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Almost half of UAE CEOs in the retail industry intend to start using artificial intelligence (AI) in the next two years, as they are increasingly influenced by technology to enhance the retail store experience for customers. This is according to the 2018 Global Consumer Executive Top of Mind survey, ‘No Normal is the New Normal’ jointly conducted by KPMG International and The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF).
Global CEOs however were less optimistic about the adoption of AI, with only 24 per cent expressing intent to start using AI over the next few years. They were also less confident about the prospects of technology in retail, with 48 per cent saying that brands would use technology to enhance the retail store experience. This is in stark contrast with UAE CEOs, who were confident of harnessing technology to transform the customer experience in-store.

Even when it comes to the overarching theme of business transformation, 80 percent of UAE CEOs said they planned to prioritize it over the next two years versus 57.5 per cent of CEOs globally.

As changing customer behaviors and shifting demographics contribute to sustained margin pressures, shorter strategy cycles and increased expectations from customers, companies are ramping up to embrace digital and AI technologies underpinned by data and analytics.

This shift is helping boost margins, customer centricity, agility and efficiency by replacing or augmenting some human activities with technology, and by shifting technology to the cloud.

Anurag Bajpai, Head of Retail, KPMG Lower Gulf, said: “We are envisaging a major push towards embracing technology to enhance the retail experience. The next few years in the UAE may see more brands adopt AI, VR and connected technology to transform the in-store experience and integrate online and offline experiences. The 2018 Top of Mind Survey finds an industry aggressively navigating a sea of change, where retailers and manufacturers appear to be radically rethinking their strategy, culture and processes and becoming more agile as they focus on growth.”

Globally, the Top of Mind survey found that some of the most significant variables that manufacturers and retailers may have to consider include how they reach the consumer, what technology they need, whether they want to do everything themselves and how they react to disruptive new competitors. The decline in brand loyalty was also identified by 29 percent of companies and was deemed to be driven by psychological, sociological and technological factors.

The survey also found that there is a direct correlation between how customer centric a company is and how fast it grows profits and revenues. In fact, 46 percent of customer-centric companies ranked connecting with consumers round-the-clock as a top priority.

“Today’s consumer and retail market is beyond disruption – we are disrupted – and CEOs need to listen to the market, look outward and focus on changing their business,” said Willy Kruh, KPMG Global Chair, Consumer & Retail. “It’s an increasingly difficult tightrope to walk between dealing with both internal and external continuous disruption, but both are key to creating customer centric organizations. Those companies that cannot authentically connect to customers will get left behind.”

Once you have launched your e-commerce web site, the challenge is to drive traffic from your intended audience. Other than running campaigns on Google Adwords and Facebook, you have the following options for targeted online campaigns.

Targeted Email and SMS Campaign
You can target Middle East subscribers through www.middleeastpostbox.com. You can select your specific audience based on age group, nationality, areas of interest and income group

Banner Advertising and Social Media Marketing You can reach local and regional audience by advertising in DubaiCityGuide.com, AbuDhabiCityGuide.com, SharjahCityGuide.com and UAEToday.com.

Guest Posts 

You can write product/e-commerce related articles and imbed links to your destination site. These articles will be posted on regional sites through www.guestposts.biz

Press Release Distribution and Media Monitoring Service

We recommend PR distribution to ME media and Global Media through www.pressreleasenetwork.com

For more information, contact Cyber Gear at info@cyber-gear.com

Historically, remote tracking software such as RTUs and surveillance technology have been viewed with scepticism by the masses.

This is embodied by the controversy that surrounds extensive CCTV networks in the UK, while the revelations that governments have used software to access private emails has also raised concerns over the scope of ‘Big Brother’ in the digital age.

Like all types of technology, however, tracking software and sensors are vulnerable to the machinations of each individual user, meaning that they can be used for the good of society in many instances. We’ve listed some examples below, and asked why they have such a positive benefit for businesses and households.

1. Remote Telemetry Units (RTUs) and Site Management

We start with RTUs, which are specialist tech products that collate and communicate real-time data from corporal objects.

Powered by the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), RTU units can be operated and accessed and operated remotely, enabling owners of multi-site corporations to optimise time and cost efficiencies across all of their locations.

Often used to reduce energy consumption and identify potential faults ahead of time, these products can also monitor remote sites and the harshest imaginable locations, while using any garnered data to optimise safety.

2. Remote Patient Monitoring

Exciting technological advancements have been made in the field of medicine in recent times, including the creation of electronic patient records and the sharing of accurate data between healthcare professionals in real-time.

The NHS is also trialling technology aimed at empowering dementia patients and similarly afflicted individuals to live independently for longer. This will also see physical, household objects such as fridges fitted with smart sensors, which monitor patients remotely and collate data to ensure they’re eating, drinking and washing regularly.

This could save the UK’s public health services considerable sums of money, while also ensuring that patients can continue to enjoy their home comforts safely and securely. Wearable technology will also be deployed as part of this drive, to monitor health metrics remotely and identify potential issues.

3. Fitness Tracker Apps

On a similar note, it’s impossible to escape the way in which fitness tracking apps have revolutionised our lives and empowered us in our efforts to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

From apps that track food calorie content to others that measure our heart-rate and physical performance during exercise, it has never been easier to cultivate effective dietary and fitness regimes.

This technology is certainly one of the more simplistic applications of remote tracking technology, but it has incredibly positive connotations and can certainly motivate us in our pursuit of higher living standards.

Guest Posting is an extremely popular method of expanding your digital footprint.

By posting your story on another person’s website/blog, not only will a company’s followers see its content, but anyone who follows the host website will see your content as well, thus reaching an audience that might be unaware of your brand.

A business can reach new audiences by increasing the amount of people reading the content. Accumulating guest posts can help a company build online authority by having their content published on other sites. The more sites that allow a company to guest post, the higher authority the company has. Search engines will recognize that other sites consider the posting company knowledgeable, and will adjust that company’s search result rankings accordingly.

Another advantage for companies that guest post is that they create relationships with other influential people.

By creating great content to feature on someone else’s blog or website, a company is establishing a positive relationship with other companies that could be important in the industry. A company that has influential personalities advocating for it will be much more efficient with building a brand online.

For more information, visit www.guestposts.biz

Thanks to the rapid developments in tech and the internet that we’ve seen in the last decade, people all over the world have access to different forms of online banking. This can be via visiting a bank’s webpage from a home laptop or device, or through various different apps and software.

If you’ve ever used online banking, you’ll probably agree that it beats having to head to your local branch to sort out any financial matters, but the benefits also stretch far beyond this.

Below you can find a number of examples of the advantages of online banking which might just convince you to make the switch if you’ve yet to do so.

Speed and Convenience

Firstly, by using online banking you can make the most of faster and more convenient services. These can include:

• Moving money between accounts
• Setting up standing orders and direct debits
• Paying contacts the money they are owed
• Receiving payments
• Speaking directly to account managers at your bank
• Ordering new cards
• Reporting any issues and resolving them

A Range of Payment Options

Different banks and lenders can also offer different payment options. For example, Ocean Finance have an app that can link to your credit card and allow you to make payments, however other providers can also allow you to pay for items contactless via the app on your smartphone.

Easy Financial Management

Another benefit that many online banking providers offer is to send out text alerts to make managing your accounts easier. These can be for aspects such as:

• Reminders to make payments
• Details about the status of your balance
• If you have missed any payments or you don’t have enough funds
• Warnings about security issues
• Confirmation of any actions you might have taken using online banking

Added Security

On the subject of security, you might think that online banking isn’t as safe as heading a branch in person, but the reality is that all of your accounts or apps will often have plenty of safety measures in place.

This can be in the form of multiple passwords, the abovementioned text confirmations, call back confirmations, secret questions and of course the passwords and measures you may already have on your smartphone or computer.

So as aforementioned, if you’ve yet to make the switch or you’ve just started online banking then why not give some of the above a try? You’ll quickly begin to realise the above benefits and will wonder how you ever lived without such convenient online options and services.

When engaging in a social media campaign a critical element is determining how much you are willing to pay for a given post. Attempting to determine the value of each post before it goes live is an exercise in futility. Even if you exert full creative control you cannot guess accurately whether or not the post you’re making will be a hit or a dud. Due to the nature of influencer marketing, the value of a given post will fluctuate greatly due to factors beyond your control.

However, that doesn’t mean that you cannot determine an average. While not every post is going to carry the same value, an influencer marketing campaign is a long-term strategy. By figuring out the averages, you can roughly determine the value of a post, and from there determine what you should be paying per post. Over time, some posts will excel, and others will flop, but everything will average out to a positive return. The question is, how do you go about calculating this average? The following tips will help you determine the average value of an influencer’s social media post.

Look for Longer Running Accounts

In order to establish a good average, focus your attention on accounts that have been around for a while. Several months to a year at least depending on how often the account has existed is a good way to get a reasonable sample size. Long running accounts also have the advantage of having enough data to spot trends, allowing you to make a reasonable guess about what the future of the account is going to hold.

While it might be tempting to score a deal with an influencer who has had runaway and unprecedented success, it is best to hedge your bets until they’ve had a chance to grow. The influencer might not actually understand how they managed to gain so many views so quickly, giving them a chance to settle into your niche will help keep you from making a bad investment.

Pull Data from Older Posts

Do not look at the last three posts from an influencer, and instead look at what they’ve managed with older posts. Fresh content is still circulating and could go viral, while older content has had a chance to circulate through news feeds and social media alerts and has gathered all the views it is likely to gather. These older posts can provide the best data on how much engagement that post will get over its lifetime.

Filter Out Flukes

Note that since we’re dealing with averages, it is important to filter out fluke posts – the kind of posts that go viral but whose success is never again replicated by the influencer. If somebody posts a YouTube video that scores a million hits but they only have 25k subscribers and just about all of their other videos average about 30 – 40k views then that highly viewed video should be treated as a fluke and not the norm. If you’re not sure if a post is a fluke, compare the averages you get including it in the data and without it in the data. If the difference is enough to completely change your decision to deal with that influencer, then go with the lower numbers.

Run the Averages

Once you’ve done all the necessary filtering, it’s just a matter of running what’s left. Basic math to find out the average views per post, the average engagement per post, and more information that will tell you everything you need to know about what that influencer can do and what they’re worth to you. Third party platforms such as Neoreach are excellent for helping you find some of the best influencers in your niche, allowing you to compare them and determine who is the best fit for your brand and who is most likely to net a positive return on investment.