Zebra Study: ROI Of Mobility Tools Includes Lower Costs And Additional Revenue
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Your field and fleet management clients could have more money to spend on mobility solutions in the next five years. According to Zebra’s 2015 Field Operations Vision Study, 70 percent of these businesses expect increases in budgets for solutions that support mobility.
Zebra’s study determined that factors influencing these increases are traceability demands from consumers, the impact of transportation costs, the need to monitor social media chatter for product selection, and being overwhelmed by data. Survey respondents also said their field service organizations are pressured by increases in service and product offerings, collaboration and knowledge sharing, and data sharing. Respondents also said their companies are challenged by margin pressures, increased competition, and retaining a qualified workforce — and 45 percent believe things will get more complicated by 2020.
According to the Zebra study, respondents believe mobility can solve problems created by these challenges. Mark Kroh, vice president and general manager, North America Sales, for Zebra Technologies commented, “Decision makers believe the future success of this profession lies within improved mobility tools. As a result, they are empowering their field and fleet operators to maximize their role as the first — and sometimes only — customer contact.” The survey found field service organizations will turn to mobility for increased profitability (54 percent) and increased customer service and loyalty (51 percent). In addition, although only 28 percent of those surveyed accept mobile payments today, 45 percent anticipate they will accept it by 2020.
The survey also found 60 percent of respondents have completed a mobile operations process re-engineering effort within the past year, with more than half of them (36 percent) setting goals to improve efficiency and productivity.
In terms of ROI, respondents saw wearable technology (41 percent), Big Data/analytics (31 percent), and the Internet of Things (IoT) (28 percent) as offering the best ROI over the next five years.
You can access a copy of the 2015 Field Operations Study white paper here.