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 website dynamics questions across SMB SaaS, which we preview in this Benchmark Bytes series. After examining how SMBs are planning for retirement last week, we take a sharp turn to look at their feelings and familiarity with cryptocurrency.
Specifically, when it comes to the latest craze in fintech and payments, are SMBs on board with the crypto craze? Do they even know what it is? And are they going a step further in actually using cryptocurrency? That can be in their own investments, or accepting it as a form of payment.
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Data Dive
Going deeper, a few insights jump out from these findings.
– When asking SMBs about their feelings and familiarity with crypto, some answers were surprising and some weren’t.
– In the unsurprising camp is the fact that 93 percent of SMBs have heard of cryptocurrency.
– Given the term’s prevalence in today’s tech press and even generalist media, it’s become a household name.
– Familiarity is one thing… interest and adoption is another.
– On that note, when asking SMBs if they accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment for their business, 9 percent said that they do.
– That brings us to the “surprising” results. Though 9 percent is in the single digits, it’s still high given cryptocurrency’s nascent stage
– SMBs are also classically known as late adopters when compared with larger brands, making it even more surprising that a full 9 percent accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
– This figure bodes well for crypto, and will likely only increase as the payment paradigm penetrates further, and gains consumer confidence.
– Crypto is in a bit of a rut currently after several high-profile fraud cases, the fall of FTX, and sinking valuations for several cryptocurrencies.
– Like many forms of emerging tech, it started with overexcitement and overinvestment, followed by correction (where we are now).
– The eventual state of crypto will likely land somewhere in the middle, as a utilitarian paradigm for some functions (think: cross-border payments & transfers).
– But it won’t be a revolutionary silver bullet as touted in its early hype cycle.
– SMBs will certainly be a part of that value chain, and there will likely be crypto applications and use cases that address their needs directly.
Time to Shine
Stepping back, SMB online marketing – website-based or otherwise – 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. This is a concept that’s accelerated in the Covid era as SMBs are forced to boost their digital transformation. This sends them into the arms of SaaS providers 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. Stay tuned for more breakdowns in our Benchmark Bytes series.
