Digital enhancements are only disruptive if you’re not prepared. Business leaders embrace the opportunities technology creates for their business growth and their consumer’s experience.

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There is no denying the disruption that digital is having in most industries. But the businesses that are facing the brunt of this are the organizations who are steadfast in legacy and closed off to innovation. There are organizations out there that are embracing the opportunities that digital provides in a way that completely transforms their business for the better. How are business leaders reacting to digital?

Low to No Barriers to Entry

As technology and development capabilities move from the front end to the backend, the world of business opportunities opens up even further. The costly barriers of creating, marketing, managing and operationalizing a product are quickly going away. This is opening doors to new entrants or competitive organizations to rapidly create and scale new business models, products and services. These new entrants to an industry or sector won’t just steal market share, but will change the behaviors and expectations of the consumer, drastically shifting what is needed from an organization. 

Consumer Experience

The relationship a consumer has with a business is not at one particular moment in time, but through ongoing and holistic interactions at many different points. These interactions the consumer experiences can be moments of pain or pleasure, depending on how simple, rewarding or proactive they may be. Those moments of pain are ripe for disruption from insurgent or new entrants into a category. Casper didn’t make a better mattress, they removed the pain of shopping for one. Dollar Shave Club didn’t make a better razor, they took away the pain of getting refills. Uber didn’t create a better livery service, they took away the pain of hailing a taxi. Business leaders will become increasingly obsessed with the pain to find new ways to innovate and make their business and value proposition stronger for their consumer. 

Retail & Commerce

The innovations in ecommerce, AI and banking have created a new world for retail and commerce. These innovations are providing businesses the opportunity to reduce ‘chore’ shopping (daily use products like shampoo, toothpaste, etc) while enhancing ‘cherish’ shopping (luxury and lifestyle products). The brands and products on either side of those will need to find a way to best differentiate their offerings to enhance their consumer experience - either by reducing friction or surprising by engagement. Business leaders will have to take a new approach on retail, one that leverages technology and data in a way that provides an experience consumers want and need. 

Operational Excellence

There has been a lot of talk about digital driving the Industry 4.0 - an industrial revolution powered by technology. This transformation runs the gamut of all elements of business, but we’re seeing some great successes in the operationalization and automation of business processes and the supply chain. The innovations in logistics, data processing and manufacturing are creating an environment where algorithms are running certain repetitive aspects of the business, freeing up the human capacity to do the things that humans do best - empathy and strategy. Business leaders will find new ways to streamline their operations leveraging technology and data, providing a better backend experience to pass off to the front end of the consumer relationship.

How is digital disrupting your business?

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