FINANCE
PR Newswire | January 10, 2024
According to new data revealed today by vcita, the business management platform for SMBs and the organizations that serve them, economic factors are dominating the concerns of SMBs in the new year, with 67% of SMBs citing the financial elements of their business to be their biggest worry. These findings underscore the pivotal role financial stability, and the technology that secures it, plays for small and medium-sized businesses navigating the business landscape in 2024.
As SMBs brace themselves for the challenges of 2024, economic elements loom large on their horizon. Cash flow, deemed a pressing concern by 25% of SMBs, stands alongside the equal worry of attracting new clients. Moreover, rising inflation is weighing on small business owners, with 17% citing it as a major concern. Reflecting this sentiment, they have an increasing demand for comprehensive financial tools, which have proven to be major contributors in the development of financial resilience and healthy cash flow management, with 38% expressing a preference for an all-in-one digital solution that encompasses billing, invoicing, payments, and accounting reports. In fact, 49% of SMBs are already using digital tools to automate the financial elements of their business. In addition, 31% of SMBs have indicated early adoption of AI technology, leveraging AI applications to gain insights and generate content for marketing and client communication. These statistics emphasize the growing reliance of SMBs on digital solutions to navigate the complex business terrain ahead.
"As economic headwinds intensify, the need for reliable digital tools becomes paramount for sustaining business resilience," said Itzik Levy, CEO and Founder of vcita. "SMBs are increasingly embracing digital solutions and recognizing the critical role they play in ensuring their adaptability and continued success in an ever-evolving market. We have been supporting the SMB community with digital solutions for over a decade, and are committed to continue expanding our platform, including the incorporation of AI technology, to facilitate the growing needs of the SMB segment."
In terms of willingness to spend their hard-earned dollars on these digital tools, 72% of SMBs are already spending a minimum of 1200 USD per year on digital tools with 58% spending between 1200-6000 USD every year. This highlights how SMBs are leveraging digital innovations as a means of navigating the complexities posed by business and financial uncertainties.
Additional findings include:
The State of AI: 31% of SMBs are already using AI in their business operations. For the 69% who are not using AI in their business, the main reasons are that they don't feel it would help their business (31%) and that they don't understand how to use AI (30%). The SMBs that are using AI saw a multitude of uses for the technology in their businesses from helping with pricing services and products based on competition (20%), to writing email and SMS campaigns (18%), to following up with clients (16%).
Multiple Digital Tools: As SMBs continue to navigate the intricate landscape of digital tools, a prevailing trend emerges – reliance on multiple tools to manage diverse business needs. 79% of SMBs are utilizing two or more digital tools, with a notable 13% juggling five or more tools to efficiently operate their ventures. However, amidst this multiplicity, there's a resounding desire for consolidation, with 90% of SMBs expressing interest in combining all the capabilities of their digital tools into just one tool.
Peer Recommendations Key: When it comes to choosing these tools, SMBs heavily rely on peer recommendations, with 49% valuing word of mouth from friends and fellow business owners. Google reviews also hold sway, influencing the decisions of 23% of SMBs seeking reliable digital solutions.
About vcita
vcita is an SMB tech company dedicated to helping small and medium businesses thrive in today's digital world by providing them with the tools to manage and grow their business. With vcita's solution, small businesses can manage all aspects of their day-to-day operations and client engagement including scheduling, billing, payment collection, client management, email and SMS marketing. inTandem by vcita is a platform designed to serve the needs of SMB service providers, offering a customizable, white-label, platform that allows organizations that serve SMBs to bring their clients all the essential vcita tools under their own brand. With inTandem, partners can deliver great service and value to their SMB customers and unlock new revenue streams, reduce churn, and increase customer loyalty. With hundreds of thousands of small business users worldwide and partnerships including marketing agencies, banks, financial service providers, telcos, MSPs, and fintechs, vcita delivers an innovative digital solution uniquely designed to serve the needs of SMBs and the companies that support them.
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SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE
GlobeNewswire | January 30, 2024
In today's digital landscape, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face substantial cyber risks. It has become imperative to protect businesses from cyber threats. The challenge of obtaining suitable and affordable coverage is eased with SMEs' access to cyber solutions from WTW, a leading global advisory, broking, and solutions company.
WTW's newest cyber solution is crafted to meet the unique needs of SMEs spanning industries in North America. Tailored for businesses with annual revenues under $50 million, including start-ups and pre-revenue accounts, this solution addresses historical challenges faced by SMEs in traditional underwriting processes that often favor larger enterprises. This has often left SMEs vulnerable due to limited access to affordable and robust coverage.
In response to those concerns, WTW has strategically partnered with leading cyber insurance carriers dedicated to serving the unique needs of SMEs. The tailored solution provides quick and easy access to competitive insurance quotes through self-service quoting platforms. WTW has also allocated dedicated underwriting staff to focus on the specific needs of SMEs and offers policyholder resources, including tools and support to implement and maintain robust cybersecurity measures.
"This moment signifies a transformative effort, dedicated to addressing the distinctive challenges SMEs face in the realm of cybersecurity. Through strategic partnerships with top-tier cyber insurance carriers and the delivery of resources, we assure SMEs access to affordable and comprehensive coverage. This initiative not only resolves concerns previously facing SMEs but also positions cybersecurity as an integral and manageable component of their business strategy and enterprise risk management," shared Jessica Klipphahn, NA Head of MM Cyber/E&O at WTW.
About WTW
At WTW, we provide data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk and capital. Leveraging the global view and local expertise of our colleagues serving 140 countries and markets, we help organizations sharpen their strategy, enhance organizational resilience, motivate their workforce and maximize performance.
Working shoulder to shoulder with our clients, we uncover opportunities for sustainable success—and provide perspective that moves you.
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TECHNOLOGY
PR Newswire | January 12, 2024
Rokt, the leading ecommerce technology company using machine learning and AI to make transactions more relevant to each shopper, today announced it has agreed to acquire AfterSell, a Shopify and Shopify Plus partner that helps ecommerce merchants upsell and cross-sell. Through the acquisition, Rokt will strengthen its SMB offering and expand its client portfolio to more than 20,000 SMB merchants, while giving them access to the same network and powerful AI technology built for large enterprises. The transaction is expected to close by February 1, 2024. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition will build on Rokt's own Shopify app, Rokt Ecommerce, which leading merchants such as BlendJet and True Classic use to unlock additional revenue and provide a more relevant shopping experience to their customers. Rokt Ecommerce optimizes the checkout process, from the cart to confirmation page, and deepens brands' customer relationships by presenting highly relevant offers to each shopper during the transaction moment.
AfterSell enables Shopify merchants to increase sales with personalized cart, checkout and post-purchase upsells. Brands including Good American, KitchenAid, HexClad, Miami Heat and Bloom Nutrition use AfterSell to increase AOV and customer retention. The AfterSell product offering also includes UpCart, a fully featured cart drawer specifically designed to increase AOV and reduce cart abandonment. Rokt will further invest in its SMB Shopify offering by combining the complete capabilities of AfterSell and UpCart with the existing Rokt Shopify app to build a more robust product for merchants. AfterSell was co-founded by Armon Shokravi, Dhruv Patel, Landon Fuhr and Varun Kundra in 2019.
"AfterSell has built a brilliant roster of SMB clients on Shopify and has garnered hundreds of five-star reviews from merchants, which is a testament to how well it delivers," said Bruce Buchanan, CEO of Rokt. "This acquisition strengthens our competitive advantage by enabling us to better serve SMB customers and provide access to advertisers that aren't typically available to them. We're also thrilled to bring the AfterSell team's knowledge and expertise into our organization."
This acquisition provides more tools to Rokt Shopify app users to enhance their customers' shopping experiences while boosting revenue. Additionally, Rokt Shopify users can now look forward to enhanced assistance from AfterSell's Canada-based team, which Rokt plans to grow significantly in 2024 and beyond.
Rokt's exclusive, closed marketplace leverages intelligence powered by more than 5 billion transactions across hundreds of leading ecommerce businesses, allowing merchants to create a seamless customer experience while also controlling the types of offers eligible to be displayed to their customers.
The acquisition news follows a year of significant growth and new initiatives for Rokt, including a partnership with Formula 1's 2023 championship team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, as well as several key appointments to its executive leadership team, including Chief Product Officer Srishti Gupta and Chief Marketing Officer Doug Rozen.
About Rokt
Rokt is the global leader in ecommerce technology, enabling companies to drive incremental value from every transaction by unlocking relevant messages at the moment customers are most likely to convert. Rokt's machine learning platform, built over the last 10 years, and scaled network powers billions of global transactions annually for the world's leading companies, including Live Nation, AMC Theatres, PayPal, Uber, Hulu, Staples, GoPuff, Lands' End, and HelloFresh. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates in 15 countries across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US by Inc. for the last three years in a row.
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