How small businesses are expanding their digital footprints

Published

1 year ago

November 9, 2023

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More than three-quarters of small business owners believe that their company is equipped to handle any upcoming economic instability, according to new research.

The survey of 1,000 small business owners revealed that increased interest rates (61%), inflation (59%) and a looming recession (44%) are small business owners top economic concerns for the remainder of 2023.

Results revealed that record-high inflation has driven small business owners to make tough decisions about their businesses this year (62%).

Specifically, small businesses have tapped into different financial resources including savings accounts and loans (61%), adapted prices (50%) and reduced the production of various goods and services (45%).

Other small businesses have raised prices (38%) or reduced staff (35%) as a result of inflation.

Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Melio, the survey asked small business owners about inflation and the impact of the rocky economic climate.

Though almost half (48%) of respondents have raised their prices by an average of 7% over the last six months, those that increased their prices are still reporting an increase in repeat business (66%), sales (63%) and number of new clients (56%).

Interestingly, despite inflation and other economic concerns, 72% of small business owners feel more optimistic now about the financial prospects of their company than they did at the beginning of the year.

This might be due in part to some of the changes they have made this year: respondents have increased their advertising and marketing efforts (66%), increased their digital presence (58%) and started selling products online (52%).

In fact, more than two-thirds (67%) believe that having an online presence is more important to small businesses than it used to be.

Despite the challenges posed by inflation and interest rates, small business owners seem to adapt to the current economic climate and demonstrate impressive agility and resilience, said Tomer Barel, Melios president and COO. Small businesses are the foundation of the economy, and it is critical that they have the tools to overcome future challenges.

Small businesses are interested in digitizing or further digitizing all aspects of their businesses, including bookkeeping and payments (53%), inventory management (51%) and customer service (42%).

But even beyond the importance of their digital footprint, three-quarters feel that it is more imperative to accept forms of payment beyond cash than it used to be.

Since the pandemic began over three years ago, theres been a strong demand for tools to help small businesses digitize and that trend has only continued in 2023, said Prashant Gandhi, Melios CBO. Small businesses are embracing new technologies that can help them take control over their finances and weather economic uncertainty.

US

Crypto prices rally after Trump names Bitcoin and others for US strategic reserve

Published

1 hour ago

March 3, 2025

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Crypto prices rally after Trump names Bitcoin and others for US strategic reserve

Cryptocurrency prices have jumped after Donald Trump revealed he would like Bitcoin and other lesser-traded tokens to be in a new US strategic crypto reserve.

He said his January executive order on digital assets would create a stockpile of currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano (ADA).

The names had not previously been announced.

The American president said in a post on Truth Social: “A US Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA.”

“I will make sure the US is the Crypto Capital of the World.”

“And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the Reserve,” he said in a follow-up post. “I also love Bitcoin and Ethereum!”

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, rose over 11% to $94,164 after Sunday’s announcement.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up around 13% at $2,516.

XRP surged 33% while the token tied to Solana jumped 25%. Cardano’s coin soared more than 60%.

Bitcoin was trading up around 20% from last week’s lows.

The total cryptocurrency market rose about 10%, or more than $300bn (£238bn), in the hours since the announcement, according to cryptocurrency data and analysis company CoinGecko.

This is the first time Mr Trump has specified his support for a crypto “reserve” rather than a “stockpile”. While the former assumes actively buying crypto in regular installments, a stockpile would not sell any of the crypto currently held by the US government.

Mr Trump is hosting the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday, and investors will be watching closely for more clues about the direction of the reserve plans.

His family have also launched their own coins, including his wife Melania.

Mr Trump first introduced the idea of a Bitcoin stockpile, which would “keep 100% of all the Bitcoin the US government currently holds or acquires into the future” last summer at major industry conference Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.

After his re-election to the White House in November, there were more calls for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, helping to send the price of the flagship cryptocurrency to new all-time highs.

Under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, regulators cracked down on the industry in an attempt to protect Americans from fraud and money laundering.

Under Mr Trump, the Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn investigations into several crypto companies and dropped a lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US.

But in recent weeks, crypto prices have fallen sharply, with some of the biggest digital currencies erasing nearly all of the gains made after Mr Trump’s election win triggered excitement across the industry.

Technology

Chinese EV startup Xpeng delivers over 30,000 cars for a fourth straight month

Published

2 hours ago

March 3, 2025

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Chinese EV startup Xpeng delivers over 30,000 cars for a fourth straight month

The flagship store of Xiaopeng Motors in Shanghai, China, on Feb. 18, 2025.

CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Chinese electric car company Xpeng delivered more than 30,000 cars for a fourth-straight month in February, as its mass-market brand helped the company stand out in an otherwise tepid market.

Xpeng delivered 30,453 cars last month, including more than 15,000 units of its lower-priced Mona vehicle, the company said over the weekend.

Deliveries of the Mona M03, which include a basic driver-assist system, have topped 15,000 a month since December, according to company figures. Xpeng also said strong demand for driver-assist propelled deliveries of its P7+ electric sedan to more than 30,000 less than three months since its launch in November.

Looking ahead, Xpeng’s planned new vehicles also give the company “a good chance to extend its solid delivery momentum,” Nomura analysts said in a Sunday note.

The January to February period tends to be seasonally soft for Chinese car sales since it coincides with the week-long Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest holiday of the year. The local auto market remains highly competitive as traditional automakers and new entrants have rushed to cut prices and launch vehicles with new tech features.

China's EV overcapacity is a bigger issue for Japanese automakers than Korean ones

Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi delivered more than 20,000 electric cars for a fifth straight month in February. The company last week slashed the starting price of its luxury electric sedan, the SU7 Ultra, to 529,900 yuan ($72,750), down from 814,900 yuan ($111,878).

The SU7’s “new order situation is even better than actual sales,“ Nomura analysts said, citing its own industry survey. That means the only challenge for Xiaomi is its ability to produce enough cars, the analysts said.

Figures on Tesla‘s China deliveries are typically released around the middle of the month.

Industry giant BYD reported 318,233 new energy vehicle passenger car sales in February, up slightly from the prior month. The company last month announced it was rolling out driver-assist across a range of its cars and integrating artificial intelligence from DeepSeek.

Geely-owned Zeekr delivered 14,039 units in February, up from the 11,942 delivered the previous month, according to company figures.

EV brands that struggled in February

However, deliveries of several other major Chinese electric car brands declined over that time.

Li Auto deliveries fell to 26,263 units last month, from 29,927 in January, according to the company. Its premium-priced vehicles have been popular with Chinese consumers since they come with a fuel tank for extending the battery’s driving range. Last month, Li Auto revealed the exterior design of its first fully battery-electric SUV.

Nio deliveries dropped to 13,192 units in February, down from 13,863 the month before. The company announced a five-year, 0% interest plan on Feb. 1 in a bid to boost sales.

Aito, the Seres-owned brand that uses Huawei technology, reported its lowest deliveries in a year, at 21,517 units in February, according to CNBC analysis of publicly available figures.