How SMBs Can Unlock The Power Of Mobile

Why is it that the same small business owners who are tethered to their smartphones as consumers find it so hard to embrace the technology in their businesses?

Sadly, many SMBs find keeping up with the rapidly changing mobile technologies a lost cause, said Debbie Barta, MasterCard’s Simplify Commerce Product Lead. Implementing mobile technology into a business has the potential to bring cost savings, sales growth and more engaged customers, but many SMBs are unable to get past the pain points and challenges they believe they will face in integrating mobile into their businesses.

From concerns about complex integrations to hesitations on making an expensive investment, many SMBs harbor misconceptions about adding the mobile channel, which leads them to believing it’s not an important piece of their business.

“What we’ve found is that, to cut through all of the noise and provide real value for small businesses, you have to serve as a partner, providing helpful content and intuitively simple technology that enables their customers to pay however they want to pay,” Barta emphasized.

And that’s the point. Tech-savvy shoppers have come to expect the ability to engage with merchants and brands through the channels they find most convenient, and mobile may just be at the top of the list. Mobile is enabling consumers like never before, from the ability to tap-and-pay in-store to the option to purchase via social media directly from a smartphone.

Barta made it clear that the mobile opportunity is one small business owners can not afford to miss out on.

Though SMBs may face pain points when it comes to technology integrations, such as the time-consuming process of billing customers or the disruption to a business’ cash flow that can happen when collecting funds, Barta said that one of Simplify Commerce’s aims is to address these issues by streamlining the payments aspect of an owner’s business.

“Our solution gives small business owners the ability to send an electronic invoice to a customer right from their mobile phone. Everything ties right into the merchant’s dashboard, so they can track outstanding payments, send reminders and balance the books in one place,” she explained.

As both technologies and consumer preferences continue to advance, small businesses are faced with the decision to adapt or risk being overlooked.

Mobile technology has surely empowered consumers, but Barta noted that this same empowerment can be provided to small business owners as well — but only if they are willing to make the mobile leap.

With the adoption of new technologies, SMBs will have the ability to not only drive value and engagement for their customers but also grow their businesses.

“In coming years, I think we’ll see even more willingness to step outside of traditional channels — brick-and-mortar vs. online vs. mobile — as consumers demand a more streamlined checkout process and small businesses look to expand their customer base and increase sales,” Barta said.