Imagine a retail operations director starting his work day. He receives a mobile notification to view a management dashboard. Immediately, he sees that his team is on track to hit their revenue targets for the month. The same dashboard reveals that one marketing campaign is doing significantly better than another, negatively impacting profits. He shoots an email asking his team to take immediate action.
He receives another notification, this time a message from a customer. The delivery they received had defective items in it. The logistics team quickly validates the transactions through the system and finds the root cause. They quickly dispatch the replacement order. The director calls the client and happily reports that this will never happen again. The delivery app automatically updates the client on their ETA.
Meanwhile, the latest product launch is doing well, and the director’s team is getting hundreds of inquiries via the online sales portal. It’s more than the lean sales team can handle manually. But they’ve got help — a sales chatbot is able to respond and qualify potential customers, so the sales reps can focus on attending to complex, high-value deals.
It was another productive day, made possible by a great team, a solid strategy, and the right digital acceleration technologies.
Staying ahead of the curve through digital acceleration
In the digital economy, simply migrating your business processes from manual to digital is not enough. You have to accelerate. In a previous article, we talked about digital acceleration, defined as the rapid adoption and implementation of digital technologies and processes. Companies identify business aspects that can be improved and optimized and then use technology to implement these improvements quickly and efficiently. Data, apps, and AI — among other enterprise tech — are some digital acceleration tools that companies can deploy to be competitive. Here are some more benefits you will reap when you embark on your digital acceleration journey.- Thrive in the digital age. Digitalization lowers the barrier to entry in the industry. These days, it’s not about having the most money to spend on a product launch. It’s about how fast you can turn ideas into products. It used to take months — even years — to bring software to market. Now, your new app can be in the hands of users within days, with the help of low-code and Cloud. Companies that are too traditional to adapt risk falling behind more agile newcomers in the business.
- Enhance customer experience. While customers are visiting physical stores again after COVID restrictions were lifted, their online shopping habits will remain. And why not? Malls and brands have apps. Customers can browse items, find reviews, pay via a digital wallet, and wait for a rider to bring the items to their homes. All without setting foot in traffic. To stand out, it’s important that you give a great experience — from browsing, checkout, delivery, to after-sales — wherever your customer chooses to shop.
- Grow revenue and market share. With digital channels, it’s much easier to capture and analyze data in real time. Spot trends, uncover new opportunities, and make informed decisions quicker and more effectively than the competition can.
- Improve efficiency and productivity. Human creativity and intelligence are wasted on tedious and repetitive tasks like report formatting, basic customer support, and many others. Automate these tasks, and allow your team to take on projects that will bring more value to the company.
- Be future-ready. By embracing digital transformation and acceleration, you arm your organization with the right tools and culture to be resilient to any disruption.
Digital acceleration in industries
What does digital acceleration look like for your industry? At the beginning of this article, we took a look at how a consumer packaged goods company could benefit from digital technologies. Here are more examples.Now, patients can consult their doctor anytime and anywhere they need medical advice.
Healthcare
Gone are the days when patients had to line up at the doctor’s clinic for flu (in fact, they shouldn’t!). Getting medical advice via a telemedicine app has become as commonplace as booking a car service. Now, patients receive their prescriptions, buy their medicines, book diagnostic services, and receive lab results through digital platforms. This not only makes medical care more convenient, it greatly reduces the risk of unnecessary exposure to diseases for both patients and medical personnel.Banking
The banking industry is known to be one of the most cautious when it comes to digitalization — for a good reason. They are covered by strict government regulations. Failure to comply may result in huge penalties and loss of customer trust. But the pandemic changed all that. Now, having a self-service app is a minimum requirement for banking customers. They must be able to open an account, monitor their savings, transfer money, and acquire more bank services flawlessly — or they will not be shy about taking their business elsewhere.Telecommunication
As internet providers, telco companies are major enablers of digital acceleration, and it shows in the way they run their businesses. With customers demanding better and faster services, telcos use data and automation to isolate and troubleshoot network issues, deploy and configure network equipment, and provide 24-hour customer support.Manufacturing
The 4th industrial revolution, where we are today, stands on the shoulders of the 3rd industrial revolution, which featured computerization. In Industry 4.0, manufacturers deploy smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning. On the production floor, automation reduces labor costs and promotes consistency in the process. Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled devices to collect and transmit data, providing insights on how to avoid defects, reduce downtime, and increase output.Getting ready to accelerate
For a company that intends to thrive in a global economy, digital acceleration has to start today. But what does it take to step on the gas and accelerate? A culture that promotes innovation and experimentation plays a central role in any digital initiative. Your team must be willing to make changes in their ways of working, embrace new technologies, and explore new business models. Examine your current state of business. Identify problems that greatly impact your output. Find out which aspects of the business you can still improve. Manual and time-consuming tasks are a good place to start. Determine what can be resolved by process, people, and technology. A successful digital journey requires resources with the right skills to leverage the right technologies. It takes wisdom and experience to build a team, the infrastructure, and the technology — and it does not happen overnight. This is why having the right partner for the job is crucial. Stratpoint is your digital acceleration partner, enabling companies to adopt the latest, most innovative technology solutions to enrich experiences, empower businesses, and uplift communities. Are you ready to accelerate? Let us know in the form below.
