Software solutions and the internet have helped change the way we do business forever. Depending on your experience, you may view this as a positive or a negative. No matter what side you are on, the changes cannot be denied. Understanding just how e-commerce and software systems have changed traditional businesses is a great way to better understand the benefits each change has brought about. To get that better understanding, consider these impacts on traditional business as a result of e-commerce and software systems.
Time and effort
In a traditional business, the level of time and effort required to balance the books after a day of trading was enormous. It was a completely manual process and if you go back far enough, a handwritten one as well. The introduction of software systems has helped reduce that time and effort in incredible ways. One of the most influential systems to impact traditional businesses is the pos system. Point of sale systems have helped catalogue, price entire inventories and then act as the balancing system following a day of trade. This software system has helped save countless hours in a business owners day, as well as ensuring customers get a speedy, accurate check-out experience.
New markets
E-commerce can be a touchy subject for a lot of business owners, especially though who are tied to the bricks and mortar approach. Irrespective of whether the storefront is on a street or a website, e-commerce has changed traditional business for the better by opening up new markets. Traditional businesses operated within their geographic locations, missing out on huge markets potential located only hours away or even overseas. E-commerce made it possible for traditional businesses to access these previously impossible to enter markets. Businesses are now able to offer their digital storefront to other countries, cities and towns, opening an entirely new revenue stream. There are obvious challenges associated with online sales, such as delivery, quality assurance and more, but e-commerce opens up a world of new opportunities for traditional businesses.
Accuracy and availability
In a traditional business, ordering of stock was usually done by guy feel, based on the experience of the owner or staff. Software systems have helped change this process for the better, helping to ensure greater accuracy in inventory management and availability for customers. Inventory management systems use data to help determine a minimum and maximum level of stock holding for a particular product. That means customers should be able to get the products they need when they want them. This kind of software system also helps ensure the business doesn’t hold too much inventory, increasing their risks, or hold too few stocks resulting in unhappy customers. Inventory management systems are also a great time saver when it comes to stocktake. At any given time, these systems can identify exactly what stock holding and capital are tied up in inventory. This helps business owners make faster and more accurate decisions.
Potential partners
In traditional business, it was unlikely to see any kind of partnership outside the ownership of the business. With the assistance of software systems and e-commerce, businesses can now partner with other businesses to offer their products. Online marketplace platforms have allowed businesses to list their products alongside complementary products from other suppliers. This form of online sharing has helped countless businesses identify partnership opportunities and ways of increasing the customers looking at their products.
E-commerce and software systems have impacted traditional business in a lot of ways. Depending on how you view these two changing forces, you may see a positive impact or a negative one. It’s likely there have been both positive and negative impacts, but for the large part, these impacts demonstrate that the positive far outweighs the negative.
