As the fast-paced world of science and technology drives toward tomorrow’s innovation, technology is expected to shape the way businesses function more than ever. Here are a few of the business trends that we expect to be impacted by technology in the coming year.

Ecommerce

Ecommerce will continue to evolve. Fewer store fronts and more online sales will persist as consumers turn to their computers and phones to make purchases instead. To ensure success in the coming year, businesses should work to shape this experience for their customers. By investing in new methods that support online sales, like video product descriptions and an attractive user experience for both desktop and mobile applications, businesses are sure to see profitability and growth in the new year. Another important aspect to consider in the ecommerce-dominated marketplace is an effective fulfillment system for customer purchases online. Without an efficient fulfillment system in place, businesses could easily fall behind the curve as they continue to find their profits shaped by an increase in online sales.

Back-Office Operations in the Cloud

With more sales moving to an online platform and transactions happening faster than ever, businesses have to find ways to keep up with the ever-increasing pace of the market. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, such as Oracle's ERP Cloud, allows businesses to track spending, inventory, and more, providing the ability to make informed decisions daily, without having to wait for accounting to “close the books” at the end of a quarter. With integrated AI and chatbots, ERP systems give time back to business owners and financial professionals, allowing them to spend more time making decisions and less time crunching the numbers. Using an ERP system based in the cloud also saves businesses time and money, as cloud ERP software updates and IT staff are managed by the provider.

Remote Workforce and Flexible Work Hours

As businesses continue to move into the virtual world of online sales, marketing, and cloud management systems, embracing a new work environment as well seems like a natural transition. The adoption of flexible work hours,  virtual offices, and remote workforces will continue to increase in popularity in the coming years as more millennials join the workforce and are willing to trade the traditional 9-5 for the freedom and flexibility offered by remote employment and freelancing. With the ever-changing environment of how consumers interact with businesses, it’s only logical that the environment in which business is conducted will move into the virtual realm as well.

AI Customer Experiences

As customer experiences continue to move into the virtual realm in 2020, so will the use of AI in customer interaction will increase as well. Gartner makes the claim that: “By 2020, the average person will have more conversations with bots than with their spouse.” While ecommerce continues to grow at unprecedented rates, so does the need for 24/7 customer service. The convenience of chatbots for customer questions is something that will be a tremendous asset to businesses as more consumers shop online. By utilizing this form of AI, businesses will save money without the need for customer service representatives and instead allocate that money elsewhere.