Trends in business that changed norms of biz...
‘Disruptive Technologies at the Heart of Business Process Elimination’, a seminar jointly organised by the Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka (AAT) and Lankaclear (Pvt.) Ltd, saw the revealing of six unique trends in the business landscape, by Lankaclear (Pvt.) Ltd General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Channa De Silva.
The objective of the programme was to shed light on some of the groundbreaking payment technology innovations with practical insights that will thrust businesses to rethink their business models, streamline business processes, drive efficiencies, reduce costs and respond to customers faster, staying ahead of the competition.
Making his keynote address at the seminar, De Silva shared extensive information and statistics on some current trends and future expectations and predictions in the overall business landscape. Following are some extracts from De Silva.
Trend 1: Business as a service
Companies like Pickme, Ubereats, Upwork and Airbnb have one thing in common. Pickme doesn’t own any of the vehicles that they lend. Ubereats doesn’t own the bikes or the riders; no assets. Upwork doesn’t employ any of the employees that they lend; it’s all freelancers. Airbnb doesn’t own a single property that they lend.
They don’t own a single asset but they provide a service, hence business as a service. This is made possible worldwide through the ever-increasing number of people connected via smartphones, which is now over three billion connected users worldwide.
Trend 2: Unprecedented growth
The traditional phone was pretty good technology at the time but to acquire 50 million users, which is more than twice the population of Sri Lanka, the telephone took 75 years. What about Facebook? It took just two years to gain 50 million users. What about Angry Birds? Just 35 days. And if it’s not mind-boggling yet, what about Pokemon GO? Just 19 days. This is the unprecedented growth we are talking about.
As accountants, how do you cater to the customers who are expecting 75 years to come down to 19 days of service? Are you able to respond?
Trend 3: Proximity-based services
This means that if you go close to a place, you get the service. If you are further away, you don’t get the service.
The phones we carry around are pretty smart but they can be smarter. For example, they can connect to a server somewhere across the world but they have no idea you’re in a kitchen, in a conference room or shopping. They lack micro location context but now that’s changed with beacons. They use new bluetooth smart technology, supported by platforms.
Put anywhere in the physical world, they broadcast context and location to all compatible phones and smart devices in range. Phones can automatically pick up the signal and trigger contextual actions designed by business owners.
Customers can enjoy a seamless experience with more information about the products that interest them. As they browse through the store, their phones will transition from one item to the next, based on their proximity to the displays, enhancing the shopping experience every step of the way. It is better for business and also provides a better experience for shoppers. all major mobile
Trend 4: Use of biometrics
I remember some time ago, a multinational bank introduced a security system where you have to carry a token which has a pin in it, you have to carry it with you which was very cumbersome, if you forget to take it you can’t login, so that’s high security but low use. They make it so secure and so cumbersome that nobody wants to use it.
First of all, people must want to use it and you need to ensure seamless security. So that is what biometrics is doing. You look at something, you are authenticated. You touch with a finger, you are authenticated.
Trend 5: Disruption leads to elimination
Prior to Uber entering the San Francisco market, the entire taxi market was worth US $ 140 million and in 2015, just a couple of years into operation, Uber alone made over US $ 500 million, which means they more than tripled the market size without owning a single vehicle. Prior to that, Yellow Cabs was unbeatable. In San Francisco nobody could beat them but in 2016 they filed for bankruptcy because they couldn’t compete with Uber.
So my question is can Pickme replicate this in Sri Lanka? I’m sure they’re giving a very good ride to Uber in Sri Lanka, which is very proud to see a local company doing that.
Trend 6: Millennial impact
About the younger generation, you see that in China, you find two lanes for walking. One lane is for people who text and the other lane is for people who don’t.
More than 90 percent of payments in China are made through mobile phones because the usage of smartphones is so high, the chances of bumping into each other while walking is much higher, hence the need for two lanes.
Seventy five percent of the workforce will be millennials by 2030 and over 50 percent of the millennials use nontraditional apps, such as Paypal and others. The prediction is that by 2025 there will be over two billion people who will experience their first banking experience using a smartphone and 80 percent of them will never visit a bank branch.