Today, we find ourselves in continuously changing circumstances. The pandemic has affected everyone to a varying degree, and it has far-reaching consequences for most businesses. Thus, they are compelled to adjust digital strategies as it might be the helping hand to stay afloat or make a breakthrough.
While some companies still hesitate to drive and embrace change, others consider this as an inefficient approach and decide to take advantages through technology.
First of all, they aim their efforts at speeding up the delivery of top priority projects and transforming IT infrastructure to reduce costs. At the same time, they turn to software solutions that allow them to meet the current demands and constraints of consumers and ensure continued business operations.
It is a common thing that companies postpone adopting tech solutions if you don’t due to various reasons. If you do not want to fall by the wayside, it’s never too late to accelerate some tech initiatives and facilitate your critical business operations.
Gaining Control of Customer Engagements
What if every customer could deal with your single most effective sales or service person?
What Is a Digital Strategy?
The term digital strategy has become very expansive and popular. Lately, you can hear it so frequently that it can get confusing what it actually means. Thus, let’s first think about the definition.
Digital strategy is generally a plan of action created to address existing business challenges and achieve goals with the use of tech products and software tools. It’s not about changing the way you run your business or reconsidering successful approaches just because the environment has altered to digital. It’s more about leveraging technologies to build new opportunities, meet the existing needs, and gain a competitive advantage.
There are plenty of practices to work on your strategy. They differ depending on your business domain and the results you want to pursue. However, the common elements are usually the following:
- People
- Processes
- Software tools
- Communication channels
- Customer experience
Why Do You Need a Digital Strategy?
The world has obviously changed, and there’s probably no point of return. Digitalization is here to stay, providing new revenue and value-producing opportunities. If these reasons are not enough for you to encompass a digital strategy in your business development plan, let’s go through the others that might be more convincing.
Basically, embracing a digital technology strategy allows companies to:
- Gain a competitive edge
- Expand market share
- Enhance customer engagement
- Increase business growth
- Improve workforce efficiency
- Avoid missed opportunities
Caused by the pandemic, a change in consumer behavior, shift to WFH format, and the following rise in internet technology consumption impacted all industries, making them adopt or adjust digital strategies.
Expanding a Team
Watch our webinar to unveil the tricks of onboarding a tech partner and incorporating it into the process to foster your product delivery.
Below, we’re discussing how companies from different verticals use digitalization to cope with challenges and benefit from emerging opportunities. Let’s consider them by industry:
Healthcare
At all times, governments and healthcare stakeholders ceaselessly search for medications, solutions, and tools that would help them care for and cure their patients. Nowadays, it’s important not to fall back on the old ways but rather fall forward and keep the doors open for digital remedies.
Here, an opportunity for telemedicine providers comes to light. Today, as people continue to turn to virtual care, providers see a significant uptick in telemedicine use. The Insider Intelligence report says that telehealth is now a permanent fixture in the healthcare landscape.
Companies, offering mobile or web-based online consultations, fill the gap for patients, minimize disease spread, and build a way to earn fee revenue and patient loyalty.
Similarly, AI-powered contact centers and chatbots enable providers not only to weather challenging times but also differentiate their services. As a result, they have an efficient resource to cope with the staff shortage and a great tool to add convenience, improve front office effectiveness, and reduce operational costs.
Learn more about the Applicable uses of AI in the health sector
Another way to support a patient-centric approach and adjust your digital strategy is to implement remote patient monitoring in your practice. With the help of wearable medical devices, monitoring ailments remotely eliminates the need to step out of home, enhances clinical decision-making, and facilitates achieving the triple aim of healthcare.
Success Story: Development of post-acute care coordination suite of applications
Fintech and Banking
While we still observe an impact sweeping across many industries in response to the pandemic, some of them are traditionally better prepared for the changing environment. As often, fintech might be ahead of everyone. Being a pioneer in and fast adopter of top-level solutions, it brings its resources to the table of other businesses allowing them to be more resilient and competitive.
Although fintech is not entirely bulletproof, it continues to proactively aid the players in the financial sector, both customers and companies. From AI-driven trading platforms and Robo-advisors to loan management systems and KYC automation – these custom financial software solutions provide essential support aimed to meet the needs online, balance costs, and improve customer experience.
Case Study: Intelligent Trading Platform Development
Ceaselessly, consumers shift their preferences towards digital financial services. As a result, traditional institutions like banks and credit unions adapt their digital product strategy and turn to mobile fintech solutions. Making the most out of the right mobile app would keep your clients loyal and ROI high.
Read about the Key Features for Your Mobile Banking App
The business world undergoes changes that form a very competitive landscape, and the risk of falling behind is too high to ignore. Companies are forced to swiftly align their resources with new values, reduce costs, and retain customers. Just as in other industries, Intelligent CRM solutions in banking serve to tackle challenges by optimizing business processes and establishing a customer-centric model.
To learn more about how financial organizations can quickly automate their services and support digital initiatives at the minimum investments, read a free eBook by Creatio. It provides valuable recommendations on adaptability during challenging times.
Insurance
When the world is under stress, the insurance industry comes to the rescue, playing a vital role in managing risks and mitigating losses. At the same time, with the rising volume of customer claims and inquiries, insurance companies become vulnerable themselves.
Insurers, taking proactive steps and planning their digital strategies, cope with crises better and enhance customer retention. These steps might include:
- Permanent availability across human and virtual channels
- Predictive claims capabilities and automated payouts enabled by data and analytics
- Frictionless claims through smart systems and processes
AI and Machine Learning empower nearly all sides of the insurance environment. According to the McKinsey study, by 2030 AI will encompass such insurance aspects as distribution, pricing, claims, and underwriting. For example, Machine Learning contributes to claim management automation by analyzing cloud-stored digital files and enhancing processing speed and accuracy.
Watch this short video by Bloomberg Technology, where Daniel Schreiber, CEO of Lemonade Insurance Company, is talking about AI transforming the Insurance Industry.
With the help of AI solutions and related technologies incorporated in your digital strategy, your company could shift from Pay For Damage approach to Prevent Damage approach. Risk assessment leveraged by analytics platforms enables fast and precise data-driven decisions.
Learn more about the Benefits of Data Analytics in Insurance
Since consumer preferences have changed, demand for digital insurance services has significantly increased. With mobile insurance solutions, companies can offer customers a personalized and convenient experience while reducing service time and saving businesses money. An online consultation, policy application, or even claims process managed by chatbots or mobile apps reserve human interactions for more complex tasks.
Retail
The past couple of years put the retail industry to the test like probably never before. Predicting future sales and evaluating risks have become challenging. That leaves retailers turning to innovative technologies to help them adjust their strategies, keep their operations, and reassess their values.
E-commerce
Today, the majority of customers address their shopping needs to online portals. Thus, getting on board with digital store platforms facilitates the retention of your clients. To improve customer experience, enable multiple secure payment methods and ensure accurate delivery service by providing real-time tracking apps.
Learn about the 7 Ways to Improve Customer Experience
Smart stores
On top of enabling contactless digital payments, you can transform your store into a smart one. Reconsider your digital strategy by applying mobile app solutions like scan-as-you-shop systems that eliminate the need to see a cashier.
Guiding shoppers through the aisles by product-related alerts also improves customer loyalty. To achieve this, integrate beacon technology into your store mobile app.
To augment retail efficiency and avoid shortage of supply, use smart tags and sensors. They help automate replenishment and enable employees to track the location of items on shelves.
Furthermore, retailers can deliver greater business value and operate stores effectively by applying data aggregation and edge analytics. It helps understand customer needs and provide the right selection of goods and services.
Discover more about the Retail Data Analytics
Supply chain
In the changing environment, effective supply chain management is incredibly important. Adopting IoT solutions will help you monitor inventory, enhance stocking, and boost logistics productivity. Additionally, Machine Learning technology can take demand forecasting to the next level and add accuracy to supply chain risk evaluation.
Learn more: How IoT Solutions and Smart Sensors Propel Cold Chain Management
At the time of global uncertainty and digitalization, business leaders need to have a mindset that embraces change. You can’t prepare for everything but you can prepare for pivots and leverage the opportunities that knock. Hopefully, the use of technology will help companies move forward and forge a good pattern for possible future upheavals.
Adjust your digital strategy to address challenges promptly and improve business performance. Our remote team of dedicated professionals is here to help you accelerate digital initiatives and support you with custom software solutions. Contact us today for a consultation.
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