SaaS in 2024: Trends That Will Reshape This Industry

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In 2024, SaaS products are more in demand. These statistics are the proof:

• The SaaS industry is estimated to become a $232 Billion market by 2024.
• 85% of apps used by companies will have a SaaS model by 2025.
• With an annual rate of 20%, the healthcare industry is increasingly adopting SaaS.
• In the retail sector, the SaaS market will reach $33.34 billion in the coming three years.
• 24 percent of applications used in SaaS companies are productivity and collaboration tools.

With this massive growth potential comes the cutting-throat competition as well, which is ruled by the top SaaS trends. Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly one of those trends that holds the power to make transformational and operational shifts in any industry including SaaS.

However, that is not the only one to rule the industry. In this blog we will uncover all those trends and the opportunities they bring for SaaS businesses.  

Factors Influencing SaaS Trends in 2024

Change doesn't just happen suddenly; it comes from small, repeated shifts over time that eventually lead to a big change. For the SaaS industry, factors that are responsible for this shift are:  

1. Change in Customer Preferences

Both B2C and B2B customers use SaaS solutions. While their needs and preferences differ, they share common priorities like personalization, affordability, data security, and a smooth user experience. Additionally, they prefer solutions that leverage advanced technologies such as AI and cloud computing. Improving productivity and collaboration is the third common factor among them which is influenced by the dynamic nature of work environment.

Read More: AI-Powered Retail: How Technology is Reshaping the Customer Experience

2. Growing Market Competition

The SaaS market is a tough battleground because of giants like Salesforce, Microsoft, Google, SAP, and Oracle. These companies takes the biggest pie in the market, leaving a little portion of the existing and new companies.

However, the market is growing with more and more businesses willing to invest in SaaS that has opened up new opportunities. To make the most use of those opportunities, analyzing the ground reality is important to understand customers’ need and develop products for niche markets.

3. Advancements in Technology

New technologies like artificial intelligence have been the biggest eye-grabber for SaaS companies. This shift has increased the need to reconsider product design, development, and integration methods. By adopting DevSecOps practices, SaaS businesses can quickly release their products and integrate emerging technologies.

4. Dynamic Regulation and Compliance

Selling SaaS-based products will become even more difficult due to strict compliance and regulations, especially with the growing use of AI. Companies should invest their time in making sure they comply with the industry-specific requirements to avoid legal issues. 

5 Trends SaaS Businesses Must Follow in 2024

1. Generative AI

Generative AI, a part of artificial intelligence, is at the top of the mind to meet customers’ preferences and expectations.

From analyzing customer behavior, offering personalization, content creation and analysis, to many more are the areas where Generative AI is showing its potential.

Some of the big SaaS companies like Salesforce and Adobe are already leading the race. Salesforce’s Einstein AI and Adobe’s Sensei AI platform is using AI for sales forecasting, lead scoring, image recognition, and customer service automation.

2. Vertical SaaS

Vertical SaaS will never lose its value in the industry, not now or in the future. It is still one of the top SaaS trends to follow in 2024. So, instead of developing a product that works across all industries, create products that solve industry-specific challenges.

This way, you can deeply connect with the customers and deliver the true value of the product. Your image will be established as the industry expert in the market which would further boost your growth and business.

Read More: A SaaS Application for 100% Visibility of Cargo Shipments in Real-Time

3. RevOps Tools

Revenue operation is the next big thing in the SaaS industry bringing sales, marketing, customer service, and finance teams together. Tools made for the entire Revops team are instrumental in the sustainable revenue growth of the businesses. Here’s why?

It breaks down silos between multiple teams involved in customer journeys and helps in creating a unified customer experience. With predictive analytics, RevOps gives more visibility into the revenue-generating pipeline to make better decisions for sales, marketing, and customer success.

Revenue.io, HubSpot operations hub, Groove, and Clari are a few examples of revenue operations tools in the market.

4. Embedded Payments

A rising SaaS trend for 2024 is the concept of embedded payments. Rather than taking the buyers to a separate payment gateway, SaaS products that integrate payment functionalities will rule the market.

It saves time and makes payment processing faster and more convenient for the end users. Moreover, the growth of digital payments with mobile wallets and online shopping makes the concept of embedded payment more relevant and demanding in the future.

5. Platform-as-a-Service

PaaS is going to be a more than $300 billion market by the time we reach 2030. So, not adopting this trend is the biggest mistake for SaaS companies if they truly want to stand out in the market. Why?

PaaS saves costs on expensive hardware and software with pre-built infrastructure and development environment. Besides reducing costs, SaaS companies can release products faster than competitors.

Another reason is the scalability that allows SaaS businesses to scale up or down because of a fluctuating customer base.

Final Words

These top five SaaS trends are not only relevant in 2024 but will be the top priority in the upcoming years as well. So, the faster you adopt them, the faster you can secure your business growth and profitability in the future.