Voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri have ushered in a new era of customer interactions with technology. Individuals can use voice assistants on a range of smart devices (e.g., smart speakers, smart phones, etc.) to carry out a multitude of tasks. From asking for directions to shopping, voice assistants have enabled consumers to acquire information and make … [More]
GDPR Is Path to Trust and Improved Customer Experience
Marketers from organizations who took the lead in preparing to meet and exceed GDPR data standards have noted increased trust and engagement levels with customers, according to data from the CMO Council, collected in partnership with SAP Customer Experience, that it reported in “GDPR: Impact and Opportunity — How Marketing Leaders Addressed GDPR Readiness and Compliance.” While … [More]
Employee Financial Wellness and the Company Bottom Line
New research quantifies the improvements in employee retirement preparedness which generate ROI for an employer by reducing the costs of delayed retirements. The “Special Report: The ROI of Improving Employee Retirement Preparedness,” from Financial Finesse’s Financial Wellness Think Tank, found that, for a 50,000-employee company, this could lead to a savings of $65 million or … [More]
Top Business Challenges During Political and Economic Uncertainty
Operational efficiency, obtaining new customers and talent acquisition are the top priorities for businesses going into 2019, according to a recent Enterprise Bank & Trust Think Tank survey. Heading into 2019, business is ripe with opportunity; however, political and economic landscapes present a lot of uncertainty and angst for business owners. With privately held … [More]
Even Mobile Shoppers Prefer Live Consumer Support
Mobile shopping is booming in the U.S. as we prepare to enter 2019. According to the 2018 Internet Trends Report from Kleiner Perkins, mobile shopping app sessions grew 54 percent year-over-year — the fastest growth of any mobile activity. In addition to shaking up traditional monetization models for brands and retailers, this is driving how consumers expect to interact with … [More]
Woman-Owned Businesses Record 3100 Percent Growth
Nationally, the number of women-owned businesses increased a dramatic 31 times since 1972 — from 402,000 to 12.3 million in 2018; employment grew 40-fold, from 230,000 to 9.2 million; and revenues rose from $8.1 billion to $1.8 trillion — 217 times greater. Noting this information from the recently released eighth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by … [More]
Employment for Americans with Disabilities
Accommodations are an important factor in the successful hiring of people with disabilities, and in the retention of employees who develop new disabilities. Employers that are open to providing accommodations and have the capability to provide them, will have greater success in meeting their need for staffing. In the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released in … [More]
Enterprises Challenged in Addressing Employee Engagement
New survey data shows that a majority of enterprises polled are committed to prioritizing employee engagement. The 2018 Employee Engagement Survey from StaffConnect asked C-level executives, HR, communications and other business professionals in North America and Europe about their methodologies, technologies, challenges and goals concerning employee communications and … [More]
Urban Infill Development Potential
Combining a new inventory focused on vacant parcels located in central business districts (CBDs) with in-depth research on CBD construction activity as well as a 25-city survey that gauges what developments are most desirable to the local urban population, COMMERCIALCafé research shows that recent development efforts have failed to address the needs and wants of the citizens … [More]
Leading Brands Are Learning from Big Digital Marketplaces
Large, global eCommerce communities like eBay, Amazon and Alibaba are disrupting the retail marketplace by bringing together vast numbers of buyers and sellers in frictionless transactional environments. Inspired by their success, brand marketers are rethinking go-to-market strategies to better integrate digital advertising with personalized shopper engagement and more … [More]
Women in Business Can Thank H.R. 5050
Thirty years ago, some U.S. states had laws that precluded women from obtaining a business loan without a male relative to cosign for them — even if that male were an underage son. The National Women’s Business Council, which does research into the women’s business ecosystem, and the Women’s Business Centers, managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, did not … [More]
Small-Business Sale Prices Reach Record Highs to Start 2018
The first quarter 2018 Insight Report from BizBuySell.com, the Internet’s largest business-for-sale marketplace, shows a record-breaking quarter for the business-for-sale market for sales prices and completed transactions, highlighting a positive start to the new year. Small businesses sold for a median sale price of $245,000 in the first quarter of 2018, the highest sale … [More]
Middle Market: Economic Clout
There is a reciprocal relationship between middle market firms (businesses generating between $10 million and $1 billion in revenues) and the metropolitan areas in which they operate, as uncovered by the Middle Market Power Index: Best U.S. Metropolitan Areas for Middle Market Firms from American Express and Dun & Bradstreet. Metro areas provide infrastructure and talent … [More]
Woman-Owned Firms: A Force in the Economy
The seventh annual “State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” commissioned by American Express OPEN, analyzes growth trends over the past 20 years among the nation’s 11.6 million women-owned enterprises, which employ nearly 9 million people and generate more than $1.7 trillion in revenues. As of 2017, there are 138,300 woman-owned business in Phoenix. These firms employ … [More]
ROI on Expense Spend
Sales team travel and entertainment (T&E) is a major expense. But do companies know how this spend actually contributes to revenues, and which expenses don’t? While sales teams generate huge amounts of data based on their activities, and wins and losses are highlighted in their respective CRM systems, finance teams can often only view granular spend details in their expense … [More]
The Changing Office Investment Landscape
As we approach the 10-year mark since the recession, COMMERCIALCafé has tracked the office investment and lending landscape during a period of 20 years to highlight how the markets and investor interests have shifted and adapted to the new outlook. While some things have changed spectacularly, some have stayed the same. Here are key findings, based on data from Yardi Matrix … [More]
Global Talent Mobility Is Strategic Priority
The 22nd Talent Mobility Trends Survey, which explores how employee mobility is transforming to better support overall corporate growth strategies, found senior human resources leaders are approaching talent mobility with a new sense of purpose and support from the top. Sixty-three percent of respondents to this survey by BGRS, a leading provider of talent mobility solutions, … [More]
Hispanic Small-Business Growing
Hispanic small-business owners are among the fastest-growing market of entrepreneurs in the United States. In fact, the 4th Annual Report 2016 by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce cited that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses was on track to grow to more than 4.23 million last year. Northwestern Mutual conducted a 2017 survey to identify Hispanic small-business … [More]
