Revealed: The Top 5 Business Trends In 2020

There’s something special about the upcoming New Year celebrations. They don’t just mark the end of a year, but the end of the entire decade. Wherever you look, people are in the mood to reminisce and look back on the last ten years. But, what if we did the opposite and looked forward?

2020 marks the start of a new decade, and it could be one of the most critical decades in the history of business. If we did look back on the last ten years, then you’d notice a remarkable change in how companies operate now compared to in 2010. This change has been gradual, but what will the next decade hold in store? We can’t predict this with any real certainty, but we can look at the trends for the upcoming year. A lot is waiting for businesses in 2020, and some of these trends could signal growing shifts to come in the following decade. 

AI Workforce

The idea of a robot workforce has been thought about for many years. We watch sci-fi movies and see robots functioning like humans. So, it’s only natural that we expect this to be the next step in business evolution. Right now, we’re still a long way off the robot workforce that most people have in mind. 

However, we’re almost certainly edging closer to a workforce that’s dominated by artificial intelligence. This can sometimes include robotics - like in manufacturing warehouses - but it’s mainly to do with AI software taking over from humans. 

A clear example of this is the customer services industry. AI chatbots are doing the job of multiple humans all in one go. People can get customer support from an AI chatbot online - it’s simple. Now, we’ve started to see AI introduced in phonecalls as well. This trend will keep growing in 2020 as we see more and more jobs taken over by artificial intelligence. 

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps have been a growing trend for many years, but they’ll continue to dominate the business landscape in 2020. Primarily, we’ll see more and more businesses depend on mobile apps to gain customers. Or, more specifically, they’ll switch their entire business model to focus on the mobile app platform. 

Recent examples of this are companies like Uber, Lyft, and Deliveroo. Here, they provide their services through mobile apps. To make any money, they rely on people downloading the apps and using them. 

This is the type of thing we’ll see more and more next year. People are going smartphone crazy - we use them all the time. There’s almost a weird reliance from consumers on mobile devices. We want them to do as much as possible. Businesses realise this, which is why mobile apps are going to take centre stage in the next twelve months and beyond. 

Slimmed Down Companies

2020 will also bring about the start of a mass reduction in the size of many businesses. This isn’t to mean that many companies will become smaller in terms of their output and earnings. Instead, it’s more focused on the number of employees in modern business. 

We’ve already mentioned AI technology and how it will take over, but there are other things at play here too. Businesses are utilising custom software development more than ever before. In effect, business owners want to try and streamline their organisations by using software and automation. Therefore, the need for certain employees simply won’t be there anymore. 

Another underlying factor that points to this trend is the speed of decision-making nowadays. Things happen so fast, and there need to be fewer obstacles in the way of things. The more employees an organisation has, the more obstacles can potentially get in the way. So, when combined with software implementation, this is why we’ll see slimmer companies in the coming years. 

Green Initiatives

In 2019, we saw lots of discussions involving the state of our climate. Loads of people protested around the globe, and it felt like the first time we actually got governments to take notice of the climate problem. 

As a consequence, 2020 will see an increase in green initiatives amongst businesses all over the world. This can partly be down to new government regulations and rules surrounding CO2 emissions and greenhouse gasses. However, it’s most likely because companies realise how much they will benefit from going green. 

A green business looks better in the public eye than a non-green one. If a company is seen to actively try and improve the environment, then it enhances their reputation. There will also no doubt be plenty of incentives to encourage businesses to reduce carbon emissions. So, be on the lookout for this trend in the coming months. 

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Social Media

Social media will continue to dominate the business scene in 2020 - more so than ever before. Year after year, companies harness the power of social media and take things to new levels. Next year, it will be incomprehensible to imagine any business that doesn’t have at least on social media account. We’ll see new and inventive campaigns as people build on what was successful this year, but take it to new heights. 

Influencer marketing will also take centre stage and be seen as a key advertising method for lots of companies. By the time 2020 is over, we won’t look upon influence marketing and social media as ‘new’ things anymore. They’ll be part of the normal business landscape. 

Overall, the business world won’t change overnight as soon as the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve. Things will stay relatively the same, but there are some trends that embellish on things we’ve seen this year. When you look at these trends, we can make an educated guess as to how things will look at the end of the next decade. One key concept seems to be the idea of fewer human workers and more streamlined and automated businesses dominated by technology. Of course, we may see new technologies or ideas in five years time that nobody predicted right now! Who knows what the future holds? All we know is that these trends will be big in the coming twelve months.