Capgemini, the consultancy flying the flag for digital transformation, has published a useful report, Digital Shopper Relevancy, on how digital technology is transforming the world of shopping (16,000 interviews, 16 countries).
The top takeout for brands and retailers around the world is that consumers suffer from channel blindness – they see no difference between traditional and digital retail channels, and expect a seamless all-channel experience, including an all-channel commerce experience (see chart). Brands and retailers that don’t deliver on this expectation imperative will become irrelevant, whither and die.
Success on the other hand is all about deploying digital as a transformative tool, not a mere bolt-on, using digital technology to rewire the company for genuine consumer-centricity. If your value-chain starts with you, not the consumer, then you’ve got it wrong. Instead ‘start with the smile’, the expectation-beating experience that is delivered or enhanced digitally and then work back by deploying digital technology step-by-step from front-office to back-office, in the service of that smile. Digital touch-points are about smiles. It’s as simple as that.
We’ll be building on this theme, and the role of social media, at the ‘Creating the Digital Future’ event in London hosted by Capgemini/SAP on October 2.
Executive Summary
Full Report
