As part of the ritual of examining local commerce and SMB Saas strategies, Localogy goes right to the source: SMBs themselves. How do they feel about marketing and operational software? What features do they want? And how has their hunger changed in a pandemic? This is all a moving target.
Localogy’s Modern Commerce Monitor (MCM) answers these and other questions across the SMB SaaS product set, which we preview in this Benchmark Bytes series. And we recently entered a new chapter of this series, with highlights from the latest wave (8.0) of Modern Commerce Monitor.
After examining the reasons why SMBs don’t utilize SaaS last week, we switch gears this week to examine the time spent by SMB proprietors on revenue-generating activity. Are SaaS products – and software automation generally – freeing them up to spend time on higher-value work?
Data Dive
– Diving in, the time spent on revenue-generating activities is greater for SMBs that have adopted SaaS, versus those that use legacy, non-online tools.
– Specifically, among SMBs that spend less than half their time on revenue-generating activities, most are in the non-SaaS camp (61 percent).
– Conversely, among SMBs that spend more than half their time on revenue-generating activities, most are in the SaaS camp (70 percent).
– The takeaway here is clear: SaaS can help SMBs free up time for high-value work by taking rote action items off their plates.
– This includes a range of functions – everything from finance and accounting to HR functions.
– For example, bookkeeping software like Quickbooks can streamline SMBs’ expense allocation through automated rules and AI.
– Similarly, cloud-based Payroll systems can automate the previously manual and onerous processes like generating payroll each cycle.
– For other functions in the SMB SaaS universe, see all the previous installations of this Benchmark Bytes series (or the full report), which breaks down their dynamics and demand signals.
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Long-Tail Opportunity
Stepping back, SMB online marketing – as well as operational and fintech tools – continues to grow rapidly. SMB SaaS startups and online services providers are correspondingly thriving as it continues to grow as a leading subsector of the broader SaaS universe. There’s a long-tail opportunity at play.
Meanwhile, new SMB SaaS users could represent permanent adopters – a concept that accelerated in the Covid era as SMBs were forced into digital transformation. This sent them into the arms of SaaS providers (where many have stayed) to accomplish a range of marketing and operational functions.
We’ll return in the next installment to go deeper into Localogy original survey research. That will include SMB goals and success factors. Let us know what additional insights jump out at you from the above data, and stay tuned for more breakdowns in our Benchmark Bytes series.
