Thryv Holdings, Inc., the provider of Thryv® software, the leading end-to-end customer experience platform built for growing small businesses, reports that it has seen a dramatic and sustained acceleration in how small businesses are adopting and engaging with its technology. In fact, small business usage of various in-app features has grown as much as +260% throughout 2021.
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Due to COVID-19, many businesses were forced to quickly adopt technology and cloud-based tools, particularly with the need for contactless payments and communication. According to a Verizon / Morning Consult study, 63% of small business decision makers now use digital tools and technology to enhance customer experiences (up from 53% in 2020), and 30% have implemented new technology to compensate for the current worker shortage. Thryv’s year-to-date results illustrate specifically how small businesses have continued to rely on these tools.
“Now that these businesses have engaged with cloud-based technology for nearly a year, they’re finding that the ease of use, convenience and ability to meet consumer demands is a necessity to continue to compete as a modern business moving forward,” said Ryan Cantor, Thryv’s Chief Product Officer. “Once they have adopted these tools, there’s no going back. It has helped them win, keep and grow their customers.
“In fact, we’ve seen use of functionality, such as SMS text reminders and social media management grow +138% and +261%, respectively, year-to-date.”
Thryv measures adoption and engagement, and reports that users are spending 28% more time in the platform YTD. Thryv is reporting these additional key indicators showing year-to-date growth:
- Appointment scheduling use has increased +74%
- Total contacts entered into the customer relationship management (CRM) tool is up +36%
- Automated email marketing activity has increased +56%
- Contactless document storage and sharing is up +40%
- Messages sent by the business to the customer is up +24%, while messages from the consumer to the business has grown +49%
“This increase in customer-to-business messaging illustrates that not only do businesses want to use these tools, but their customers are even more eager to adopt them,” said Grant Freeman, Thryv’s Chief Customer Officer. “Just like business owners, consumers want safe, contactless ways to interact. They, too, want to find ways to simplify the process while saving time.
“These businesses are seeing the benefits of providing easy and convenient customer experiences.”
Online invoicing and payments have also seen a dramatic uptick in adoption, according to Thryv. Accounts using invoices increased +54%, year to date, and the number of invoices from those accounts has grown +95%. More businesses are sending electronic invoices, and those that do, continue to send more.
Thryv has seen 21% more accounts with connected payment gateways YTD, including ThryvPay. Total online payment volume has increased 150% YTD.
ThryvPay, which launched in late October 2020, quickly became the favored payment processor within Thryv. In a recent quarter, active merchants jumped +15%, with an increase in processing volume up +28%, quarter over quarter, illustrating that the existing merchants are charging more through ThryvPay.
“To top that, the total number of payment transactions that we’ve seen at Thryv has increased +20%, quarter over quarter,” Cantor said. “It’s clear that small business user adoption of technology is not a fad. It’s clearly transformed how these businesses interact with consumers, and it’s here to stay.”