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Is this the end of the era of digital transformation? We are no longer at an in-between stage at this point. We have arrived at a crossroad when most businesses have already digitised their operations.

The owners of businesses have discovered that by incorporating technology into their operations, they can more easily reach the appropriate target audience, sell their products more quickly, and provide a significantly better user experience.

Without diving into the research materials, many research papers and articles cite significant investments in technology to facilitate digital transformations in the coming years.

Do you still have some doubts? Following is a list of the six most important reasons why businesses should digitise their processes.

1. Digitisation Cuts Costs

The traditional way of having a large team to handle all aspects of your business can be relooked.

With the speed of communication and the vast amount of information on the internet, you can easily connect to a large pool of freelancers or outsource providers. For example, you don’t need to have a team of in-house writers under your payroll. You can work with reputable companies that provide such services. You will bear costs on a project basis, which helps keep your payroll low.

You can also outsource other services, such as the development of business strategies, data analytics, visualisation, and programming.

2. Digitization Removes Geolocation Limits

Suppose a local business has a fantastic website and collaborates with an effective shipping service. In that case, the shop will be able to start delivering its services to a much larger customer base.

Take the online marketplace AliExpress as an example. The use of the drop-shipping strategy assisted thousands of vendors in reaching customers worldwide.

A lot of individuals and home-based businesses have also taken eCommerce by storm. It is a crowded playing field with a non-exhaustive list like Amazon, Shopee, Lazada, and Taobao. This significantly reduces the barrier of entry for would-be entrepreneurs. The flip side is that pricing is now very transparent, so that profit margins may be thin.
There is now less need for a physical shop. The sellers need storage for their wares and software to manage customer orders.

3. Building Stronger Relationship with Customers

More prominent organisations have established 24/7 customer service by having agents placed in several countries to provide such support. These companies have solid technological infrastructures, and their customer service team can access client information globally to facilitate such support.

For smaller companies, such an infrastructure may be too costly. A feasible alternative is to introduce Chatbots. Chatbots are essentially “digital agents” who can quickly attend to specific pre-defined queries. The technology is also improving, and with this, the user experience will eventually improve. This makes the customer service system for your company more efficient, effective, and user-friendly for your clients. Because of this, customers will begin to have a higher level of confidence in your brand.

A well-designed, mobile-friendly website can also help you reach out to your target audience. These days, more and more individuals utilise their mobile devices, specifically their smartphones, to conduct online research and make purchases. With a pleasant and captivating user experience, you will strengthen your brand awareness and increase your followers.

4. Building Stronger Relationship with Suppliers and Vendors

Customers are only one side of your business equation. It is also essential to build a strong rapport with your suppliers and vendors. You can better forecast your stock level through various digital tools like inventory and warehouse management systems. This will enable you to communicate your requirements early to your suppliers and vendors, thus giving them more lead time to prepare your orders. With the recent logistical delays, such inventory management plays a critical role in ensuring that your business runs smoothly.

5. Achieving Efficiency in Business Operations

Sustainability is an essential aspect of business in the coming decades. How do companies achieve sustainability? Whilst there are many angles to have sustainable business operations, a critical part is to go paperless. What exactly does going paperless mean?

A paperless office reduces its paper-based financial and administrative records to the bare minimum. You can perform your end-to-end processes digitally. The advantages are significant, including eliminating the loss of essential contracts and freeing the workforce from maintaining paper-based files. You can conduct transactions faster than all agreements and issue invoices digitally.

Governance of information is an essential component in the ongoing operation of a corporation. A well-thought-out approach that gives you the ability to organise, file and retrieve company papers in the most time-effective manner possible will boost your efficiency.

Companies have volumes of documents, such as accounting files, company reports, plans, employment agreements, non-disclosure agreements, documentation of bylaws, and many other documents. With a well-designed cloud-based environment that incorporates stringent security access, you will have better information governance; Importantly, you will be able to attain immaculate organisation and have access to the required document at any time you require it, even when you are overseas (and have internet access, of course).

6. Monetising your Data

Your data and information are invaluable if you can exploit them. You can make more strategic business decisions with better data analytics and visualisation. Companies that capitalise on such technological advancements will gain a competitive edge. How can you approach this as smaller companies may not have the in-house expertise to facilitate this? Talk to a trusted external consultant, and (s)he will be able to guide you accordingly.

The age of digitalisation is here, and the wave will only get stronger. There are increasing demands from government agencies and regulators, auditors, customers, suppliers, NGOs, employees, etc. It is time to embrace technological advancement to stay ahead of your competition. Take baby steps with a reliable partner, eventually reaching your objective.