Four Ways to Utilise Mobile Technology’s Potential - ToOLOwl
Tuesday , March 19 2024

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Four Ways to Utilise Mobile Technology’s Potential

Smartphones are unarguably the greatest invention humankind has witnessed after the light bulb. More than 3.8 billion active smartphone users on the planet mean nearly half of the world’s population has access to a powerful device. In addition, these devices handle more than half of all the web traffic and video views. According to a report by Screen Time Statistics, people spend around 3 hours and 15 minutes on smartphones daily. With such a high user engagement, it is not a surprise that mobile phones provide the bread and butter for many businesses.

Mobile phones can cover all the aspects of a business. Do you wish to improve your marketing numbers? Engage with customers on the mobile platform. Email marketing has long been the standard for cold marketing. However, emails have an open rate of 20%, whereas text messages have an open rate of 98%. There are countless surveys that highlight that consumers prefer to use their phones to enquire about a product rather than ask an employee at a physical store.

Mobile phones can also be used to drive sales in the health department. Around 70% of patients communicate with their providers via text, and messaging services have proven to improve customer satisfaction by over 96%. Hence, it is clear that adaptable entrepreneurs should embrace the change and recognise mobile phones’ potential. However, leveraging the full potential can be troublesome. So, we bring you four excellent methods to improve your business through mobile phones.

  1. Protect the Consumers

Data is the new oil, and mobile phones are the wells. Mobile phones offer the greatest business information of all time; user behaviour. The data generated by mobile phones can be used to create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns. However, it can also be used to protect consumers and their rights. Gambling.com vice president Max Bischel shared an excellent example for the same. Regulating mobile gambling and sports betting protects the consumers from offshore operators who don’t follow any rules and aims to make a profit. Mobile data generated can be used to analyse customer behaviour and provide a more responsible and safer environment. It also promotes better business practices.

Other examples of using mobile data for consumer welfare include retailers sending text notifications to buyers upon a large purchase. Fitness centres could also send alerts to users’ mobiles when their membership is nearing expiry. This could allow the consumer to make more out of their membership before it expires. However, companies should be wary of using customer data without former consent.

  1. Improve Workplace Hygiene

Workplace hygiene promotion was never the aim of mobile phones. However, after the Pandemic, its efficiency in promoting cleanliness is evident. QR codes were never fully utilised to their maximum potential till the COVID scenario. Now, users have been ordering food using QR codes and opening menus on their phones to avoid physical touch. Digital interactions are preferred over having to talk to a stranger. Phones and QR codes are the beginning of a limited-touch future. As the CEO of Shift4 Payments Jared Isaacman, explains: Before the Pandemic, QR codes never really took off. However, throughout the Pandemic, the interactions with mobile devices have improved to levels we never witnessed before. People have been ordering through their phones. Digital interactions also promote a seamless experience.

  1. Start Offering Cashless Payments

Expanding on the impact of a pandemic on personal interactions, the onset of the Pandemic saw a meteoric rise in digital payments. According to a report, 92% of small businesses included a contactless payment feature in their business model. The key takeaway is that contactless payment will stay relevant even as vaccination drives improve, the reason being that digital payments are convenient. In addition, corporations will have to provide contactless payments as they are much safer than any physical currency exchange.

Contactless payments are helpful for other reasons as well. They enable businesses to improve their checkout rates and reduce bill processing times. Research indicates that card payments are 4-5 times faster, and digital payments can be ten times faster than cash payments. Digital payments also promote a technologically positive outlook for your business. They also reduce the chances of a customer bouncing if they don’t have their wallets or cards. Additionally, digital transactions also carry additional valuable user data that can be utilised to identify behaviour and preferences for future targeting.

  1. Improve the Shopping Experience

The COVID scenario forced countless retail shops to declare bankruptcy. In-person stores that could not shift to the digital platform in time were devastated by the Pandemic. In a recent report, 76% of customers expressed the need to access personalised in-store experiences from their mobile phones—the reason being unmatched convenience and comfort. Entrepreneurs who identified the need for online stores also included the comparison feature, allowing users to compare their favourite products with others.

One of the well-known examples of this is Warby Parker. Their company revolutionised the retail eyewear industry. The smooth transition of the in-store experience to the digital platform is greatly revered. The app allows the user to try on glasses virtually using their phones and ships them to their homes or nearby physical stores. However, the large shift to online portals has also exposed a lethal threat. Over 32% of users have reported that they would not want to trade data security for a better experience. Hence, data security should also be prioritised by insightful entrepreneurs.

Mobile phones and related technologies have virtually become an extension of our physical selves. The features and growing possibilities have a lot to offer consumers. This also means that endless possibilities await entrepreneurs who can find innovative ways to incorporate this technology into their products. Start digging deep into these novel avenues using the four methods enlisted and find your business’ unique offering.

 

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I am ToOLOwl. I have few friends in my nest; whenever someone requests a tool’s review or I pick a one out of my interest, someone in the nest does research on the tool, someone takes a tool’s walkthrough and some of them share their experiences and expert advice. Based on all; I give it a  stereoscopic vision and present important insights for you to go through and ease your selection process for tools. Wish you Happy reading, Easy choosing.

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