Many SMBs are still struggling with inflation costs

Date:
Mon, 08 Jan 2024 09:55:00 +0000

Description:
Digital health is pretty poor in the UK, but businesses are still struggling with inflation when it comes to digital spend.

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As many as two in five UK SMBs are concerned about high inflation, with many worried that rising costs are an expense thats totally out of their control.

According to a Zoho study of more than 1,500 senior digital transformation decision-makers from five European countries, including 300 from the UK, the pressure from high costs resulting from supply chain disruptions and an ongoing skill shortage is mounting.

The outlook is positive, though, with more than half (55%) believing the UK
is now past the worst, indicating that they have already come to terms with increased prices and are now hoping to see the pressure ease. Inflation is hitting Britains small businesses hard

While many may be hopeful, that leaves 45% concerned by the economic outlook. Inflation in Britain still stands at 4.6%, or around double what the UK government had set out as its target.

Employers see customer experience, employee experience, artificial intelligence, and data privacy as four key areas of investment, but overall, digital spend has been somewhat limited due to the Bank of Englands rising interest rates.

Sachin Agrawal, Managing Director for Zoho UK, commented: Business confidence has taken a beating over the past few years, so it is no surprise that many are still concerned about the stability of the UK economy.

Data privacy looks to be increasingly important as SMBs aim to protect the tools and resources that they already have, before they look to invest in expanding what they already use in an era of AI tools .

Agrawal added: A data-driven business can use real-time and extensive
insights to make the right decisions to take advantage of opportunities and
to reduce risk. However, for technology such as AI to be adopted
successfully, businesses need to adopt it with customer trust in mind to deliver benefits such as automation, forecasting or improved customer
service, to name just a few examples.

Zoho refers to the news as a wake-up call, claiming that only one in five (19%) of UK companies have good digital health.

Clearly, 2024 should be a year for businesses to invest in technology solutions, however the ongoing economic pressure will continue to be troublesome for many. More from TechRadar Pro UK SMBs are facing much higher costs to simply exist and survive These are the best online collaboration tools to support your workforce Check out the best productivity tools to give your workers a helping hand



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/many-smbs-are-still-struggling-with-inflation-co sts


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