Phillip Dodd, Technology Lead IIoT Engineering Infrastructure
IoT is a giant network of things and people communicating with each other using various wired and wireless technologies. IoT has been leveraged in large businesses for quite a couple of years. However, SMEs could not get the benefits of leveraging IoT due to a lack of finances, human resources, and modern tools. Any business, be it small, big, or a startup aims to provide satisfaction to its customers and build a great relationship with them, to gain enormous profit. Internet of things in small businesses has some varied opportunities across different sectors.
Why does SME need IoT?
While the refinement and further expansion of the IoT are exciting, why should your business care about it? Simply put, it will transform the way the world does business. Every industry in the world now relies on data for business needs. IoT will expand and improve that data by connecting billions of devices capable of immediately sharing, receiving, and analyzing massive amounts of it to better meet business needs and improve decision-making.
According to Business Insider, businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions, with governments as the second-largest adopters and consumers as the third. Businesses are clamouring to incorporate IoT because utilizing these connected devices drastically lowers operating costs, increases productivity, efficiency, and revenue allows them to expand to new markets or develop new products, and provides insights never before imagined.
While every sector suffers from industry-specific challenges, the Internet of Things hopes to singlehandedly solve many of them by connecting “things” to the Internet, improving and enhancing immediate data collection, and deriving unimagined or previously unreachable insights. So, why should your business care about IoT? It turns out, you can’t afford to.
IoT can enhance your customer experience
Data gathered from smart devices can transform the customer experience, creating personalized and meaningful connections. Internet of Things(IoT) applications can improve your interactions with customers and enhance their experiences.
Imagine the brand loyalty that can be created by simply (or not so simply) making life more pleasant?
It can be as basic as having your favourite coffee – or cocktail – waiting for you, Futurist Christina Kerley observes. She offers the scenario of a commuter stepping off the train and receiving a text from a coffee shop asking, “Shall we have your usual waiting for you?”
Seeta Hariharan of Tata Consultancy Services presents a scenario in which a water main break leads to traffic tie-ups. “What if shoppers travelling to an uptown supermarket were automatically alerted to visit the midtown store instead? Before long, consumers will expect their favourite stores to deliver these kinds of experiences, made possible through connected consumer intelligence,” she writes in TechTarget.
IoT application technologies can create a hyper-personalized experience precisely when and where the customer needs it. They can also alleviate some of life’s tedium.
In sum, Small business opportunities with IoT. Internet of Things in small businesses is more than just a passing trend. It’s what’s set to change the way in which products are made, how companies operate, and how customers interact with brands.