We really raised our standards in 2022—we want to be able to buy something in two clicks, but still need in-person customer service. We want to work digitally, ideally from a beach somewhere, while maintaining a connection with our colleagues. We don’t want to give away our data, but hate an irrelevant ad on social media. And we know we deserve to have it all! Consumer expectations have surged since the pandemic, especially when it comes to their digital interactions, and they’re only going to keep getting higher.
Delivering on this ever-rising bar of expectations means companies have to clear their preconceptions and move into the unknown. “Most companies want growth, and you don’t get that through optimizing what you have today,” said Simon James, vice president of data science and AI at Publicis Sapient. “You have to be prepared to test new things. A zero tolerance to risk is not the safe bet that you think it is.”
Many businesses are already doing this. Healthcare providers are bringing their practices online and to new venues, such as supermarkets, to make users' lives more convenient. Hotels and other travel businesses are investing in short-term rentals so hybrid workers travelling for business and pleasure have a more useful place to stay. And retailers are experimenting with technologies that will allow the benefits of an in-store experience to be available online, and vice versa.
All these trends and more are laid out in Publicis Sapient’s 2023 Guide to Next trend report. The digital business transformation consultancy draws on its widespread expertise to gaze into the future of nine distinct industries, from Retail to Financial Services, explaining what businesses should focus on in digital this year.
Not your average insights
The report is sprawling, traversing myriad trends and microtrends, from how consumer products companies are transitioning into a “cookieless future” to the importance of methane emissions, to the energy industry and how automotive manufacturers are going to compete with tech giants using 5G. Readers can easily focus on the key trends of their own industry, or click through the rest for extra inspiration. There are core ideas that run through multiple sectors, but each industry gets its own actionable insights.
Looking to 2023, a core theme that crops up across industries in the Guide to Next report is sustainability. Not just ‘you’ve got to do it’ (that’s a given), but small adjustments and innovations businesses can make to actually reach Net Zero in time. As Publicis Sapient VP of Strategy and Consulting Akhil Seghal says in the report: “The possibilities for reaching Net Zero in time are endless, but you need to make the right changes starting now.”
Many of those changes are collaborative. In the Consumer Products industry, for example, brands are democratizing sustainability by involving customers in the solution–because no brand can reach Net Zero if they stop paying attention to their products after they’ve been purchased. Whereas over in Energy, Publicis Sapient’s industry experts have noticed a trend where consumers are collecting, storing and selling renewable energy themselves; and in 2023, energy businesses could turn these stored-at-home energy hubs into an international network.
A practical perspective on Web3
While it’s important to look to the future, it’s also crucial that businesses not jump on high-tech bandwagons just for the sake of a few buzzy press releases. Along a different vein, the metaverse has been a constant source of discussion over the past year, with celebrities and tech investors alike hyping up Web3, but setting up shop in Roblox isn’t the right path for every company.
Brands shouldn’t invest in metaverse just because it’s in the news, said Publicis Sapient Managing Director of Management Consulting, Saba Arab, “You should invest because you understand who your consumer is, and because you know your consumer is on that platform or going to be on that platform.” Right now, 60 percent of consumers aren’t familiar with the metaverse at all, so spending a fortune developing within it won’t make sense for the majority of brands. However, technology moves quickly, so upskilling employees to be able to work in Web3 is an important first step many businesses can take this year.
“How do you actually use it?” asks Dan Liebermann, Managing Director of Management Consulting at Publicis Sapient. “You can build a Bugatti that can go 200 mph, but you give it to someone and they might drive it 20 mph and crash into a tree. It’s about preparing people to use new tools at their maximum capacity.” In the Financial Services sector, this is especially important because as soon transactions become commonplace in the metaverse, any financial institution who can’t facilitate, insure, or support them in some other way, will become irrelevant.
When the metaverse does reach higher penetration, upskilled employees across all industries will be able to spearhead a much more authentic movement into Web3–and the Guide to Next report includes key areas in many sectors where the Metaverse could be a useful (and often loyalty-building) tool.
Adapting inside and out
The report also delves into a new era of customer service, whether that means redressing the way people buy your products or building up more advanced customer service culture. As with many challenges in 2023, businesses can only truly transform if they address what’s going on both inside the company and out. In the Telco, Media and Technology space, for example, brands are moving into selling through a Marketplace model, where a curated selection of brands are made available through the same eco-system. Customers have fewer, better brands to choose from, while the brands share the combined customer data.
In the Transportation and Mobility arena, dealerships have lost much of their traditional business, as order-to-deliver sales are booming – so customer service agents are building a new purpose: educating customers on EVs. While in the Public Sector, organisations are simply looking to bolster the customer journey at every possible moment – from registering for retirement or marriage.
These are just the headlines, within the Guide to Next report are detailed, data-riddled rundowns of what business leaders from individual industries should be focusing on in digital through 2023, plus advice on the strategy and execution required to actually do it. Another recurring theme in the report is personalization, as Sabrina McPherson, Senior Managing Director of Management Consulting at Publicis Sapient, said: “Consumers increasingly expect any brand to know them almost better than they know themselves.” In that respect Publicis Sapient truly practice what they preach, building a report with sections tailored to specific sectors and the businesses within them. Dive in here.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
