ABC News Today

Here are five things in technology that happened last week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

1 – WhatsApp has a new Windows independent version.

WhatsApp Windows users can now enjoy the app using their phone or even having their phone available. The company has released a new app that is available on the Windows Store. (Source: The Verge).

Why this is important to your business:

This is very important to me because my company has a good number of customers and others in our community who use WhatsApp (I also have relatives abroad where WhatsApp is very popular). Until now, all conversations were through my phone. But using the app directly from my laptop will save time and position me to start better integrating these conversations with my CRM. Downloading now…!

2 – Small businesses outpace large corporations with the “buy now” button through e-commerce.

A recent study showed that the new adoption of the “buy now” button for small and large businesses has been proven to help customers save time while shopping online. Additionally, 85 percent of small business owners in the study prefer this option compared to only 71 percent of larger business owners. This may be because many small businesses use large payment companies like PayPal for their online checkouts (Source: PYMNTS).

Why this is important to your business:

According to the study, small merchants are more likely to offer a one-click buy button to increase conversions because it’s essentially the easiest way to complete a sale. The study found that using buy buttons saves consumers 148 million hours per year when shopping online. The bottom line is that if you don’t have a “buy now” button on your e-commerce site, you’re behind the trend.

3 – Microsoft makes it easier to use collaborative worksheets with its new “@mentions” feature.

Microsoft has received many complaints about how difficult it is to create a collaborative worksheet, so it added this new “@mentions” feature to make spreadsheets easier to use. This feature allows users to tag their coworkers so they can edit, view, or clarify a specific section. These tags can be both on and off the network. These mentions can also be added to the Microsoft workbook. This feature is expected to roll out to users in October 2022, as only desktop Excel users will be able to have it for now (Source: Tech Radar).

Why this is important to your business:

A much needed feature. Let’s see how everyone likes it in October.

4 – A Japanese supermarket chain will use robotic arms to stock shelves.

300 Familymart locations in cities across Japan will be equipped with artificial intelligence robotic arms to restock shelves. This is to help relieve shop workers while helping to combat the labor shortage in Japan. According to Telexistence, a Japanese technology company, each robot unit can replace one to three hours of human labor per day. Familymart will pay the technology company a monthly fee to use the robots. American tech giants such as Microsoft and Nvidia have been in talks with Telexistence, a Japanese technology company, about the future of robots with artificial intelligence. (Source: Seattle Times)

Why this is important to your business:

With fewer workers coming to work, companies around the world are compensating with investments in technology to replace them permanently. It’s a huge opportunity for the robotics industry and an excellent way for companies to control their overhead while continuing to offer their products and services. As for the workers?

5 – Meta introduces AI and automation tools to help advertisers.

Advantage+, Meta’s most advanced AI and automation for advertisers, is a feature that used to be exclusive to high-end campaigns, but can now help advertisers get more from their ad spend up to and all for a single ad. (Source: Search Engine Journal)

Why this is important to your business:

According to Meta, small businesses can use this feature to create their own ads directly on Facebook. This can also create shopping ads for online and in-person businesses. The feature creates a more targeted ad to consumers who would be more likely to buy from that company. “With Meta Advantage+ shopping campaigns, we’re able to grow our business by automating campaign targeting and creative with less manual setup, freeing up time to focus on other areas of our business,” says one Meta company. “After initially testing Advantage+ shopping campaigns earlier this year, we’ve allocated more of our budget to these ads as we’ve seen continued performance and lower CPA.”