We are currently in the midst of ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ where technology is transforming how we live our lives. Disrupting almost every industry all over the world, this rapid digital transformation can have a major impact on businesses.

The right technology can be the making of a business. It can help retailers run more efficiently allowing them to understand their customers better, manage their staff, sales, stock and ultimately help the business grow. However poor decisions when purchasing technology can lead to costly errors when products go unused and start gathering dust.

At First Data Merchant Solutions (FDMS) we uncovered how much money retailers have wasted on technology. The results were surprising - almost a quarter (23%) of retailers (out of the 1,000 SME decision-makers questioned) said they have wasted between £200 and £10,000 on technology.

This price-tag is wasteful and retailers need to know the benefits of purchasing worthwhile technology to avoid making mistakes.

Get to know your customers – through technology

To run a successful business you need to know your customers’ needs, purchasing habits, and always be one step ahead of the trend. The correct technology allows you to do this by being able to gather data insights. FDMS’s research found that 37% of retailers didn’t use the technology they purchased because it didn’t work as well as they expected.

Data insight enables you to build a bigger picture of your customers, allowing you to tailor offers and promotions. Let’s say you own an independent cycle store. With the ability to view your trading history, you can look at what products sold particularly well in any given period.

For instance; if road bikes sold particularly well around La Tour de France, you could use this data insight as a basis for promotions and deals on road bikes and accessories around this time. Why spend time guessing what your customers want when you can be sure through data?

Get your head in the cloud

A surprising 60% of retailers said they do not use cloud computing at all. This is a real shame as the cloud can not only have a huge impact on your business, but also on your time and can help you achieve a healthier work/life balance.

Having the ability to look over your business’ takings at the end of the day from tablet or laptop, not only gives you valuable oversight to spot areas worth paying attention to – but allows you to cut down those long days on the shop floor.

Look to technology that supports cloud computing or risk getting swamped with work and falling behind – it could save you time, money and make your business processes much more efficient.

Be the virtual eyes and ears

Juggling staff can be tricky and sometimes retail owners are often on call 24/7. This leaves little room to dedicate time to implementing measures to improve the business. With an integrated EPOS (electronic point of sale) owners can have an oversight of what transactions are processed by which employee remotely.

Gone are the days of being the eyes and ears of the business from within the store – with an EPOS system you can see who is clocking in and out of work, whilst simultaneously performance tracking, remotely.

Choosing what technological solutions are best suited to your business is important to avoid making costly mistakes. Retailers can take full advantage of the capabilities of technology to better their management system. By diving into your data you can stop guessing about your customers’ needs, you can rely on facts.

Plus you have more freedom to work remotely, giving you more time to get to know your customers and your business inside out, and perhaps most importantly, enabling more ‘me time’.