Companies think they are smarter than us. They take risks and make decisions on what we might do. But they fail to take into account that we now weave our digital and physical worlds so tightly together, they are almost indistinguishable.
How does that affect the success of the commercial world-this merging of the two?
Technology now changes so rapidly and advantages are copied so quickly, that companies must lean to leap continually from one wave of opportunity to the next even though each new wave will probably be shorter, more crowded and less connected to the one before. Companies may very well end up throwing away core advantages without realising it. Proprietary customer insights, distinct capabilities, and ways to capitalise on competitor’s vulnerabilities are often left behind in the race to out-digitalise a rival.
Just Do It.
For many years, Nike was rooted in our physical world, producing shoes, apparel and sports equipment to be sold through retail stores.
In 1996, Nike created a website, but failed to sell any merchandise online for three years. However, in 1999, they launched the NIKEiD programme. Buyers could visit nike.com and customise certain Nike shoes, choosing their base and accent colours and adding a personal ‘I.D.’ to the product. Nike then began introducing other digital innovations at other points in the customer experience chain.
In 2006 it unveiled the Nike+app, which connects a shoe that has a built in sensor and receiver to an iPod Nano. Runners could see data about their time, distance, calories burned and pace on the Nano’s screen or hear it through their headphones. After a workout, they could sync the Nano with a computer and chart their progress. They could even get personalised coaching.
Today more than 30 million customers use Nike+ for tracking and sharing runs, workouts and fitness goals, providing the company with invaluable data about who its customers are and what they value most.
The results of all this innovation have been dramatic. Nike enjoys the highest social media engagement with customers in its industry. It has recorded a 42% increase in e-commerce sales from 2013-2014 and an overall growth rate that significantly outpaces that of key rivals.
Conversely, Google which started life as purely a digital search engine, is now producing smartphones and tablets, smart glasses, driverless cars and moving into connected devices within the home.
The lesson from all of this? The best customer experiences merge online and offline experiences. It’s not just one or the other.
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