What are the emerging business trends for 2021?
2020 was the year that everything changed. Covid-19 upended almost every facet of our personal lives. So, as 2021 ticks on, we believe now is an optimal time for business owners to look forward and try to understand what else this year might have in store for their business. we're going to take a look at these business trends, before helping you understand how your business can take advantage of them. So, without further ado - let's have a look at our top nine business predictions for 2021.
1. A CONTINUATION OF REMOTE WORKING
One of the most significant changes that took place last year was the widespread shift from working in physical office spaces to working remotely, from home. To be specific, since April 2020, for instance, 46.6% of the UK workforce has carried out at least some work from home (WFH). Due to the persistence of the Covid-19, it doesn't look like we're going to be returning to offices full time anytime soon.
Even after the virus eventually subsides, remote working is likely to continue in one form or another. By giving workers greater flexibility and control over their schedules, and in turn, lowering company costs and, in many cases, not to mention improving productivity levels, the WFH model has been proving very popular with employers and employees alike. So, due to the perks that remote working offers, it seems that this will continue to be a massive trend as we head further into 2021.
2. BUSINESS ADAPTABILITY
As I'm sure most of you will agree, the only constant throughout 2020 was unpredictability. From new strains of Covid-19 emerging, to government restrictions changing with the wind, if UK businesses have learnt anything, it's the importance of being innovative and responding to change well. Businesses who were flexible to change were the ones who prospered most throughout the coronavirus. With the heavy emphasis that's been placed on business' resilience and adaptability of late, it's very likely to continue being a valuable asset into 2021 and beyond.
While there are many ways to prepare for the unexpected in 2021, one useful way to improve your company's ability to adapt is to form a business continuity plan (BCP). A BCP is a document that outlines how a business will continue operating during an unplaced disruption in service. It's a useful way to help you power through obstacles that you weren't expecting. With Google searches for 'business continuity plan' increasing by a whopping 600% throughout 2020, this trend will likely continue to rise throughout 2021. So, with this coming year likely to bring businesses a whole new set of challenges, continuity planning is a positive way to give business owners back their sense of control.
3. CONTINUED RELIANCE ON E-COMMERCE
The coronavirus pandemic has acutely changed the way we shop. With national restrictions heavily limiting our in-person shopping experience, many consumers have started to conduct their practices wholly online. According to a study by Forrester, throughout the first lockdown, 58% of consumers chose to spend online, which was up 12% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Searches for e-commerce tools like Stripe, Shopify, and WooCommerce also skyrocketed throughout this time. According to a Xero report, more than a quarter of businesses said that online marketing was their primary strategy for getting through the economic downturn.
But is this trend here to stay? Well, according to recent data, 2021 e-commerce sales are already on a 6.3% decrease from 2020 levels. As shops eventually do begin reopening throughout the year, it's estimated that brick-and-mortar sales will steadily increase once more, and the stark imbalance that the pandemic has caused will start evening out.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Aside from creating a surge of interest in e-commerce, the coronavirus has also exponentially increased the amount of energy and time we spend on social media. With Ofcom's annual Online Nation report revealing that during the first lockdown adults were spending an extra hour of their days online, that 12.9 million of us were watching TikTok videos, and that 38% of us using Snapchat, it's no surprise that these apps and sites have been a growing target for digital marketers, too.
Far from social media marketing only blowing up because of the pandemic, with traditional brick-and-mortar marketing being scaled back by many businesses, it looks like social media marketing is a trend that will continue to grow into the future. The insurance firm Finaria backs this up by estimating that, in the US, social media ad spend will increase by 15% in 2021 year-on-year, which nearly doubles the $54.4 billion (£39.1 billion) that was spent on social media advertising in 2017.
5. CONTACTLESS DELIVERY
Due to the highly infectious nature of the COVID-19 virus, most delivery services have gone contactless since March of last year. From leaving parcels or take-aways on our doorstep, to even in some cases sending robots out to fulfil the deliveries, no-contact deliveries have become the standard practice of many major companies such as UberEats, Deliveroo, and Amazon. However, as we look to the post-Covid future, many are wondering if this style of delivery will remain. So, let's see what the professionals have to say.
According to Carlos Castelan, Managing Director of The Navio Group, due to the high levels of convenience it offers, contactless delivery is set to continue long after restrictions are lifted. This view is echoed by Vipin Chahal, Founder of the Return Policy Guide, who believes that contactless delivery will prove a useful method for small and local businesses who are looking to turn their operations digital. According to Chahal, since contactless delivery encourages you to pay through digital payment modes, it eliminates the misuse of money, and lowers the cost of converting physical cash into digital currencies.
So, what kind of forms will the future of contactless delivery take? Due to growing consumer expectations and evolving technology, it's likely that 2021 will see a marked increase in the use of automatic delivery services like drones and autonomous vehicles.
5. UTILISATION OF DATA
Due to more and more of our time being spent online, data volumes have grown exponentially in recent years. So, it's unsurprising that as consumer data continues to rise, an increasing amount of businesses are harnessing this data by using technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. By using these two technologies together to analyse data, companies are able to target their marketing campaigns more effectively, and figure out better ways to execute their internal processes. Utilising data also appears to improve a company's bottom line, with a BARC research report revealing that businesses who used big data saw a profit increase of 8%, as well as a cost reduction of 10%.
So, since the collection and analysis of consumer data is clearly beneficial to businesses, it doesn't look like this trend is going anywhere anytime soon. However, in order for your SME to glean the most valuable results from consumer data in 2021, it's essential that you have the tools available first. While cloud solutions allow companies to access data from anywhere, in order to protect the data from hackers or dangerous malware, it's crucial that businesses do everything they can to keep it safe. What's more, once the privacy of the data is ensured, companies require systems that can effectively store, organise, and process the information in order for useful insights to be generated.
Source: By MarketFinance 18 February 2021
Further reading go to the website: https://marketfinance.com/blog/industry-insight/2021/02/18/what-are-the-emerging-business-trends-for-2021
