This is probably a question we may have asked ourselves to ascertain the prose and cones of the new media age. It is a world of click, #hashtags, and follow. According to useoftechnology.com, technology is a body of knowledge devoted to creating tools, processing actions and extracting of materials. Basically, we use technology to extend our abilities to solve a problem.
Technology is an extended term for information technology (IT) which stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems. It enables users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information. – Wikipedia
The term ‘Technology’ is wide and everyone has their own way of understanding the meaning of technology. Its importance can never be over emphasized. In today’s world, technology has significant effect on business operations, no matter how small that business is. Its tangible and intangible benefits can help you make money and satisfy the needs of your customers.
Be it communications, security, operations or finance, technology makes it extremely easy to accomplish tasks that will require time and energy. Today, businesses can save time and money by using technology to perform certain tasks that would have required human energy. When you compare the amount of money spent on hiring an individual to perform a certain task and to guarantee delivery on time, we can say technology is a stress reliever.
With new media technology, a simple task is accomplished with a click. Small businesses can scale out and deliver more with less human resource because of technology. Decades ago, a grandmother would never have taught there could come a time, she could place a voice call to reach her son, nor get her water boiled by simply pressing a bottom.
Technology indeed came for the young and old, however it depends on how fast one adapt to its fast evolution. Good or bad, technology has come to stay. It is therefore essential to move with the pace as technology advances. Other than that, one might fall out of business if its operation systems do not conform to latest updates.
Currently, there are over 3 billion social media users in the world. Not because they are all educated enough to be there but because technology teaches them faster than their formal education. An uneducated person can literally make good use of technology without necessarily been schooled. That is because most technologies are user friendly.
Statistics shows that 40 percent of the global population have either a handset, computer or a technology of a sort that enables them reach a wider audience at a time. This means that technology might be expensive to some people but equally cheap to them that reap bountifully as a result of it.
Jumia, an e-commerce platform that enables shoppers to shop online, is a testimony to the effectiveness of technology. Jumia has 126 operations in 23 Africa countries with about 3 million customer base and still counting. This great feat was possible because Jumia realized the adverse impact of technology in today’s business.
Gradually, more and more people are moving from the offline bricks and mortar stores to an online shop where items are shipped and delivered at their door step. Jumia Ghana get in contacts with potential clients every day as a result of new media tools such as Xcally, Seller center, OMS, Delivery Manager and HMT.
With social media tools, companies connect with digital customers on a speed dial and monitor a progressive participation of their online events. Many African businesses could do much; effortlessly because technology is being utilized in the most efficient way. For e-commerce businesses in Africa, technology is the center drive to achieving great feat.
Author: Elizabeth Owusu Kissi
Public Relations Officer | Jumia Ghana
