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COVID 19 pandemic has changed the lives and livelihood of many around the globe. Although the full consequences of the pandemic are yet to be seen, the impact of it is visible on the economies of the world. During this period the sales leaders need to adapt to the new normal where they face fearful buyers, tighter budgets, and the inability to hold in-person meetings to make adjustments to the sales strategies for the new customer habits. The changes in customer behaviour have made the sales leaders realize that they need to address and adapt to the new reality and revisit their sales model.

1. Get proactive and create buyer-centric strategies – The focus of any organization needs to be on developing a comprehensive approach for customer outreach and lead generation through outbound and inbound lead generation channels. With the fast-paced digital advancement, the customers have ready access to information required to purchase with multiple options available and high expectations for personalization. The customer wants value addition, continuity, and meaningful interaction every time they buy hence the selling approaches need to be enhanced using AI tools to deepen sales integration for nurturing opportunities at scale.
2. Revisit the sales process – Post COVID world is way too competitive. The focus for any organization cannot just be on one-time sales, rather the sales team needs to focus on a series of value-added efforts. Every prospective customer who contacts you may or may not be eager to buy. The sales process needs to be outlined for every stage of the customer’s journey from initial contact and discovery stage to product demo, Q&A with decision-makers to closing the deal.
3. Siloed sales routes fall short with buyers – As the customer buying cycles and the purchasing team grow, the buyers look for increased convenience, value for time and more flexibility to move between channels for their immediate needs and preferences. Buyers are becoming more loyal to experiences vs unique sales route.
4. Disruptions in traditional selling due to remote working – Remote working has taken over since the onset of the pandemic. With major giants like Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter revaluating their work from home policy and work from home becoming the new normal with many other companies, the shift will have an impact on the role of the seller and the methods of selling are going to change dramatically.

Today, there is a clear shift that can be seen in sales which is now more team-based collaboration rather than it being about a few individuals. B2B organizations are laying emphasis on ‘sales are for everyone’ approach as:

1. Sales representatives have the flexibility of closing large deals – The inside sales representatives have far additional opportunities to do more and close big deals more efficiently at a lower cost to the company than the field sellers. Many companies are shifting their resources to inside sales for higher efficiency and to better map the buyers’ preferences.
2. The convergence of inside and field sales activities – The activities of the selling professionals are shifting from traditional ways to becoming more digital. The digital buyers need to be engaged on channels where they are more active by both the inside and field sellers to leverage relationships. With sellers and buyers having access to digital tools, the physical and virtual boundaries are blurring.
3. After-sales activities have a direct impact on retention and growth – The focus of any organization is no longer on closing a sales deal but on the after-sales activities that help deliver a consistent experience to the buyers to enhance the wallet share and advocacy for the brand.
4. Revenue generation to be supported by more employees across an organization – All leading B2B companies are introducing incentive programs and guidance to have all employees help with sales and achieve the targets.

Let us consider how digital tools are driving the change and enhancing the sellers. The role of the seller has evolved with the focus on bringing value to the process and deliver insights on how things need to be done. Having a stronghold on the digital tools lends an advantage to the sellers by:

1. Instilling confidence and accuracy in selling – The new tools available like Kaia offer AI assistance to sellers based on buyers’ interests. Kaia flashes digital information cards visible to the seller that help with relevant information for the conversation or address the specific question posed by the buyer. This tool help sellers engage successfully.
2. Reorganize the sales meeting dynamic – Another tool that is driving the change for sellers is Kaon interactive which is an omnichannel customer engagement platform bringing in buyers through engaging with them. The seller provides the buyer with an interactive application to explore options on their own. The role of the seller is to guide and observe the actions of the buyer to understand their preferences and interests. The focus for the seller shifts to validating ideas, answering questions and advise the buyer in a meeting.
3. Deliver tailored market insights – With the use of Klue’s tool the sellers can stay informed about the products and market moves of the competitors. The sellers are able to leverage the database to provide the buyer and prospects tailored market insights. The tool helps the sellers outline various market activities and their impact on their customers’ business.

With the shift to remote working and boardroom meetings and face to face interactions becoming a thing of the past, the hierarchies between inside and outside sellers have blurred. Pre and post COVID trends will come together to change the business models, sales strategies, and unsettle industries. It is time for a B2B sales leader to take advantage of the current changes and reset their definition of sales success by evaluating the onsite meetings and understanding that they will be an exception used for major deals and the rest of the meeting will shift to the online platform. Investment in digital tools needs to be increased and enhanced to maximize productivity with the remote working model. With the platforms being used to assist sellers for revenue intelligence, the sales leaders now have access to data that can be used to their advantage. Relationship analytics can be used to identify account managers with deep relationships with buyers, understand buyer behaviour to deliver the experience to increase buyer responsiveness. The companies now need to focus not on an individual seller to compensate for a deal but on compensating larger teams for the collaborative effort in the sales process.

The B2B sellers need to start preparing for a different buying and selling landscape where the sales leaders must reorganize and incentivize team success. With more and more companies reducing the sales headcount since the onset of the pandemic, the B2B sales leaders need to transform strategies to better meet the needs of the current and future buyers. The sales teams need to conduct an audit and renegotiate vendor contracts to roll out the tools to revenue teams. The next step is to educate the sellers with digital tools that help increase interactivity, foster self-discovery, and collaborate to take the seller and buyer engagement to the next level. Invest in upskilling and reskilling the revenue team to meet the buyer expectations for tailored, omnichannel interactions. With the blurring of inside and outside sales, the hierarchies need to become insignificant to start thinking of all sellers as sellers. The sellers need to be armed with the right tools and training to take on buyers in the new digital environment. Lastly, the organizations need to relocate the variable compensations across the organization to incentivize a wider range of employees who can contribute by opening up their networks and help in other ways to the sales.

‘Working from home’ is the hottest topic in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A large number of companies have implemented work from a home policy which is a new reality, but it takes time to get used to. In the UAE alone, 70 percent of the workforce was restricted to their homes at the beginning of March this year. Even with the restrictions easing after the initial three months, things have not gone back to what they were and may never go back to it even after the pandemic is over. Working from home has been a mixed experience for employees, with most stating an increase in productivity and a few stating that an office environment is important to be professional and productive.

An interesting study conducted by Forbes Middle East showed that three-quarters of the respondents work as well or better at home, with 42 percent stating that they were as productive at home as at work and 34.3 percent showed an increase in productivity when working from home.

Working from home has its benefits from achieving greater work-life balance, increase in performance to business continuity but it also involves self-motivation to get as much work done as one would in an office setting in a given amount of time.

Working from home is a blessing in many ways, but it can become a problem if it is not managed well.

We will explore some useful tips on how to be productive when working from home. These tips will make sure that you are successful in getting your work done and maintaining your mental well-being.

1. Have clearly defined working hours – Working from home is a commitment that requires discipline. If you want to be productive and get the maximum out of your time, then there is a need to have clearly defined working hours in place. If you feel that you are most productive early in the day then plan your working hours accordingly. In many roles, working involves other people as well where emails need to be responded to and meetings need to be held remotely within the working hours of the company. Plan your working hours as per your role and commitments.
2. Set up a workspace – To be productive from home, the best thing to do is to set up a separate workspace where you are most comfortable and away from distractions to focus on your work. Establishing a designated comfortable workspace can help train your brain that you are in a place where work is done productively.
3. Establish a work routine – Follow a routine when working from home similar to what you would follow at your workplace. Get up, get dressed, and prepare yourself mentally to start work. Make a schedule as you would in the office. Plan your breaks to allow yourself some rest time between your work and to ensure a fresh mind and energy to go through the working hours. Keep the housework for later as they are distracting and make you lose your focus and work rhythm.
4. Design a process for collaboration – Working from home involves interacting with others, be it meetings, assignments, giving, or receiving feedback. There should be a clear process in place to collaborate with different people when working remotely. From using chat apps to meeting software, there should be a clear guideline for the various tools to be used for work.
5. Prioritize your tasks – To be productive when working from home, it is important to learn how best to manage your time and prioritize your work. Spend some time every day before the start of the workday to organize your tasks and prioritize. Be objective and don’t plan more tasks than you can manage in the day.
6. Use your peaks in productivity to your advantage – When working from home, it is important to identify when your energy levels, motivation, and concentration are high. Plan your schedule based on these factors to get the most out of your day and stay motivated. A task that is more complex and requires more focus and energy, schedule it for the morning. Spend less productive time on tasks that do not require mental effort.
7. Communicate – With the new normal of working from home, there are many challenges that one is likely to face. The key to overcome these challenges is to communicate with your direct upline or your co-workers. Have a clear plan in place that lays out the expectations from you with regard to communicating regarding different aspects of work. This plan may evolve and change as you go along. Remember to reach out and ask for help. If communicating through video conference is the need of the hour then use that instead of email to avoid any miscommunication.
8. Avoid distractions – Working from home can lead to developing some unproductive habits. Avoid social browsing, checking personal messages, and reading the news during work hours to be able to meet the deadlines. If you fear that you will give in to one of these distractions, use applications that can block access to social networks and websites during the workday.
9. Use time management tools – Time management tools come in handy if you are struggling to stay focused on your task and being less productive. Tools like RescueTime and harvest will help in monitoring the amount of time dedicated to each task to help you discover how you lost time. TomatoTimer can be used to schedule the time of maximum concentration with breaks.
10. Stay connected with your co-workers – To efficiently work from home, it is important to stay informed about any changes in the company that may impact your work. Line of communication should be kept open with your boss as well as your co-workers. This will not only help you in performing better but also help you stay connected and ease the loneliness you may experience when working from home. Scheduling calls at the beginning of the day to plan out the work with team members, catch up calls at the end of the day to see how far each of you has reached works well in staying connected.

Working from home presents an excellent opportunity to develop new professional skills that can help you in your current job as well as for the future. The benefits of working from home go far beyond just skipping the commute. You can focus on your professional life along with ensuring the welfare of your family.

The objective of any business is to extract actionable and commercially relevant information to improve performance. According to Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, “If you’re able to go into a meeting, and other people have opinions, but you have data to support your arguments and your recommendations, you’re going to be heard.”

The Top 25 Analytics Apps that can help you make smart decisions are reviewed below:

1. Agency Analytics- an all in one reporting platform for the marketing activities undertaken by any business. These include Email marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, Social Media, and many more. It allows users to create dashboards that can be customized and branded for each campaign enabling users to present information based on the metrics that matter the most. The reporting can be done on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis through the application. It allows for providing comments and recommendations for each section of the report.
2. Akita- is a Customer Success Management Platform designed to help reduce the customer churn, nurture customer relationships, and increase revenue from existing customers. It allows for customization of automated alerts for important customer interactions. The dashboard gives an insight into the customer contact details, customer segment, lifecycle stage amongst other things, and the actions that need to be taken. It also gives an overview of the monthly recurring revenue, customer lifetime value, average health scores, and other metrics with details of the percentage change. Users can view the list of organizations or people who have been identified as churn risks by Akita.
3. AC Video Tracker- is used to tag and track the videos viewed by the contacts. Tagging viewers allows marketers to gain insights into how each viewer has engaged with the video content so targeted follow up can be done. If a contact has viewed only a part of the video, the follow-up sequence covers the information missed. It works well with Youtube, Wistia, and Vimeo video. Viewers can be tagged or untagged, added, or removed from the automation.
4. Big Picture- helps in tracking custom events and measure the funnel conversion rate. Providing detailed event analytics help understand how the users and visitors are engaging with your app or the website, find opportunities for optimization, and upgrade the process. It can help easily track taps and clicks, page scroll, video engagement, and form interactions. Integrating this data with the CRM and sales engagement tool helps you target the right people.
5. Bridge Subscription Manager-a recurring billing software that provides a solution to the challenges faced in manually monitoring and processing subscription credit card charges every month. Payments can be automated, accounts of clients can be disabled automatically in case of a declined payment, clients are notified when an update is needed on the credit card. It reduces the time needed by staff for all these activities. It integrates well with all leading payment gateways.
6. ConvetFlow- powering over 10,000 marketing teams and fast-growing companies, ConvertFlow is an all in on platform for converting the website visitors. It provides you with tools to convert website visitors, generates leads, audience segmentation, drives sales, and personalize the website. Create, personalize, and launch landing pages, forms, surveys, pop-ups that can be fully integrated without coding. It gives marketers “no-code” superpowers.
7. Data Hero- is the fastest and easiest way to automate business insights without the need for complex queries or coding. Connect all the data sources to track sales, marketing, and customer success data in one place. Create drop-and-drag charts to generate insightful, intuitive data visualization in no time. It helps organizations dive deeper into the data and use the intuitive tools of the application to get meaningful insights and results.
8. Dasheroo- the amount of data available to us is a growing challenge. Many applications are required to run a successful business which makes the process very long and time-consuming. Dasheroo is a collaborative business dashboard that helps in monitoring the metrics from all the apps in one place, making it easier to understand the data and use it best for the growth of the business.
9. Databox-is an analytics tool that allows users to create a custom analytics dashboard with data from multiple sources to be viewed on one device. It is built to track performance, discover insights, and understand the business. It organizes business KPIs in one place and delivers the metrics without any coding. The feature of live previews helps users view the data in real-time.
10. Deliverability Dashboard- helps in viewing and tracking the overall email Health Score. It helps in monitoring the engagement stats, thereby making informed decisions to improve the reach to the clients’ inbox. Email engagement is the most important factor in email deliverability.
11. Evidence- it is a simple tool used to boost the website engagements and conversions using powerful social proof. Once the app is working on the site new website visitors can see other sign-ups for the newsletter, purchase of product or service, register for a webinar, or schedule a live demo. Displaying these conversions in real-time builds buyer confidence and makes the visitor to the site take similar action.
12. Google Analytics- a web analytics service offered by Google, it provides comprehensive reporting and analytics tools for all kinds of websites. The users can monitor website traffic, understand user interaction with the site, and can generate reports customized to the needs of the business. Google Analytics collects, manages, and consolidates data showing the user how to engage with the website, videos, social tools and ads across all devices.it also helps in understanding the behaviour of the end-user. Business can improve their marketing campaigns and web content with the right insights. Website managers can gain insights into what is working and what is not working to make necessary changes.
13. Grey Metrics- is a marketing report and dashboard software for digital agencies. By using this software, companies can create reports/dashboards with the data from marketing platforms. These can be checked on an hourly basis to track marketing performance.
14. Import2 Wizard- allows you to import, update and export contacts, deals, and more with CVS files from other apps. This application helps in updating data from the CVS files to fill in the missing information in the existing records. It offers the freedom to select data and download to share with others who do not have access to the database and also for business analysis. Data is the basis for making informed decisions. It is important to extract only the data that is needed to support the business.
15. MailOptin- it converts the website visitors into e-mail subscribers and customers. You can engage with these visitors by sending event-triggered emails. MailOptin grows the ActiveCampaign email list, capture leads on the WordPress site using conversion-optimized beautiful newsletter signups. You can schedule email campaigns daily, weekly, or even monthly keep your most interested visitors engaged with your brand.
16. Mail Timers- is being easy to use application that allows you to create countdown timers marketing emails for sales, events, holidays, webinars, and more. It has additional features like transparent background, advanced colors, background picture, expiry message, and more. With this service, design customization can be done using adobe photoshop PSD layout and by using advanced technology GIF images can be created.
17. Octoboard- is a business dashboard solution that generates visual analytics and reports to provide users with insight into their business performance. Brands and marketing agencies send Octoboard reports to clients and key stakeholders. Companies add ActiveCampaign data to Octoboard to find the dependencies between email marketing, website traffic, sales funnels, and align email activity with the company goals.
18. Piesync- takes care of syncing the contacts bi-directionally between the cloud apps in real-time. It works in the background and updates the customer information from anywhere. The sync can be customized, sync direction can be changed, and use PieSync to keep the contacts continuously consistent across all types of apps.
19. PlusThis- is a campaign toolkit for marketers and entrepreneurs. It has 50+ tools and integrations like SMS, webinar connection, countdown timers, Facebook retargeting, video triggers and tagging, and expiring offers and content.
20. Segment- it is a customer data and analytics solution that helps in analyzing contact data from multiple sources and funnels it into apps that you may be using. The contact data is shared between apps which gives a complete picture of the data and the apps have more data to leverage. The data is sent to Segment by installing lines of tracking code in the website or app. Segment integrates with some of the most popular analytics, marketing sales, developer, and user testing apps. There are currently 150 partners.
21. SegMetrics- is a data analytics app that helps in getting clarity on where the best leads are coming from, how they act, and how much the marketing efforts are worth in terms of how many leads turn to customers. SegMetrics gives actionable insights without any coding, spreadsheet exporting, or pivot tables.
22. SendForensics- is a specialist email deliverability suite that allows you to test and optimize the deliverability of emails before they are sent, getting the maximum engagement out of each campaign.
23. Wicked Reports- automatically track and attribute revenue to gain ROI and LTV insights. It connects lead generation to high-value clients over time. Wicked reports have deep integration with Facebook, Google, and all popular CRM, marketing, e-commerce, and order management platforms. It gives reliable conversion data. It automatically detects and reports all email clicks that lead to sales. Best clients are recurring subscribing clients. Wicked reports detect this and connect it to marketing.
24. Wistia- lets your videos do the work. It is a video marketing software that makes it easy to find, engage, and grow the audience. Custom lead capture forms can be placed directly into any Wistia video at the exact moment chosen.
25. Woopra- is a customer analytics platform that helps in visualizing, analyzing, and optimizing every touchpoint in the customer journey, empowering data-driven teams to grow and innovate faster. It provides a unified analytics solution that is used by on-demand services, e-commerce, and SaaS for understanding, connecting, and engaging with customers through data. Woopra’s customer journey and segmentation data enable the user to deliver relevant messages to improve conversions and drive customer engagement.

The exhaustive list above gives a good insight into the important and significant analytic apps that are available online.

The number of online marketplaces is increasing every day. They offer convenience and time efficiency over the traditional offline platforms to the buyers as well as the sellers. According to research conducted by Statista, E-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.1 trillion by the end of 2020. This only reflects the scope of online marketplaces. Let us get an understanding of “What is an Online marketplace?”

An online marketplace is a digital platform with websites and mobile apps, where several vendors, shops, people offer products to the buyers in exchange for a marketplace fee. The owner of the marketplace attracts the customers and handle all transactions. They do not hold any inventory and focus mainly on assisting the sellers to sell through the marketplace. Perfect examples of the online marketplace are Amazon, Airbnb, Etsy. Since the online marketplace offers a huge opportunity now just for the owners but for sellers and buyers, let us look at “Tips to Build an Online Marketplace.”

1. Conduct market research and research the target audience: Market research is essential while creating an online marketplace to get a clear understanding of the target market, users, their needs, and the solution they are looking for. It is important to assess the market size to better understand what business model to adopt. Understanding the market segments will help pick the most attractive niche in the target market. Popular online marketplace Amazon has grown big by initially starting from a small niche-an online bookstore. The study of the competitors will help gain insights into the marketing strategies and the business models they use as well as the strengths and weaknesses they have to use to your advantage. Market trends help to understand what is working and what is not, changes in regulations, new technological breakthroughs, and change in customer behaviour.

The most important element of conducting market research is to identify the target audience. Knowing who the users are and what are their goals and the challenges they face in buying the product. It is also important to know where they buy from, and what motivates them to buy. Creating buyer personas will give a better understanding of the audience and help solve the problems they face. All this will help draw up a business model that will work and prepare a marketing strategy to make the marketplace successful.

2. Choose the right business model: Designing a viable business model is very essential before starting the online marketplace. The various models to consider are:
• Sign up fees- a flat payment to charge the sellers to sign up on the marketplace. This way you get the money in even before the marketplace is thriving as long as you can sell your business idea. After the initial sign up one needs to look at other ways to monetize.
• Subscription- charging the sellers a specific amount regularly to generate revenue for the marketplace.
• Listing fees- collecting a set amount from the sellers for listing their products on the marketplace. These fees can be at a flat or variable depending on the price of the product, the category of the product.
• Selling fees- A great monetization strategy. Selling fees are collected each time the seller processes an order on the marketplace. It may pose a problem initially when the orders are small but eventually can ensure high returns when the order volume grows.

3. Planning the operations of the marketplace: A plan needs to be in place to successfully manage the operations of a marketplace and make it profitable. The focus needs to be on acquiring and maintaining the sellers to make the marketplace run. The first step is to convince the sellers to come on board. You need to present your unique value proposition to them and make them understand how the marketplace will function. The way the products are organized will impact the selection of the software, the layout of the marketplace, and how the sellers publish and manage their products. Payment processing, logistics, and shipping processes need to be carefully planned to ensure smooth operations of the marketplace. Marketing strategies need to focus on the target audience to get maximum traction to make the marketplace a success.

4. Outline the features of the Marketplace: Focus on creating features that the user needs to optimize time, effort, and money for a marketplace. Start with the essentials and improve the platform with time as the business grows. Make the onboarding of sellers an easy and simple process. Optimize product management features according to the product offering on the marketplace. Make it simple for the sellers to receive and process orders and communicate with their buyers. Similarly, the buyers should be able to find what they are looking for easily, place orders, and make payments. Adding some reporting features will help understand and analyze what is working and what is not for both you and the seller.

5. Select a payment solution: For a marketplace, payment is received from the sellers, payments are received for the sellers, and payments are received from the buyers. It is a must to have a sound payment solution in place to manage all these payments safely and securely. The types of payments, the processing cost, and the availability of payment providers in the region will govern the selection of the payment solution of the marketplace.

6. Invest in the right software: Selecting the right software will help you successfully launch the marketplace. Whether you choose from the cloud, hosted platforms, standalone solutions, multi-vendor CMS extensions, or your website will depend on the kind of marketplace being built, the features the platform needs, and the user experience.

7. Get a great team in place: Getting the right software is not enough. A team needs to be put in place to manage different aspects of a marketplace from design to marketing and sales, operations, and logistics. The focus should on getting people with specialized skills who have an understanding of the marketplace. This will not only ensure success but future growth as well.

8. Develop the Marketplace: After all the planning is in place with a great team, the next step is to develop the platform. Everyone involved in it should have a clear understanding of the requirements and the timeline. Ensure that there is a backup plan in place if things don’t work out as planned. Keep it simple when designing, implementing the marketplace software, and test with real users to resolve any issues faced initially before the official launch of the marketplace.

9. Launch the Marketplace: Prepare the launch plan of the marketplace keeping in mind the timeline, the marketing message, and the primary channels that will be used. Devise a social media strategy as per your target audience and create the buzz before the launch. Do a soft launch and try and get as much feedback as you can from the initial customers. Use the feedback constructively and make changes and improvements to the platform. Post that does a test run before the launch of the marketplace. Make sure to create enough hype around the launch especially with the target audience.

10. Grow the marketplace: Post-launch the focus should be on growth and retention of the customer base as well as the seller base. Use social media to create brand awareness and attracting new customers. Set aside a budget for social media ad campaigns and have the necessary tools to analyze how well these platforms are working for you. Gather feedback from both the customer and sellers for improving the marketplace. Feature and promote the best sellers by creating case studies and success stories together with them. Always come up with new and exciting ways to engage your customers.

Building an online marketplace is a complicated and time-consuming process. Remember your niche is what will set you apart from others. Each marketplace has its unique challenges. However, with proper research and planning processes using the right expertise you can create a success story.

COVID 19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions impacting businesses worldwide and wiping out more than $ 20 trillion of the value of global equity markets.

Businesses across various industries have been forced to rethink and readjust their strategies and respond in new ways to survive through this period. The timelines for implementing new emerging technologies have changed where companies have had to accelerate drastically to cope with the pandemic. Early implementers of digitalization have seen their investments paying off now and others have realized that digital capabilities need to be enhanced to stay resilient through these times.

The nature of the pandemic is helping certain industries succeed even after the restriction like remote working, social distancing is in place. Let us get an insight into the industries that are creating opportunities and are likely to thrive post the pandemic.

1. E-Commerce: Due to restrictions in place and fear of going to public places, the online marketplaces are booming. E-commerce companies have seen a huge growth in transaction orders despite the challenges faced with the supply chain. Many companies are expected to turn profitable in the next 1 year. This remarkable shift is not expected to retreat to the pre-COVID levels once things get back to normal.

2. Remote Working Technology: With billions of people working from home offices must stay connected. Schools around the world have moved to remote learning models making telecommunications and remote working platforms more important than ever before. Businesses that provide video meetings, file sharing, webinars, and other mobile collaborations have seen exponential growth. They are looking to hire more people to cope with the surge in demand. This new trend is likely to become the default method of communication for many industries in the future.

3. Industrial Real Estate: With growing interest in bringing industries closer to customers for better control in times of disruption, as well as for increasing safety stock, the demand for industrial space will likely grow. To accommodate more complex pick-pack systems and provide access to a greater variety of products, typically associated with any e-commerce distribution facility, the real demand for such a space will be thrice the size of a regular B2B facility. The change in the model could also see management either working from the distribution facility and/or from home.

4. Health Industry: The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries around the world are most essential in current circumstances. Companies are providing delivery services for medical supplies not just to individuals but to private clinics as well. With people switching to teleconsultations as a preferred way, companies that provide a platform to book appointments and consultations with doctors have seen record-high traffic and it is likely to grow in the future. The enhanced flexibility and convenience that this platform provides both for the patient and the healthcare provider will ensure the continuous growth even post the pandemic.

5. Product and Service Delivery: Companies that cater to deliveries of essential supplies has seen a huge spike in demand. Third-party services are being used by restaurants e-commerce, F&B companies to fulfil the substantial growth in orders as their current delivery infrastructure cannot cope with the surge in demand. In the post COVID world, it is anticipated that the delivery service will continue to stay in high demand.

6. Automation: Robots have been viewed as a threat to the workforce. With the current need for social distancing and least human interactions, the benefits of using such technology are superseding its threats of replacing humans. Warehouse operations have been transformed in current times. Companies are looking for low-cost, flexible automation solutions to replace humans where it is possible to do so. This trend will continue and diversify in the future. Many jobs will be lost, but once the companies switch to these technologies during current times, it is highly unlikely for them to revert to pre COVID times.

7. Augmented Reality: AI was incorporated into many online channels to cope with restrictions imposed due to COVID leading to a fall in sales in-store. It is likely to replace the need to feel and touch goods before making a purchase. The industry will see growth in the future with technological improvements and lower costs.

8. Online Grocery Stores: Online sales for grocery items have seen a drastic rise in orders in current times. Many companies have had to hire personnel to cope with high demand and ensure deliveries are made on time. With restrictions easing this trend is likely to stay with people opting for the convenience of the online stores.

9. Cloud Kitchens: a concept referred to as e-commerce of food where there are virtual restaurants and food can be ordered online and delivered to the customers. Centralized kitchens can serve as a hub for many restaurants who can reduce their cost of having a physical restaurant and staff to run it.

10. E-Learning: With children across the world forced to continue their education from home, e-learning has become essential. This holds true for colleges and universities as well. With this shift and the integration of information technology in education, it will make online education an integral part of the education industry.

Countries have increasingly felt the need to have their manufacturing rather than relying on other countries to have more resilience in their supply chain. This socio-economic trend to reverse globalization will ensure that no organization faces challenges like those that the pandemic presented.

The Post-COVID road is certainly going to be bumpy and unpredictable, but it is in these uncertain times great opportunities arise. The pandemic has compelled many companies to evolve, transform, and digitalize to conduct business. Some businesses will survive and emerge strong, transformed reshaped and some will not survive. The key lies in bringing about the changes necessary to overcome any future challenges.

COVID 19 has changed everything around us from the way we live to the way we shop.

The use of technology by businesses and people has soared and is visible with the increase in internet usage by 60 percent. There has been a substantial shift in retail spending from planning to buying products we need. These changes have brought about a complete change in the retail setting. Businesses today are using a variety of resources to understand the changing customer behaviour like google trends, survey, analysis of their data as well as social listening to be able to make decisions in real-time. Google has stepped up and has offered tools like “Rising Retail Categories” since May 2020 which highlights fast-growing product-related categories along with the location.

To help European, Middle East, and Africa retailers make the most of the digital opportunities, Google is all set to launch its new initiative “Accelerating Retail” in September 2020.

What is Accelerating Retail?

Retail accounts for 9 percent of jobs in the European Union alone and it will play a vital role in the recovery. Accelerating Retail is a platform designed to help retailers of all sizes across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa accelerate business recovery and growth and to be ready for the upcoming peak shopping season. The month-long program will introduce new products, tools, free training, real-time insights, and resources to plan for the future.

Why do we need a platform like Accelerated Retail?

1. Retailers need to respond to the changing needs of the consumers-The world around us has seen a major change after COVID 19 was declared a pandemic. Online shopping has seen exponential growth which has brought about challenges in decision making for the businesses. The needs of the consumers have changed and their buying journey which started from research to exploring options both offline and online have now gone through a change due to the uncertainty in the availability of the products. Consumers have become more open to exploring other brands and options available. Having said that they now need help in finding the right product, at the right place, at the right time. This provides a perfect opportunity for the retail industry to respond to the consumer needs and changes in behaviour while building their brand online and in-store through the use of tools of Accelerated Retail.

2. Recovery and growth through digital- Online retail demand have soared and the focus of any business now needs to be on providing great customer experience and build brand recognition. With the launch of a new version of “Grow My Store” in many countries, Google wants to help local businesses to improve digital shopping, grow customer traffic, and enhance the online customer experience to complete transactions. It is as simple as entering the business URL into the tool to get a customized report, digital traffic trends, industry benchmarks, and actionable tips to improve. This will help retailers reach their potential customers. Upgrading of Smart Shopping campaigns is being done to help with the acquisition of new customers and simplify advertiser onboarding. The use of “Rising Retail Trends”, which was specific to the U.S., U.K., and Australia has been expanded to other regions on the world to providing insights to fast-growing retail categories with locations where more interest is seen.

With the growth in online spending, the success of the retail sector will depend on the online and offline offering, and the customer purchase experience. Research conducted by Google in collaboration with Euromonitor shows that in the next five years purchases will be made in-store but retailers who offer in-store and digital platforms will gain the maximum. Through the use of digital technologies, retailers can become more resilient and ensure growth. Accelerated Retail will help make that possible and prepare retailers for what lies ahead.

Every now and then there’s a shift in gears, redefining ‘success’ for social media marketing. Because of its dynamic nature, it’s hard to predict the outcome these trends could bring.

But what exactly are social media trends?

Social media trends are dynamic, it’s the propelling energy that’s taken every industry by a storm. Without social media trends, everyone would have a tough time picking the right technique for business growth.

Now seems like the ideal time for companies to reflect and reconsider their approach to social media marketing. Especially amidst the pandemic, corporations are already tasked with finding an equilibrium between discovering new and innovative ways to appeal to their customers and analyzing their fluctuating social data to understand what steps to take next.

Therefore, refocusing your perspective on social media might just be the right thing to do. But, before we start let’s talk facts.

On a daily basis, how much time do people spend on social media?

Research shows that an individual spends about 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on social media networking sites and messaging platforms.

Particularly ages between 16-24 allocate most of their time every day on social media, especially while watching TV – 72% of them are using social media!

Additionally, social media is an essential tool for most users, and marketers who have successfully realized its importance are now bridging themselves via these platforms to build successful relationships with their clients.

Simple, right? Not really, the market is slowly saturating. But don’t worry, we’re going to share some tips that will help you to stand out!

1. Stories Are Only Getting More Popular 

There’s no better method than using stories to capture the attention of your audience. These few second clips are highly engaging, addictive, and catchy. They’re short enough to keep people interested hooked on them for hours and hours!

Plus, over 500 million people use the story feature on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Messanger, and Facebook every day. While over 4 million advertisers utilize stories every month for advertisement purposes.

This is a great feature to utilize if you want to increase your brand awareness, drive connection, or even network with people!

2. Shop From Home Through Social Commerce

Who needs a mall, when you have social commerce. Shop from the comfort of your own home! Social commerce continuously helps to connect social media and commerce.

Nowadays, social platforms are operating vigorously to meet the demands of clients who prefer shopping through their social media platforms. For instance, Instagram launched shoppable posts so individuals can look through products without leaving the app.

While Facebook has Marketplace which lets users sell and list products on the platform. Additionally, Pinterest offers users Buyable Pins so they can shop for products and discover new ones!

How can you use this?

Well, first of all, you should use one or most of these emerging trends of social commerce efficiently. Look into different ways to show your clients how well the product you’re offering fits into their lives. A few techniques to try would be product unboxing and demonstration videos, use interactive visuals, video testimonials, etc.

Furthermore, most of these social media tools let you in on some insight about trending content schemes, popular hashtag ideas, how your followers are reacting and engaging with your content.

3. Think Out of The Box

CREATIVITY is key! You don’t want your social media accounts to be bland and the same as everyone. Be creative, think out of the box! Find other ways to approach your target audience engagingly. This will surely increase your brand name and also keep your audience engaged.

Some ways you could incorporate creativity is by using interactive infographics also referred to as ‘gifographics’, which is a combination of GIF and infographics. Furthermore, you could also find influencers who would advertise your content on their social media accounts. This would increase your brand value!

As well as diversify your social distribution channels, use apps such as Snapchat and Reddit while using mainstream platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

4. Video Content Is Rising 

Don’t sleep on video content! It makes up half of the creative content, nothing captures attention faster than visual representation. However, personalized videos gain more popularity, especially if you customize your content to cater to the needs of your audience. That’s why most brands focus on using short and engaging videos to connect with their target audience.

Additionally, research shows that 86% of people expect to see videos from brands in 2020. While 36% of them prefer education or explainer videos. Although, 14% prefer product demonstration videos.

On the last note, there are so many platforms to chose from, YouTube wins second place to Facebook in the context of active users. We also have IGTV by Instagram and of course the oh-so-famous TikTok!

5. Are You An Influencer?! Let’s Collaborate.

Influencers are the hot topic right now, working with an influencer is the most authentic way to market your brand and product. Every day you see more and more labels collaborate with influencers, which is a smart idea because it helps the brand and influencer gain recognition.

Moreover, once you understand what the influencer brings to the table you can base your decision on collaboration on that, does your product target their audience, do you share the same/similar values? Will your product make a difference in their lives. How will this collaboration affect your current audience?

Therefore, try to pick an influencer who has similar values and ideals as your company that way you can target a large audience, your and their’s combined!

6. Which Platform Is The Right Fit For You

Despite popular belief, every social platform available right now is advantageous to use. There’s no such platform that is “dead”.

For instance, Snapchat saw an increase in its daily active users during 2019 even after TikTok was launched and to this day LinkedIn is seeing insane growth for its B2B marketers.

On that note, brands should really think about which platform they want to spend most of their time promoting.

Although, let me give you a hint; you want to choose a platform where your audience is constantly active. That way you know where to nurture your brand image. There’s so much to choose from! But make sure that you choose a platform that will help you reach your target audience. After all, you need to be appealing to the right audience.

So these are a few of the social media marketing trends you need to be aware of! Make sure to keep a lookout for more!

The world that we live in today, it is imperative for any business to have a flawless and a ‘responsive’ website. A good website is responsible for nearly 95% of the first impression that people form about a company or a brand.

Websites have seen a complete makeover from the time of its inception. From providing basic information about an organization or a brand to now providing a platform to communicate with its users, engaging them, making them a part of the brand story to achieve higher awareness and higher sales.

Good web design is essential as it has a direct correlation with how a brand is perceived by its audience. For some companies, it plays a vital role as it is the only component leading to their growth and expansion.

Web design trends are evolving all the time. Incorporating the latest web design trends will ensure a modern and updated site. Web Design Trends 2020 is an absolute mixture of minimalism, bold typography to using ever-evolving high tech technology to take the website experience to the next level.

10 Web Design Trends for 2020

1. Dark Mode: this trend was followed in 2019 and has stayed on and made its way into 2020. Dark mode designs are modern and make design elements stand out more, thereby creating a higher contrast ratio. Offering an elegant and sleek layout to having a positive impact on battery life and energy consumption, the dark mode has benefits of reducing the strain to the eyes by reducing the use of light pixels which lowers the brightness of the screen.
2. Minimalism: is one of those classic web design trends that never seems to fade. This trend has even more relevance today as the attention spans are becoming shorter and so are the screen sizes. The main focus remains on the core features of the website rather than the visual appearances. The less a user has to think about moving around the website, the more attention they will pay to content. Photos and videos are an effective way to influence users with the use of minimal text.
3. 3D Elements: one of the most alluring elements of web design that make a website more fun, engaging, and keep the visitors stay longer are the 3D elements. In 2020 more immersive 3D web designs will be seen creating higher engagement than ever before. The level of realism and depth that can be achieved is inaccessible by any other digital technology. This will especially hold true for e-commerce where such design will be used to present a product.
4. Artistic Illustrations: the purpose of an illustration is to tell a story to the audience, to capture their attention, and help them visualize aspects of the product or service. Different styles of illustrations for web designs are a trend in 2020. It will not only combine art and design but will also look at aesthetics and photos. It is important to keep in mind to match the style of illustrations and graphics with the brand personality.
5. Luminous Colour Scheme: use of futuristic colour schemes in the form of bold colour pairings to make the web designs come alive on screen are trending for 2020. A mix of colours like dark neon, hues of blue and purple and hot pink give a glowing feel.
6. Black and White: web designs with the black and white theme have always been a trend as they have a very classy and elegant feel to it. Websites following this trend in 2020 are often minimalist with bold typography and artistic photographs or illustrations.
7. Frames of White Spaces: bleed layouts have been a trend for a while but now web designers are doing away with it and are leaning more towards the use of solid structures and devising ways to use white space to give more structure to the designs and making use of clean frames for design stability. This enables the visuals to shine creating a sense of order to the website.
8. Shadows, Layers, and Floating elements: are all about creating depth. Soft shadows and floating elements add interesting elements and depth to the page by giving it a 3D lite look. These can also be used in the text and photos. Layering multiple elements such as images, icons, videos, text can lead to a web presentation with an undisturbed flow. These elements create a sharp contrast from the classic flat design by giving the design a light feel as if the elements are floating over each other.
9. User Triggered Animations: a growing trend in web design is having animation triggered by an input or action by the visitor. This is a very exciting feature and adds a new dimension to the webpage.
10. Voice capable interfaces: voice search is taking over search on a website. This is possible now through AI and voice user interface technology. It becomes imperative for a website to have voice capable interface since voice search for search. It adds more functionality to the website and is extremely helpful for people with disabilities.

End of the day, websites should tell compelling stories through their design and content to engage and convert visitors into loyal customers.

The year 2020 is set to be a year of diversity when it comes to the trends dominating the web design. Trends are more futuristic than they have ever been to. This year will see the development of web designs being technology-driven apart from being eye-catching through the use of visuals, colours, and 3D effects and some of the old trends being reinvented to cater to the new styles. Web designers will have an array of choices to create an attention-grabbing web experience.

In a #WFH era, when you see somebody dressing up, they are not preparing to go out. They are most probably getting ready for a Zoom Call. Right?

So how do you prepare for the perfect Zoom call?

Start with the basics and keep it simple. You are not to dress up in your Friday best. Wearing a really busy outfit will take the viewer’s attention away from you. A plain, solid color will help bring out the best in you. Steer clear of shirts that are bright white or dark black because they look like a blob on camera.

Focus next on the lighting. Facing a window draws light to your face. If the strongest light is coming from a lamp or a window behind you, you’re likely to look like you’re in the witness protection program, with your face in shadow.

The jury is still out on using flashy virtual backgrounds. The virtual background can be a handy way to hide your messy kitchen or home office. Like in TV interviews, sitting by your bookshelf may impress a few people. Make sure you have read at least a few books that you flaunt!

Here is a technical point worth considering. The cameras on smartphones and webcams are wide-angle. So if you get too close to it, you will look distorted. Keep an appropriate distance from the camera to look your best.

Using an accessory mike is a good idea to avoid the echoing affect and the sound you make while jamming the keyboard during a call.

Keep your phone or laptop at the same level as your eyes – until you see the webcam eye to eye.

Here is the ultimate tip. Use Zoom’s beauty filter to soften the focus of your camera so you can impress your grandma with your youthful looks!

Contributed by Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear.