The world today is connected through an intricate network of devices, each with the ability to transmit and collect data. The emergence of this IoT-dominated landscape has provided consumers and businesses with a wealth of granular information at their fingertips – literally.
The limitless potential of Internet of Things applications is changing the very core of how businesses function, helping them uncover new insights and improving efficiencies at every step of the supply chain. Here are six of the most impactful ways in which Internet of Things products are changing businesses.
1. Enabling smarter decision making
One of the biggest advantages of IoT is the invaluable supply of data it can provide businesses. Businesses and entrepreneurs no longer have to rely on intuition or calculated guesses when making important decisions. For example, retail brands can now get a complete picture of a consumer’s experience with their product and understand whether any modifications to a product need to be made. This enables them to make faster and more accurate decisions, which can improve a customer’s overall experience with the brand.
By gaining a clearer understanding of how their customers use a product, brands can also drive innovation and generate accurate forecasts of how a new product will perform in the market.
2. Developing personalized marketing strategies
As any business owner knows, a product is only as good as its marketing. Marketing strategies previously depended upon the advertiser’s perception of the consumer base and how they believed consumers interacted with the product. The wealth of data generated through IoT can eliminate much of this guesswork.
Advertisers can now tap into real insights about their audience, gaining a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges. This can help advertisers and marketers develop highly-effective personalized marketing strategies that speak directly to a consumer and their pain points. In fact, several Internet of Things products enables marketers to connect with audiences the moment a need for the product arises, improving the possibility of the consumer converting.
3. Bridging gaps in the supply chain
Data generated through the IoT network can improve the efficiency of supply chains. IoT-connected devices can provide alerts whenever a specific product is running low in the warehouse. This alert can be directly transmitted to the supplier, who will then automatically transport a shipment to the warehouse. This reduces the need for a human to monitor inventory themselves, freeing up their time to do more value-driven tasks. It also completely eliminates the risk of human error as the entire process is automated. Ultimately, this can help businesses function more efficiently and provide greater value to their customers.
4. Improves productivity in operations
Since Internet of Things applications enable real-time transmission of data, they can improve data sharing between various interdependent departments within a company. Employees can share updates and requirements instantaneously, which reduces any time lags due to miscommunication. In this way, IoT-enabled workspaces can potentially improve the efficiency and productivity of a company as a whole. Since data is automatically generated, it also virtually erases the possibility of errors or inaccurate reports.
5. Facilitating remote workforces
As a direct consequence of faster data generation and transmission, the introduction of Internet of Things technologies has also led to the emergence of efficient, remote teams. In today’s global work environments, it isn’t uncommon to see interdependent teams spanning across countries -and in some cases, across continents. These situations could lead to communication gaps and loss in critical information unless precautionary measures aren’t taken.
The emergence Internet of Things applications has been crucial in facilitating the smooth functioning of global workforces. The instant transmission of data has virtually erased geographical boundaries, allowing teams to work seamlessly, regardless of where their actual physical location is.
6. Creating new specialized job roles
IoT might be becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our world, but the skills required to harness and develop IoT products are still relatively niche. As businesses become more excited about the possibilities of IoT, they could be looking to recruit individuals with the expertise to expand on this technology. As a result, new IoT teams could be installed within organizations, leading to a fundamental restructuring of a company’s internal departments and of its management. This can also lead to new challenges in Human Resource teams responsible for filling in these niche positions.
Expertise in Internet of Things technologies is far from mainstream and recruiters will certainly have their work cut out for them. On the other hand, this presents an excellent opportunity for engineers and tech specialists to upskill as their relevance in the job market is only likely to grow.
The new world powered by Internet of Things products that we live in is very likely to change ‘business as usual’. The impact that it has on businesses is wide-ranging, affecting everything from internal departmental structure to the marketing of products to end-consumers. How businesses succeed in this new environment will depend solely upon how fast they harness Internet of Things technologies.
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