You may remember when you got your first smartphone, but what was THE year when most people switched from old-school mobile phones to smartphones? Not such an easy question to answer, is it? This is why some trends on the list won’t be “new.” Sure, they’re here for a while now, but we have a reason to believe they’ll explode in 2024.
The business world is constantly expanding, even though this expansion is sometimes so subtle that you don’t notice the change. It’s like with any other trend or technology. With that in mind, here are some expected business world trends you’ll see in 2024.
1. Generative AI
There’s no denying that 2023 was the year of AI, and this trend is bound to continue in 2024. The power of AI is undeniable, and the sheer computing power might give smaller teams a fighting chance against their larger counterparts.
- Enhanced decision-making: when fed the right data, Generative AI can process it and deliver an analysis in seconds. The biggest difference between generative AI (armed with modern NLP) is that everyone has it on hand, and it can provide simplified, actionable reports.
- Streamlining operations: AI can help you automate your business and streamline most of these processes. This is a huge help for any business in 2023, and it will be so in 2024.
- Personalized customer experiences: A generative AI tool can access all the data in your CRM and from previous customer interactions and quickly create a fairly accurate customer profile. This allows it to offer personalized customer experience in real-time.
- Content creation for marketing: Most people use generative AI to create content. Even if it doesn’t write an entire piece, it’s great for research, rephrasing, ideas, and outlines. For anyone who has created content before, it’s clear that this is not a small matter.
AI-powered tools are just faster, more potent, and more accurate. In other words, using them gives you a competitive advantage you can’t afford to relinquish.
2. Even more remote workers
This trend has been in continuous growth ever since the pandemic. The world simply realized how simple and convenient it is to not pay rent and commuting costs and to just have everyone clock in from their device at home. Here are some factors that are driving this trend further.
- Better and more reliable internet connections: Fiber internet is becoming more widespread worldwide, and the adoption of 5G networks is picking up the pace. Starlink and satellite internet, in general, allow for work in even the most remote locations.
- More sophisticated project management tools: With the help of task collaboration software, people in your organization can coordinate even at great distances. This is excellent for collaboration and version control, updates, and scheduling deadlines.
- Better remote security and BYOD policies: Working from home has always been a big cybersecurity concern. Still, with more enterprises investing heavily in educating their employees and introducing BYOD policies, this problem might be remedied soon.
- A hybrid model is getting more popular: While remote work is the most convenient, many enterprises still can’t pull the plug. So, they try to get the best of both worlds by introducing remote work as a part-time option.
Overall, the trend is too convenient and cost-effective. For these two reasons, it’s not slowing down anytime soon.
3. Internet of Things
The IoT is a relatively old concept, and the main reason it’s getting increasingly popular is that there are more smart devices out there than ever before. Still, how this will help the expansion of the business world is pretty straightforward.
- More insights: The biggest problem with manufacturers and developers of physical products is that they often have no idea how their product is used when it leaves the store. With the help of the IoT, this will change, leading to future superior design and development.
- Better customer experiences: The fact that these devices are connected to the internet will deliver better customer results. Today, most of these customers have accounts and access to the platform of the business they buy from.
- Security and privacy challenges: The biggest problem with the IoT is that customers may not be as comfortable with the brand, knowing how they use the product they’ve bought. Also, regulations may heavily restrict this.
- Lower operating costs: Since there’s access to more data, the IoT will help you figure out how to use products and tools optimally, lowering operating costs. For a business, this is a game-breaking opportunity.
With more and more cities looking straight out of a cyberpunk novel, it was only a question of when the line between the digital and real world will become blurrier.
4. Growth of e-commerce
Buying and selling items online has existed for as long as the internet, but it’s only been in the last few years that the revenue of this industry is so incredibly high. As more and more tech-savvy generations financially mature, the numbers will grow further.
- Millennials and Gen Z are still entering the workforce: One bottleneck that e-commerce faced in the past was the lack of a tech-savvy audience comfortable with ordering online. This is no longer the case with millennials and Gen Z becoming a bigger market.
- Voice-activated searches are used increasingly: More and more people use voice search for everything. This means that to grow their e-commerce, brands will have to resort to voice SEO optimization.
- More payment options: There are more payment options in use than ever. Many brands now accept crypto payments besides payment gateways like PayPal and cards.
- Social media sales are growing: Lastly, social media is not just a platform to help you promote products. More people than ever buy straight from Instagram, and this trend will continue.
Tech-savvy generations and new browsing trends may revolutionize the field of e-commerce and drive these numbers higher than ever before.
5. Further expansion of 5G
For a few years, the 5G technology has been the word on everyone’s lips. While some countries resist this global trend, South Korea, Japan, and China have massively adopted the new internet technology. Still, 5G has so much to offer to the business world.
- Lower latency: With the help of 5G technology, the latency can be as low as 1 ms. This means the response time is incredibly low, and remote control of high-precision tasks might not be out of the realm of possibility for too long.
- Access in remote places: One of the reasons why so many businesses migrate to big cities (even in the age of remote work) is access to the fiber internet. When they get access to the 5G network (which isn’t that far away), the need for this won’t be as high, and local economies may boom faster.
- The future of entertainment: The spectator experience will be drastically increased. With no latency and transmission of 4K images in real-time, it will give a person spectating an impression of almost being there. This massive difference in the entertainment field shouldn’t be downplayed.
- Smart buildings: While most people who live in smart homes won’t see this as something new, the introduction of this technology in the industry is still not as widespread. Well, as 5G becomes more present, this will drastically change.
Overall, 5G is superior to 4G in every way, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone starts using it.
The future is here, and progress cannot be stopped
As promised, neither trend is new, but they’ll all see further growth next year. So, the next year might be the year of AI, 5G, and the IoT, with more money circulating in e-commerce and more people working from home than ever before. The growth of these trends will not slow down anytime soon.