Business process automation (BPA) has been around for a long time. Despite what many people think, business automation isn’t something new. It has been helping businesses scale and become more efficient for years now.
As technology gets better and more available, so does business process automation. The current automation costs it a logical choice for any business that wants to succeed. It’s also what everyone else is doing right now. So, unless you adopt these new technologies, your business won’t be able to compete.
Even though business process automation is being utilized in almost every industry, there are some industries that are benefiting from it more than others. The reason for that is quite simple, which is the fact that they have so much to automate.
There are many redundant and easily-automated tasks that are involved in the workflow of these automation-friendly businesses. The following are the ones that benefit most from automation.
1. Retail
The retail sector goes way back. It has been around for decades with pretty much the same business model. In the past decade though, things have changed significantly. With e-commerce becoming the norm, the retail sector can benefit from business process automation in different ways.
For example, retail businesses can now offer their clients the option to shop online or to shop in their physical stores. By doing so, they are able to serve more customers with less staff and as a result, lower their operational costs. Retail businesses can also make the overall user experience of their customers using BPA and digital technologies.
A good example of this is what Starbucks is doing with the Order & Pay App. Customers can use the app to make their orders before they get to the store, so they don’t have to wait in line to get their drink.
2. Travel and Tourism
Booking a flight or a holiday was a process that involved visiting a physical office and dealing with human agents. That’s how the industry has worked for decades. Thanks to modern BPA solutions, this is no longer the case.
To book a flight or a vacation, people no longer need to deal with booking agents. All they have to do is visit a website/use an app to book the whole thing. You don’t even need the physical ticket anymore, it’s all digital.
In fact, business process automation has been so successful in the travel and tourism industry that it’s now the norm. When people are booking their vacation, they expect to deal with a website, not a real person.
Thanks to these technologies, companies like booking.com can serve millions of customers with minimal staff handling client-business interactions. They just focus on scaling their solutions and making them better.
3. Banking and Financial Services
When an industry like banking adapts a solution, you know it has reached a level of reliability that makes it good for everyone else. When you are dealing with people’s money, you can never be too careful.
During the past years, online banking has become a standard service in pretty much every bank you can think of. This is great for banks because it reduces the number of staff they need to operate.
Instead of having to increase their customer service staff to accommodate their growing client base, banks invest in digital banking solutions. By doing so, they can serve a larger client base for a fraction of the cost.
4. Digital Marketing
Digital technologies have completely changed the marketing industry. Things like social networks and email have revolutionized how marketing works and most importantly, what it can achieve.
For digital marketing agencies, business process automation is a way to scale beyond staff number limitations and achieve incredible results. Automated email drip campaigns and social media ads targeting are examples of how process automation is helping the digital marketing industry.
Even measuring the success of digital marketing campaigns is now easier with things like automated surveys. With all the minor tasks on autopilots, agencies have more time to focus on their real job, which is handling the overall marketing strategy.
5. Startups
Limited resources are something that most startups have in common. When your business is just starting out, you must use your resources wisely. If you end up spending too much money on unnecessary tasks, your business will fail before it even starts.
And that’s where business process automation can help. By automating as much of your workflow as possible, you allow your startup to become efficient and get as far as possible, with as little resources as possible.
Things that you can automate as a startup include client communications, leads management, and different types of marketing-related activities. These are the things that can be automated in almost every startups. Other tasks that can be automated can vary from one startup to another.
Conclusion
Business process automation can help businesses in many different ways. No matter what industry you are in, automation grows your business in a scalable and cost-efficient way.
