after digitising the transaction and thus miss the opportunity of digitalising the complete business network to start harvesting the vast amounts of data that resides in the transactions.

For each order and invoice, there is so much more information stored than any one person or department might realise. For example, trends, patterns, pricing insights and buyer preferences are just the beginning. The data will flourish, enabling to tap into new insights, and allowing the company as a whole to move forward making better business decisions.

 

• Opt For The Holistic Approach To Digitalisation

Business leaders seldom see the promised or expected benefits of digitalisation from a holistic view, but if we continue to work with digitalisation in siloed approaches the full benefits will remain untapped.

For example, take the life cycle of a single transaction. The accounting department is usually concerned whether the amount is correctly booked to the right accounting code or if the invoice or order is compliant with accounting rules and legal requirements. The IT department is more concerned about the transaction getting stuck somewhere, lost or even stolen. The supply chain department is busy digitalising its flow of goods and production sites with IoT gadgets and is not necessarily concerned about the financial settlement. Meanwhile, the CEO is wondering what happened to the digitalisation strategy the board decided on a while back.

In this blog, you will learn about reasons to integrate AI into your business. Businesses and industries are facing challenges all the time. Some overcome them and hold on, others cannot keep up and fail. The same will happen with artificial intelligence. As we can see from examples in our everyday life, the merging of AI is unavoidable. Those who embrace and welcome AI into their businesses will grow, while those who continue to resist the adoption of AI will most likely fall behind. This is because AI can be considered the future of business. Below are some reasons to integrate AI into your business:

• Become more efficient

Firstly, for every CEO and manager, time is money. That is to say, it is the most valuable and the scarcest resource of every company. Secondly, that’s why some of the largest investments are into new technologies that will speed up and automate processes and tasks. AI has shown the best results when it comes to increasing efficiency by taking over the boring work that overwhelms employees and takes up most of their time. The processes like troubleshooting the most common issues can be automated.

• Provide excellent customer service

Automated customer services don’t only free employees; it also provides much better customer service to your clients. Poor service can cause serious financial losses to a company. According to a survey, around 56% of customers will stop doing business with a company that resolves consumer complaints poorly. Companies that resist introducing AIs may face losses as customers, like 60% of Americans, are not only becoming used to but preferring AI customer service, either through an application or website, resolving their simple issues. But this is one of the reasons to integrate AI into your business.

• Provide a better customer experience

AIs collect and test user behaviour data to make quick and accurate in-the-moment recommendations related not only to product descriptions but also to the user’s visual preferences. These AI-powered recommendation engines not only speed up the time shoppers spend on an eCommerce website but move them up faster in the sales funnel as well. This is another one of the reasons to integrate AI into your business. The final goal is that by testing a huge amount of data and learning continuously, AIs can provide 100% correct assumptions of the user’s tastes and choices.

• Enhance your marketing strategies

AI is rapidly transforming the marketing industry, and every company relies heavily on it. AIs can not only develop marketing strategies, but they can also deal with them. Some of the most used AI-powered marketing technologies are predictive tests, programmatic advertising and responsive search ads. They help in identifying potential customers, tailoring messages to their specific needs and find the most effective way of communicating that personalized message, as well as the most suitable time for it. One of the reasons to integrate AI into your business is because it helps locate the best places to run ads. It scans through content on the internet, taking into account several factors such as audiences, locations, interests etc.

• Improve your HR services

AI doesn’t need to be focused only on your customers. That is to say, the greatest asset of every company is its employees and AI can greatly contribute to this department. Recruitment is a tedious task that involves a lot of people who are too busy to spend hours looking for the perfect candidate. AI can step in here for several tasks such as:
Posting job ads on various platforms
Testing resumes and classifying them accordingly
Screening candidates, eliminating those that don’t fit the desired qualifications and norm as well as retaining those that do for the next step
Collecting additional data during job interviews such as verbal and non-verbal behaviour.
Storing all of this data in one place, testing it and providing the required results.
Apart from that, AI can plan surveys and monitor certain employee behaviours to measure the level of employee satisfaction within the company and room for improvement.

• Enhance your cybersecurity

The biggest threat any company faces are hacker attacks. No matter how much the technology of cybersecurity advances, hackers quickly catch up. In a matter of seconds, a company can experience grave damage or losses. However, since AI is a technology that constantly learns, it improves itself continuously. That means that with every hacker attack or attempt, your AI-powered cybersecurity will immediately improve itself and never again be susceptible to that kind of attack. With employees being a weak link, they can unintentionally let hackers in through phishing. However, AI can provide continuous education and warning to employees to prevent these attacks.

• Put your data to use

Companies gather and store a huge amount of data. However, they usually never use it. AIs can process a billion gigabytes of data in minutes. Imagine what the power of information can do for your company. How AI works is that it tests all of that big data, identifying any patterns, and offering valuable insights on how to improve the company’s processes and help them make more informed decisions.

• Fraud detection

As an eCommerce company, you will have countless financial online transactions carried out each day. There are chances that some of them would be fake. Thieves steal credit cards and other personal information and use them to purchase goods and services online. To spot fraud, there are so many things to look out for. Especially if you are handling huge volumes of orders. AI is great at identifying any unusual behaviour and immediately alerts you. If you confirm the fraud, AI will learn and continue to provide improved fraud prevention services.

• Become a more desirable employer

The talent shortage is a growing issue for many companies. It’s becoming increasingly harder to get a high-quality staff. That’s why you need an additional competitive advantage. Adopting AI into your business processes and culture is a sign for experts that you are ahead of your competitors. The companies that have taken that step of becoming an AI-powered business are still in the minority. And therefore, they are a more attractive employer.
These are some reasons to integrate AI into your business. It helps your business grow with not only these but many more benefits.

What Is AI?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence by machines especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision. There are four types of artificial intelligence namely, Ractive Machines, Limited Memory, Theory of Mind and Self-Awareness.

How Does AI Work?

We have learnt about the reasons to integrate AI into your business as well as what is AI, now it is our turn to learn about how it works. As the hype around AI has increased, vendors have been scrambling to promote how their products and services use AI. Often what they refer to as AI is simply one factor of it, such as machine learning. AI requires a foundation of specialized hardware and software for writing and training machine learning algorithms. That is to say, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labelled training data, testing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. AI programming focuses on three cognitive skills: learning, reasoning and self-correction.
The learning process of AI programming focuses on acquiring data and creating rules for how to turn the data into actionable information.
The reasoning process focuses on choosing the right algorithm to reach the desired outcome.
The self-correction process is designed to continually fine-tune algorithms and ensure they provide the most accurate results possible.

How Can AI Help Your Business?

Many businesses take up AI technology to try to reduce operational costs, increase skill, grow revenue and improve customer experience. For greater benefits, businesses should look at putting the full range of smart technologies into their processes and products. However, even businesses that are new to AI can reap major rewards. The reason to integrate AI into your business is it has a huge impact on business. By deploying the right AI technology, your business may gain the ability to:

Save time and money by automating and optimising routine processes and tasks.
Increase productivity.
Make faster business decisions based on outputs from cognitive technologies.
Avoid mistakes and ‘human error’, provided that AI systems are set up properly.
Use insight to predict customer preferences and offer them a better, personalised experience.
Mine vast amount of data to generate quality leads and grow your customer base.
Increase revenue by identifying and maximising sales opportunities.
Grow expertise by enabling tests and offering intelligent advice and support.

Why Parking Management Is Important To A Business’s Success? One might wonder why parking management is important to a business’s success. When a business starts thinking about parking, the first thing that comes into consideration is needs and rules. Retail giants structure their parking offerings usually as a giant lot out front. There is a reason for it. According to K&E Flatwork LLC, by turning the surrounding area into parking spaces, they ensure customers can — and will — shop as much as they need to. Having ample, usable parking can attract customers and instil loyalty in existing ones. On the other hand, a lack of readily available parking has been proven to deter potential customers.

Parking is the first touchpoint a business has with its customers. A positive interaction starts the customer experience off on a good note. However, a poor experience can make customers frustrated from the start. Much like the layout of a space, noise level or even temperature, parking can make or break the way a customer feels when they are visiting a business. It is likely to determine whether or not they return. Furthermore, 40% of drivers say they avoid places where parking is a challenge.

Above all, parking can impact the bottom line in two main ways. Firstly, forgone revenue from poor parking. When customers can’t find a place to park or the parking situation is too much hassle, they often just choose another business to support. In a theoretical restaurant scenario, failing to consider parking would cost the restaurant a minimum of 40% of its annual revenue. Secondly, through an additional source of revenue. That is to say, charging for parking can be a small, incremental increase in revenue. Even if you choose to offer validation for customers, charging for parking offers you the additional opportunity to source revenue from patrons of nearby businesses.

What Is A Parking Management System?

Now that we know why parking management is important to a business’s success. Do you know what is a parking management system? Parking Management System automates a car parking system. It optimizes parking space and makes the process efficient. As well as gives parking information such as vehicle and slot counts, available slots display, reserved parking, pay-and-park options, easy payments, reports, and other features. That is to say, it combines technology and human innovation in an effort to use as few resources as possible. This includes fuel, time and space – to achieve faster, easier and denser parking of vehicles for the majority of the time they remain idle. It also helps preserve various resources and reduce carbon emissions.

What Are The Features Of Parking Management?

You might be wondering what are the features of parking management. It lessens the time and boosts efficiency. Above all, in overpopulated zones, well-implemented parking strategies are a must. It offers a real-time solution to both – the parking lot owner and the vehicle owner as it facilitates hassle-free vehicles parking and subdues management costs. It offers an end-to-end user and operator management solution with features such as:

• Improved efficiencies in time management of parking lots especially in large set-ups during peak hours

• Optimum utilization of fuel while tracking vacant space for parking

• Provide accurate detailing of parking available as well as the spot for convenience

• Less usage of manpower and rather automates managing the parking directions

• Improved power consumption with precise details on parking information

What Is The Process Of Work?

It is an organized system that saves the customers the time and hassle of finding a spot to park as well as boosts efficiency. Let us explain what is the process of work.

1. An organized dashboard system is installed at the parking entrance. This provides a one-view of complete level-wise details such as capacity, vacancy, and in-transit numbers of vehicles.
2. Customers can look at the availability on the dashboard and choose their choice of the level they wish to park. Each level has different billboards that are installed to provide a complete map view of the parking slots.
3. The system is designed in such a way that the occupancy status of the selected parking slot automatically changes once the customer has parked their vehicle in the spot.
4.  The exit process is also well defined where the status of the parking slot automatically turns in transit when a vehicle is removed from the slot and till the time it exits the main entrance.
5. Once the vehicle has exited, the status of the parking slot turns to empty automatically. This is how the cyclic automated system is designed and integrated to manage the Smart Parking System.

What Are The Benefits Of Parking Management?

Smart Parking is one of the fastest-growing needs of a developing city. Malls, airports, multiplexes, hospitals and large corporate areas are a few places that can benefit greatly from integrating smart parking into their systems. Let us tell you what are the benefits of parking management.

• Fully automated
• User-friendly solution
• Wireless enabled communication
• Central GUI monitoring
• Flow of traffic
• Investment in long term
• Cost-effective
• Simple installation process
• Low-maintenance system