Fulfilling Customer Experiences in the Digital Era: How to Go About It

 

“Beep beep! beep beep!” goes off the alarm following Google Assistant’s command. Alexa turns on the coffee machine and starts making a fresh brew. The smart water system turns itself on to offer a luxurious bathing experience. Next, an Uber arrives at the doorstep and drops one off at their destination.

A digitally-driven day looks quite similar to the above-given description. In fact, this is what it might already look like for a lot of tech-savvy individuals. Apart from the people who make the most out of these technologies, the brands that embrace digital transformation solutions and offer these facilities are ruling the market.

 

However, the 21st century is not just a digitally-driven one. It is also a customer-oriented one. When things are available to customers at fingertips and from the comforts of their home, they wouldn’t prefer to visit a brick and mortar store or surf too many websites to find what they’re looking for.

 

 

If you are a business owner of today, contemplate over the following questions:

Do you offer your customers with vivid and interactive experiences? Does your brand offer personalization of products and services? Do you feel like you are meeting the challenges of today’s customers?

If the answer to the above questions is “No”, you might want to approach a company that offers digital transformation consulting. Digital transformation experts would be able to provide you with significant insights and help you drive customer-focused experiences.

But before you do that, you need to know about the technologies and trends you need to master in 2019 and beyond. Here’s a sneak peek at them:

Create Interactive Customer Experiences

 

In order to offer a creative, cohesive, and interactive experience to customers, companies need to pull down the silos – which include technology and organizational data. Once that is done, you would be able to offer quick and responsive buying experience as per the expectations of your customers.

It is important to understand that customer journeys are dependent on several touchpoints. And the more you democratize and map these journeys, the better it becomes for you to promote your products and services. Integrate Chabot, make your website interactive, and use Artificial Intelligence to your advantage.

Find More Ways to Engage

 

A study conducted by the White House Office of Consumer Affairs found that 80% of U.S. customers do not mind paying more for a product or service if they get a superior customer experience. Now, there hasn’t been a better time in history to connect with customers than it is today. There are plentiful mediums to engage, right from mobile messages and emails to social media chat. But despite that, what is it that makes it difficult to understand what customers are looking for?

The best way to resolve this issue is to leverage the potential of digital resources and make use of them in a meaningful way. Mull over your business model and the ways in which you can serve your customers. Ask questions like “When do customers need my brand/product?” “For how many hours do I need to be available to them?” When you create a valuable experience for your buyers, and do so in a consistent way, and it is sure to help.

Think in Ecosystems

 

We already discussed that customers are spread across multiple touchpoints. Looking into the reality of how customers engage with brands, business owners need to start thinking about ecosystems rather than just looking into the sales funnels, processes, and checklists. You must also know that customers do not move in a systematized or linear manner. They move through an ecosystem which is a combination of offline and online or omnichannel experiences.

When you think of yourself as being a part of the customer ecosystem, you would be able to think about how your system can serve that ecosystem. By getting advice from the experts who offer digital transformation consulting, you can transform your systems digitally to reflect the consumer ecosystem and get better at meeting the requirement of the customers.

Personalize Customer Experiences

 

When it comes to delivering personalized experiences, marketers of today are making the most out of Artificial Intelligence. AI enables them to broadcast meaningful and emotionally powerful stories. These stories strengthen bonds between customers and brands, fostering life-long customer relationships.

eMarketer has predicted that by the year 2020, over 86% of digital display ads will be broadcasted programmatically. Which means, 9 out of 10 ads would be tailored to a specific viewer. Programmatic ad of Missing People is one of the biggest examples of programmatic ads. It creates location-specific appeals in the social media feed of its audience members’ raising the response rate from 50% to 70%.

Listen and Respond Actively

 

Last but not the least, make your customers feel that they’re being heard. The best way to do so is to keep active on social media and respond to customer feedback and inquisitiveness proactively. Negative and positive feedback help you to create better customer strategies and improve upon the aspects that you lack in. By rendering an exclusive and consistent experience to your customers, you would gain their trust and loyalty.

Digital Transformation Ensures Better Conversions

 

Customers are not settling for generic or bland experiences anymore. They want a chatbot that understands. An inanimate assistant that talks. And a shopping experience that is one-of-a-kind. Embracing customer-focused digital transformation solutions helps you to offer smart and personalized experiences to customers at every stage of their buying journey.

If you lack the technical know-how to do so, it is advisable to approach a firm that can help you create data-driven business models and strategize a smooth digital transformation for your business. At Gateway Digital, we re-think business models, modernize products, and help you create a customer-centric world with the help of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Internet of Things. Why not drop us an email on hello@thegatewaydigital.com and discuss how you wish to make your customers smile?

Startup-Corporate Collaboration: The What, Why, and How

In this technology-driven era, the collaboration between large corporates and startups is the key to fostering innovation. With rapid changes in the new age business ecosystem, they can leverage digital transformation services and the strengths of each other to grow and stay relevant and competent. Corporates can enter new markets by teaming up with new industry players and keep up with the disruptions, while startups can scale their products and offerings into the markets of established businesses to expand and grow.

This partnership between established corporates and startups can make way for new and sustainable industrial revolution. The matter of concern here is in choosing the right startup consulting partners, in a way that both the sides can benefit in the highest possible level. When each side learns to understand the expectations, culture, interests and work ethics of the other, it leads to a successful collaboration.

Why do corporates need startups?

External innovation and disruption: Corporates need to become aware of the disruptions and market shifts caused by new innovative technologies in their field of business.

More innovative suppliers: When corporates work with only established tech providers, they miss out on potential new sources of revenue.

Better customer focus: Corporates need to leverage the startup method to customize solutions and serve its customers better.

More agile culture: Working with startups can bring more agility and openness to innovation.

Staying abreast of market developments: Corporates can better track changes, developments and disruptions in the markets by collaborating with a startup.

New business lines: Corporates can pursue new business lines and revenue streams and offer new and creative services to their clients.

How can startups benefit from corporates?

Revenue benefits: With corporates having enough money and revenue, startups can be free from seeking outside investments.

Success story for future sales: Corporate customers enhance the reputation of startups, providing them with reference cases for future sales.

Scalable customer base: Startups looking for their first customers can leverage the customer base of large corporates.

Riskless globalization: Partnering with corporates will give startups the opportunities to expand into other countries and refine and optimize their products and services.

Access to corporate assets: Collaborating with corporates can empower startups to make use of underutilized corporate resources to make new business.

Mentoring and market knowledge: An established business can help startups enter the market with its assets and allow it to tap into the knowledge and experience of corporates in the form of mentoring.

Why does the collaboration often fail?

The collaboration is a test for the mind-sets of both. Corporate employees are trained to follow set procedures and rules and are challenged by the nonstandard and creative behaviour of new entrepreneurs. On the other hand, startup players start their companies with an intention to disrupt the status quo of the markets and are often challenged by the ideas and processes of the corporate players.

Here are the many reasons why the collaborations do not reach the end goal:

• The startup spirit often clashes with the culture and spirits of the corporate and its protective middle management.

• Startups lack the resources to handle most processes.

• Large corporate players may not prefer to work with startups if they cannot provide references from previous corporate clients.

• Corporates are usually hesitant to adopt inventions that were developed in partnership with startups.

• Lack of managerial support from corporates can lead to failure of collaborative innovation.

• All units of the corporate silos may not be aligned to the collaboration, which may lead to delays and conflicts.

• Senior management of corporates may fail to understand new technological changes that may impact their business field.

How Gateway Digital can make the partnership easy?

For a seamless collaboration, strategic alignment is required between the corporate and startup. The upper management needs to agree to the conditions of the collaboration and the management expectations of both sides need to be met.

Gateway Digital Oy is a digital transformation solutions expert focusing on specialized technology services and functional services for various businesses. We collaborate with startups with the help of our insight-based business models through consulting, modernization and digital touch points. Equipped with the technology and expertise, our digital consulting and strategy services help businesses identify their best-suited partner.

As a technology specialist, we understand the business concerns of startups and help them accomplish compelling business cases through proof of concept and designs with the help of futuristic market trends, marketing and outreach. Our adaptable onshore and offshore services are at the forefront of innovation and address the entire breadth of clients’ opportunities in the evolving digital world.

Reach out to us to lead your business to its ultimate success with successful strategic partnerships.

Top 6 Trends Transforming Logistics and Supply Chain in 2020

Technology innovations and digital solutions are bringing big waves of change across all sectors, and logistics and supply chain is one of the most impacted industries. The industry is well known for its manual processes and large amounts of data stored in different places, and hence it will be most benefited from implementing new technologies and tools.

Numerous studies confirm that Finland ranks highly on digital readiness and is well placed to unlock the potential of digitalization. According to the European Commission, Finland is ranked as the most digitally advanced nation in Europe. The Finnish government has also taken initiatives to work on technology-oriented transport systems to become an active participant in smart mobility. New and established logistics and supply chain companies are investing in innovative products and new IT skills.

Key trends that have led to digital transformation in logistics and supply chain in the past have been in the areas of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), usage of automated guided vehicles in warehouses, skilled ICT professionals, and technology advancements in supply chain management. Here are the most important technology trends every logistics and supply chain industry must keep an eye on in 2020 and beyond.

1. Artificial Intelligence

The logistics industry has started to integrate AI solutions for effective route planning, intelligent transportation, and demand planning in their operations. Artificial intelligence is already making a difference with automated warehouse systems, predictive optimization software, last-mile delivery robots, etc. Moving forward in 2020, the latest innovations in AI and data sciences will benefit carriers, suppliers, shippers, and consumers. Augmented intelligence- a combination of AI automation and human intelligence is also expected to benefit the logistics and supply chain industry, by allowing the professionals to improve efficiency while saving costs and reducing mistakes.

2. Blockchain

The Blockchain technology has multitudes of use cases in the logistics industry for its ability to securely record transactions between different parties. With blockchain, everyone has access to the same ledger of transactions, making it completely transparent, and impossible for users to trick or hack the system. This makes it easy for carriers and shippers to securely share sensitive data without the need for third-party involvement. Although companies like Alibaba, Maersk, Microsoft, and Amazon invest heavily on this technology, in order to take advantage of blockchain’s full potential, logistics companies need to first standardize, digitize, and cleanse their data.

3. Real-Time Supply Chain Visibility

Supply chain visibility has already become a must-have for logistics companies, and in 2020 enterprises need to focus on making it real-time by implementing innovative solutions into their operations. According to Gartner’s real-time supply chain visibility guide, the demand for real-time data has increased more than ever amongst customers and carriers. Companies can track traffic patterns, port conditions, weather conditions, etc. to take necessary actions to optimize routes or redirect the supply chain. Fully integrated supply chains with connected IoT and cloud services help in tracking vehicles and inventory and provides real-time monitoring, thereby making supply chain processes more efficient.

4. Advanced Analytics

Dealing with a large amount of data stored in silos is one of the key challenges that the traditional logistics industry players face. Traditional companies have data stored anywhere and everywhere, creating massive inefficiencies, and making it a fragmented ecosystem. In 2020, companies that want to keep up with the changing times must get rid of data stored in silos and have systems in place to solve the data inconsistency issue. This is where predictive and analytics platforms come into play. Data analytics solutions help these traditional enterprises to cleanse and digitize their data and use the data for advanced analytics and predictive optimization. This will benefit the companies in a massive way by improving last-mile deliveries, detecting unexpected conditions, and improving predictive maintenance, supply chain visibility and demand forecasting.

5. Digital Twins

The digital twinning technology is a boon to the logistics and supply chain industry. It melds the digital and physical worlds into one and allows us to engage with the digital model of a physical object. With its vast capabilities to track, monitor and diagnose assets, this technology trend has the potential to revolutionize the logistics sector. It can support logistics infrastructure by optimizing design and performance, create a dynamic delivery network with access to real-time situations, and enhance shipment protection by identifying potential weaknesses from production to delivery. It can also predict the performance of packaging materials by conceptualizing the product packaging in a digital space and testing it for defects before deploying.

6. Warehouse Robotics

Technology solutions and innovative products have significantly transformed the warehouse operations in the past several years. Warehouse robotics is a key trend that will make moving objects, building pallets, and unloading trucks easy. According to a predictions report from IDC, by 2023, 65% of warehousing activities will use robots to enable storage optimization, cutting work order processing time in half and increasing warehouse capacity by over 20%. Multifunctional robots, driverless vehicles, and wearable technology, combined with the power of machine-learning technologies and sensors will improve the efficiency and speed of warehouse processes in 2020.

Conclusion

2020 is the year of digital transformation going mainstream, and companies in the logistics and supply chain must be prepared for the bigger changes with innovations. Gateway Digital in association with its end-to-end logistics innovation partner-DiLX uses emerging technologies to create new service models and business concepts for logistics and supply chain companies, and help them transform to keep pace in the digital world. Are you looking to implement innovative technologies to streamline and manage your logistics business? Know more about us at www.gatewaydigital.fi or drop us a message at hello@gatewaydigital.fi.

Why you Must Consider Blockchain for your Transport & Logistics Business

New emerging technologies are changing how industries and organizations function, change and evolve. In this digital age, it is difficult to find an area of business where there is no potential for technology to improve what we do. Right from your car system that gives you the weather updates every morning, to the text message you receive from your bank regarding your recent financial transactions, everything is aided by innovative digital technologies.

Just like all industries are catching pace with digital transformation, the transport and logistics industry is getting advanced too. From a single owner operator to large freight and trucking companies, adopting digital technology solutions has become inevitable for growth and survival in the disrupted market.

Blockchain is one such modern technology that has been doing wonders ever since its implementation.

In this blog, we will take you through the various ways in which blockchain is changing the transport and logistics industry. But before that, for those of you who are new to blockchain, here is a quick definition:

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, where transaction data is shared by the nodes (computers) on a network, to which transactions are recorded and validated.

Used predominantly in FinTech and banking, blockchain technology solutions have significant applications in logistics, supply chain, healthcare, property and trading, energy, and many more sectors. Here are a few use cases of blockchain in real life:

• Porsche and Toyota use blockchain and distributed ledger technology to develop new mobility ecosystem that accelerates the development of autonomous driving technology.
• A leading healthcare company combines blockchain with big data to help doctors and patients securely transfer sensitive data.
• IBM launched its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solution in 2017 for businesses across several industries.
• Shipping giant DHL uses blockchain-backed logistics to maintain the integrity of transactions and a digital ledger of shipments.

Blockchain for Transport and Logistics- Enabling Efficient and Cost-saving Business Operations

The transport and logistics industry undergos challenges such as inefficient data and document management, money laundering and fraud, complex regulatory compliance, limited traceability, complex reverse logistics processes, non-transparency in booking and pricing, and more. Blockchain can help address these challenges. The primary usage of blockchain in logistics and transport is in the areas of automation, security and providing visibility across the supply chain.

Typically, a shipment must pass through several organizations and communication channels before reaching its end destination. Any gap during its transition can cause the container to be held up or lost. Blockchain helps in solving this issue by securely recording each move and enabling real-time tracking of shipments.

Here are a few more potential uses of blockchain to improve the functions of your transport and logistics industry:

• Visibility across the entire value chain
• Detailed insights and instantaneous end-to-end tracking of your shipments
• Notifications about any handouts or the condition of your goods at any time
• Quality control of goods by monitoring and maintaining them at the right temperature whenever required
• Smart contracts and automated payment transactions to speed up payments for your shipments
• Easy and seamless capacity monitoring and planning
• Traceability in reverse logistics
• Quick, faultless, and efficient invoice and payment management
• Easy coordination of documents on a digital ledger, eliminating paperwork and manual processes
• Flawless delivery with effective order tracking and authentication

What’s the future?

The adoption of blockchain in supply chain and logistics has been slower than expected, and its implementation is no small task. But it is going to be an absolute game-changer very soon! Adopting blockchain will help you to accommodate the ever-evolving expectations and needs of your customers and streamline your business operations.

To start with, educate your employees about blockchain, develop ideas and specific use cases, set an adoption strategy, conduct proof-of-concept tests, build capabilities and implement blockchain solutions.

Need help with implementing blockchain for your business? With an expert team of technology consultants and Blockchain developers, we at Gateway Digital can help you resolve your business challenges and achieve secured business processes.

To know more about our capabilities and offerings in Blockchain, visit us at www.gatewaydigital.fi or drop a message to hello@gatewaydigital.fi.