On 4th and 5th October, we were proud to sponsor DTX Europe at ExCeL London, where thousands of IT and technology professionals came together to share innovations, insights and experiences.
This year’s event came at what feels like an inflection point for business technology. According to the World Economic Forum, 87% of companies say that they know digital will disrupt their industry, but only half say they’re prepared for the change.
Here are the three themes that stood out most for technology leaders:
Generative AI: the transformative force
Everyone is talking about potential ways to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) in an ethical, inclusive and sustainable way. To this end, transparency in how AI is used is particularly important for consumers, where according to Ipsos, more than 70% are worried that they won’t be able to tell what is AI-generated and what has been created by humans.
Because of this, we’re working hard to enable businesses to mitigate GenAI risk, and build a future plan that can accommodate a constantly changing landscape. This includes assessing technical readiness and data quality, while avoiding hidden costs and security breaches by mapping the most suitable architecture. At present, GenAI is being leveraged heavily by those looking to improve the customer experience through hyper-personalisation. This last point is especially important in the context of chatbots being used to support human service agents, rather than just to replace them.
Our comprehensive guide on GenAI explores this point in more detail.
Customer Experience: Beyond the Buzzwords
At a time when customer expectations are constantly evolving, technology has a vital role to play in providing the quick, seamless and personalised experiences customers are looking for. Capterra research has found that two-thirds of shoppers expect to checkout within four minutes, and more than a quarter of them in less than two.
The key to putting the right tech in place for delivering those experiences is understanding customer sentiment and expectations, and by mapping the parts of the journey where you meet their needs, versus the points where there is friction. That’s where our proprietary ‘Zone of Tolerance Mapping’ come in, and the three zones where different touch points fall:
The Zone of Delight:
Positive, joyful experiences that customers remember long-term
The Zone of Tolerance:
Familiarity and contentment, with the potential for the experience to be so seamless that they aren’t noticed
The Zone of Unacceptability:
Interactions that cause frustration, confusion and negativity, often to the point of cart abandonment
Working these out is the ideal first step towards ironing out any flaws and bottlenecks in customer experience, at any stage of the buying journey.
Omnichannel is vital
Omnichannel journeys tie in well with the customer experience demands highlighted above, and the importance of strengthening them is clear. Forbes research has found that successful omnichannel implementations can increase ad-driven store visits by as much as 80%.
Two of the workshops at DTX Europe were especially interesting to us and highlighted why omnichannel has such a critical part to play. One explored the future of shopper activation, and how shopper loyalty can be regained and retained; the other looked at the tricky task of getting the right partners, platforms and systems in place to make consistent omnichannel experiences possible.
Even the most comprehensive and well-constructed omnichannel experiences are worthless without the technology and expertise to make them work in practice. It’s something that we’ve always focused on strongly at Ciklum, so that our customers get everything they need to maximise their omnichannel potential from a single partnership.
In summary
It was great to meet so many of our existing partners and customers at DTX Europe, and to hear the views of countless industry experts and peers, too. If you’re ready to get on board with the future of customer experience and Generative AI, then our solutions and expertise can help you stay ahead of the curve. Get in touch with us today.
