The relationship between business and consumers has been challenged by a world that has gone digital.
As businesses work to uncover their digital identities, growing consumer expectations are scrutinizing online experiences.
There is evidence that a lot of people are digitally curious, with 42% of European consumers finding the increasing presence of digital experiences in their daily lives more exciting than frightening. The data also shows that 46% of people use a particular branded service because of its superior digital offerings in the market. This is great news for companies out there who are currently rethinking, adapting, or creating their next digital strategy move.
Despite this digital appetite, however, consumers feel under-challenged by the online services that are offered to them; a business of judgment cannot afford to ignore it. In the UK, the demise of high street giant Topshop is the painful truth of a company that hasn’t innovated enough. Topshop has now been bought by ASOS, a 100% online fashion and cosmetics retailer who followed in the footsteps of other online operators like the Boohoo Group, who bought up traditional high street players Debenhams and Dorothy Perkins, among others.
As digital connectivity continues to improve the quality of leisure, work and everyday life, today’s consumers are increasingly relying on the functionality of their technology and the opportunities it offers. And this gives companies the opportunity to increase the variety of their digital services – but in a way that sets them apart from the competition.
In 2020, many companies were forced, almost overnight, to adapt their business strategies to work mostly, if not entirely, online. Innovation was palpable. To ease pressure on the NHS, UK doctors have encouraged the use of online services such as Doctorlink, the AI-enabled digital doctor that provides personalized and efficient patient care with symptom detection and suggested treatment plans. Electronic Prescription Services (EPS), such as the UK’s Echo Pharmacy, are delivering a distance selling experience that has reached an all-time high, as more than 85% of primary care prescriptions in England are now processed electronically. Supermarkets also had to create complex delivery systems in order to meet the increased demand. Retail stores are also heavily reliant on e-commerce and seek click-and-collection to keep their businesses going.
The good news for both government agencies and retailers is that 60% of consumers now describe themselves as “digitally curious” or “digital explorers,” meaning they have a willing and able audience to use their services and experiences. Indeed, consumers have been shaped into innovation addicts. For example, the annual purchase of new smartphones based on new “features” or “designs”. From the comfort of their own homes, consumers have recognized the advantage of being able to buy products and services on demand without the location, supply and time restrictions of their personal alternative. Social media is fueling this digital endeavor by hosting online commerce directly on their platforms. In October 2020 Instagram introduced its new “Shop” function, which offers Instagramers the opportunity to browse through an app on a mobile device, create wish lists and make purchases. In finance, the benefits of online mobile banking through the web and on device applications remove the restrictions on branch visits as customers transfer money, access bank statements, address inquiries through AI chat bots, and more. Apps are becoming the new bank branch, with apps like Revolution, for easy international transfers and the ability to work with cryptocurrencies, andHoney, the app marketed for couples that makes synchronized money management easier and adds heat. New Dutch bank Bunq aims to revolutionize fintech and brand itself as “Gelds Swiss Army Knife”. It takes into account growing market trends such as environmental awareness, cravings for digital socialization features, interest in money tracking, and expense categorization skills.
With all of this impressive technology on offer, consumers are developing a greater appetite for pioneers; no reactionary supporters. Those brands that have not adapted to the “great digital change” run the risk of losing relevance in their markets and exposing themselves to possible long-term failure. With seasoned businesses and emerging challenger brands trapped in market competition, 44% of consumers are willing to give up branding and switch to a competitor if their digital experience doesn’t live up to expectations – only 15% are willing to remain loyal.
While some companies have harnessed this potential to build customer loyalty, others have not been as forward-thinking, even though Forrester says 82% of executives recognize that customer experience is directly linked to revenue growth. It is no longer enough for organizations to “digitize” by re-hosting existing products and services on online platforms. Consumer excitement is won through the ability to identify gaps in the market, utilize the latest technological capabilities and improve existing standards and quality of life already offered. If it is not clear how a product, service and experience can be added to their existing digital portfolio, they neither push market boundaries nor entertain consumer curiosity. The sensitivity of this digital shift is clear; Businesses need to ensure that they see the consumer experience as the key driver of change throughout their digital strategy. This means listening to the wants and needs of consumer trends and working in harmony with consumer behavior to ensure that their business remains attractive, socially relevant and profitable.
In this unpredictable world, where no company or government can know exactly what is coming, change will be constant. But the ability to develop new applications and make them available to consumers will lead this shift. You need to try to unify the consumer experience by innovating a digital foundation. A foundation that can quickly and securely deliver applications to any device via any cloud. A platform that can deliver new emerging technologies from IoT to AI and ML to deliver the next experience or a next generation app.
Businesses are now facing a refreshing reality; it is no longer enough to “digitize”, but “to be digital”. To really use the digital to improve the physical and optimize the online. The call for innovation is answered with the creation of products, services and experiences that draw on the attractive features that have made digital advantage our architect of possibilities; Ease of use, speed of service, exciting, engaging, better resource management, increased agility and productivity, to name just a few. Consumer cravings saturated with upscale digital experience should be a warning and opportunity for all. Organizations need to prepare to think and reform to unlock the full potential of the “big digital switch”.
About the author
Joe Baguley is VP and CTO, EMEA at VMware. At VMware, we look beyond the boundaries of compromise to develop new ways to make technologies work together seamlessly. Our computing, cloud, mobility, network and security offerings form a digital basis for the apps, services and experiences that are changing the world.
Selected image: © Sergey Nivens
