Archive News from Digital Main Street

Learn from the some of the best successful business owners in Canada. Great Canadian small business owners share their success stories featuring the Microsoft Cloud and Office 365. Get inspired to modernize the way you manage your business.

Electronic payment technology helps small businesses compete for consumers around the world—providing convenience in the store and secure access to goods and services from home. Accepting and using payment cards not only expands the market for small businesses but also encourages consumer spending and increases revenues.

The Canadian mobile payments market was $30 billion in 2015, with researchers predicting significant growth by 2020.* That’s more than 30 billion reasons to grow your customer base by accepting mobile payments and offering the latest and safest technology. Data can be protected with encryption and tokenization so that your business doesn’t need to store your customers’ sensitive financial information.

While getting to know their voice-activated devices, people are forging a new relationship with technology and new expectations when it comes to brand experiences, writes Google’s Sara Kleinberg.

Finding tech news relevant to your business needn’t be time-consuming

Modern technology allows even the smallest e-commerce retailer to reach the entire world. Still, instead of pursuing an entire planet of potential customers, many small to medium sized businesses don't sell beyond their own borders. Some are deterred by the belief that international sales are too complex, while others feel it's beyond the capacity of their business. In truth, the processes and regulations involved in growing your business through international shipping aren't as complicated as you might think. Here's a look at some of the high-level issues to consider.

Opportunities to reach Canada’s expanding audience of culturally diverse consumers are on the rise. Here, Aarti Bhaskaran, Head, Business Insights and Analytics at MediaCom Canada, shares her perspective on how marketers can effectively connect with these consumers.