Discussion: Digitalization in the Business World

Have you ever imagined what the future might hold? The technologies in use today were not there a decade back. How will it look like in the next ten years. One of the emerging technologies of today is Virtual Reality. With VR you can be transported into a simulated environment just by putting the glasses on. That’s not it. In the near future, you will be able to touch and feel the products you are buying over the internet. Yes, you heard it right! “Tactile Virtual Reality”, lets you feel the virtual object with your fingers.

In today’s world, the competitive landscape of every business sector is influenced by technology and changing at an unprecedented pace. So, it’s apparent in the new era that technology is not an option but an imperative business strategy that must be adapted by every organization in all its sectors. 

Digitalization enables you to gain accurate insights from the data, gives you space to be more productive and innovative. And apart from that, it gives you the ability to make your customer engagement more personalized. Digitalization has become an integral part of every business because it plays a vital role by contributing to the business’ constant change and development.

Today, business doesn’t operate as it used to be 30 or 40 years ago. Companies that are inclined towards digitalization have a bit different business approach. They are leveraging digital technology to develop new strategies and implementing them to get advantageous innovation and halt disruptions. Here are some case studies that show how digitalization changed the way of doing business and played an important part in a business’s exponential growth.

AMAZON

Amazon is the world’s e-commerce giant. No wonder, its owner is the world’s richest person. Amazon is the flag bearer of digital transformation. They have changed the meaning of digitalization through time with their cutting-edge technologies and innovations. Now Amazon has introduced cashier-less “Just Walk Out” the Amazon Go store. This technology lets the customers pick whatever they want and walk out of the store without checking out. The store is equipped with cameras, sensors, deep learning equipment, and computer vision technologies that allow customers to shop and leave. The bill will be automatically sent to their Amazon account or from their payment card. Cool huh? 

NETFLIX

There is hardly a soul that doesn’t recognize this brand. Do you remember the last time you went out to watch a movie? How about the last time you watched a movie on Netflix? You might have watched the movie on Netflix last night. Netflix disrupted the entire brick-and-mortar business model while using a simple video rental service through the mail when it came into the market. Now Netflix is one of the top on-demand video streaming services at a competitive price. Digitalization not only enabled Netflix to video stream directly to their customers but also increased the viewership by curating the content according to user viewing choices and personal preferences. Netflix used data to understand their audience and provided them with content they are most interested in.

L’Oreal

L’Oreal is always one step ahead of its competitors and leaders in innovation. L’Oreal started to partner with start-ups to launch new beauty companies. They hired 1000 digital marketing experts for collaborated efforts to increase the marketing activities that resulted in many success stories. One being Makeup Genius, which provides its customer a chance to digitally try to make up through their app, without even buying it. In just one year the app has 20 million downloads. L’Oreal has set the bar high for its competitors with its digital transformation. 

eBay

eBay is a multinational consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer e-commerce website. eBay partnered with Myer to launch a VR technology that allows the consumer to explore thousands of products at the eBay store sitting on their sofa. After dedicated 12 months of the development phase, they created the app called eBay VR Department Store app which users can download on their mobile and put their smartphone in VR glasses which enables the user to visually explore the broad range of products. Later this approach of eBay was proved to attract new customers and increased engagement with the existing ones.

Digitalization has an immense impact on the business and has changed the way we work, the way we live, and the way we consume. It’s evolving the way customers interact with the brands. Companies are optimizing the business with the help of technology to capture a good share of the online market and keeping up with changing environment to get the most out of digitalization. We are at the zenith of digitalization but it feels like it has just started.