A new year is upon us and no doubt your newsfeed is full to capacity with what trends you should be adopting (or avoiding) in 2016!
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by this influx of business advice, take a step back, relax and enjoy our summary of some of the cool things that businesses have done recently and what might be useful for your business in the next 12 months – everything from talent acquisition to innovative marketing and technology.
Omnichannel makes way for omnipresence and artificial intelligence takes on a more user-friendly face – tech trends are one thing, but do they deliver what your consumers actually want?
1. From Artificial to Beneficial Intelligence
Save time/money, make me better/smarter/happier/richer
Google Smart Reply algorithm scans content and uses machine learning to come up with 3 possible replies to your emails. Over time it learns your habits and writing style.
Paribus app ensures shoppers get the best price possible by scanning digital purchase receipts, comparing to other retailers and automatically requesting a price match (netting 25% of the difference for their troubles).
2. Redefining your value
Remind consumers in innovative ways of your value proposition
Transavia – a French budget airline – created branded consumer products such as chips and cereal bars and retailed them in vending machines and supermarkets throughout France.
The packets were priced between 30-40 Euro (the price of some flights) and doubled as airline tickets. The idea being that you wouldn’t think twice about buying a packet of chips so a cheap flight isn’t much different.
3. Omnipresence
Right place, right time, right channel – are you there yet?
Fashion and hospitality came together in Europe to redefine the hotel mini bar. Forget mini bottles of overpriced alcohol, French high street fashion store, Pimkie, creates a mini wardrobe in your hotel room based on the season and allows guests to purchase the items upon checkout. Dedicated concierge can help with different sizes and accessories.
4. Talent, talent, talent
Having the right people on board is more important than ever
It’s great to have the innovative ideas, the funding, and the technology but what if you don’t have the right team on board to make it all happen? Frontline customer service agents (whether in the real or virtual world) kickstart your customer’s experience, and the management behind them need to provide the support they need.
Continuous feedback and management development programs will be in full pursuit throughout the next year according to SAP’s SuccessFactors Elizabeth Duffy. How do yours measure up?
5. Cyber security will become another norm
If not already, implementing a robust cyber security response plan, will become as everyday as hiring a security guard to watch the storefront. But the ethics around such safeguarding will become the focus as well as defining what the real threats are to each individual business – unfortunately not only a concern for big business.
6. ‘Store’ will take on a new meaning, especially for ‘Homelanders’
The physical and virtual worlds will come together with in-store app assistants teamed with real concierge to deliver bigger and better customer experiences to meet the ever-increasing consumer demands.
Homelanders – those born in a post 9-11 world and after the Department of Homeland Security was established, will begin to drive even more transformation in the retail sector and 2016 is the time to start considering this new generation (even if we don’t yet fully understand their needs).
7. Competitive advantage gets tougher
The gap between those organisations who embed innovation and technology into their DNA and those that don’t will become ever bigger – and 2016 might be the last chance saloon for those who cannot keep up with the constant change. Data analytics, HR, finance, and IT – savvy organisations no longer work in such silos and technologies such as ERP will break down even more barriers in the next 12 months.
We could go on… the innovations and changes coming up are really exciting to us at Blue Ocean Systems because we understand the value that technology can deliver to growing organisations.
Don’t be left behind the rush – talk to our team of ERP experts to ensure your technology can support your business goals for this year, and the years to come.
