Why does digital transformation matter?

This post is sponsored by Acquia.

Digital technologies are changing the face of business – the change is accelerating faster than the pace of transformation in organisations. To transform a large organisation takes a significant amount of time, a huge amount of resources and a cross-functional set of business skills.

The biggest challenge then, for large organisations such as telcos, banks and manufacturing companies, lies in being able to purposely develop unstable processes that quickly follow changes in customer preference, need and behaviour.

Digital transformation allows organisations to understand that everyone is a contributor to both the organisation and the most productive ways of working. Beyond this, it’s also realising the tools that people need to do their jobs today will not be the same as they need tomorrow.

Ignore search and the end-to-end experience at your peril

Today, online browsing inspires customers to make purchases more than any other method. B2B customers are primarily driven to purchase by search engine results or content on a store website, while customers are inspired by browsing a store, search results, and items they saw in an online marketplace.

How businesses connect, deliver experiences and ensure their back-end operational systems are up to the task is critical to driving sales and profit growth.

Many brands and manufacturers discount (or forget) the importance of getting the basics right: intelligent/intuitive search, contextual merchandising, rich product content, and support for the delivery/pick up option that customers say make things convenient for them and define today’s end-to-end experience.

Digital transformation investments ensure business continuity now, and competitive differentiation in the future

For many, digital transformation is key to business continuity. For others, it’s a foundation to build more engaging, more profitable digital experiences that open new markets and take the friction out of consumer and business relationships. As business leaders strive to build a foundation for future differentiation, they must still ensure plans match (shifting) buying priorities.

While digital leaders ponder their next move, the choices they make today will impact their business’ performance for years to come. While consumers and business customers are more focused in their purchasing, they still expect and need accurate information, inspiring experiences and trusted interactions with their solution providers. While COVID-19 may have sparked this behaviour, these new habits and expectations will live on long after the crisis ends.

Key takeaways

Rethink how you deliver digital experiences that go beyond transactions.

Today’s customers need support along the entire digital journey – from inspiration to selection to support post-purchase. Rethink how you deliver value and connect with customers through inspired online experiences and value-added services. Make sure your experiences turn inspiration into action through great search, helpful and inspiring content, and flexible payment and delivery options that address the needs your customers have today and tomorrow.

Nail the must-haves to drive new sales and loyalty.

Customers want solutions that deliver relevance to them: they want to know if the item they want is in stock, and they want to see relevant suggestions, accurate up-to-date information, and detailed product information. It’s an imperative for companies to deliver these must-haves. And when companies don’t take these seriously, their customers now have choice and ease in finding another provider that will.

Find partners to tailor and optimise experiences.

Get your solution provider to do the heavy lifting by embedding AI/ML capabilities into its offering that drive relevant and valuable experiences for your customers and support the business outcomes you are looking for.

Ensure these digital experience building blocks can easily interface with your other core eCommerce functions and back-end customer and inventory data sources, serving experiences via AI/ML that enable more effective shoppable “moments” on any channel where your customers are gathering.

Organisations moving from traditionally top-down structures with hierarchical governance to one that embraces multiple ways of working is also a challenge.

For marketers, it presents new challenges – how can they make this happen quickly, securely and strategically? Read our e-book to learn how.