Optimizing the Technology industry’s digital channel

In thinking about how PwC can help Technology companies improve their digital commerce efforts, we started by establishing a baseline for the industry, and the resulting survey discovered interesting insight:

• Technology companies have established a strong foundation of digital capabilities, executing the crucial areas of demand generation, customer service, and technical support. While those focused on B2C do well on interaction with consumers, there’s much work left to do on B2B interactions.
• Their top priority is to enhance the customer experience. But, only 41% of companies consider it strategic to prioritize digital investments, and the percentage of companies with a comprehensive roadmap for this effort has dropped considerably.[1]
• Overall, there is no consensus regarding which departments should fund or which C-level executives should manage the digital channel structure. Most Technology companies have significant work to do in deploying infrastructure to support an omnichannel strategy.

Here’s what we think:

Effective business strategy for the digital age

An effective business strategy should acknowledge the entire customer lifecycle. At PwC, we’ve crafted a multi-phase framework called Prism to help clients deliver the next generation of commerce by focusing on the complete lifecycle in a multi-channel world. We recommend that companies think about all of these phases within the framework holistically. They may be deployed in a non-linear fashion, but there should be some focus on how they will eventually fit together.

Leading the cultural shift

As with any cultural shift, executive alignment is crucial in order to execute a successful digital vision across the company. We’re not talking a boil-the-ocean strategy here: companies need not excel in all of these areas, but they should build capabilities and excel in areas that support their overall strategy (including – and this is important – support for the omnichannel world we live in).

Digital capabilities have become a competitive advantage, and top-performing companies are more likely to have a comprehensive strategy. The benefits of improving the digital channel are clear, with the payoff potentially resulting in an improved customer experience, with higher engagement, and more-efficient back-end workflows with lower costs.

Feel free to explore the industry findings here: http://pwc.to/1TzKvao and let me know your thoughts below.

[1] PwC: 2015 Technology Digital Commerce Survey