How Mobile Technology Saves Businesses Billions

A staggering 94% of small businesses are using smart phones and other devices to conduct their business.

These businesses haven’t just jumped on a trend. Switching to smart phones are saving businesses to the tune of the billions every year.

According to a survey done by AT&T and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, over the past year small businesses have saved $67.5 billion by using mobile apps, tablets, smart phones and other devices to conduct their every day business. Smart phones alone saved business owners $32.3 billion last year.

The survey also showed that smart phones save business owners time. A lot of it, in fact. Business owners saved 1.24 billion hours last year by conducting their business via smart phone.

Tablets are also huge time and money savers, saving 754.2 hours and $19.6 billion for business owners. Respectively. Mobile apps saved business owners 599.5 million hours and around $15.6 billion last year. Not too shabby.

SBE Council President and CEO Karen Kerrigan said, “Clearly, we are at a point where entrepreneurs now look first to communications technologies and innovations for solutions to improve productivity, cut costs and better manage and engage with customers.” She went on to say, “That is time and money that can go back into driving sales and innovating the marketplace.”

More than half of the small businesses surveyed said that they use mobile apps, with 91% of those saying that it saves them time. The same businesses estimated that they are saving at least $500 a month (up to $6,000 a year) by using mobile apps.

The use of mobile apps by small businesses has increased over the past couple of years but 65%, with 92% of those using smart phones to access their mobile apps.

77% of small businesses are using three or four apps. A small percentage used over 20 apps for their business, with the most commonly used apps relating to GPS, navigating, and mapping.

According to the survey, while many businesses are open five days a week, many small business owners and their employees access their smart phones and devices to conduct business seven days a week. Almost half of those surveyed said that they use their smart phones to work every day of the week, despite the company hours.

Now is the time to create an easy, affordable app to push your business forward. Almost every small business in the U.S. has utilized smart phones or other devices to engage with their clients and customers.

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/1wNb7ws