Digital Transformation- The way we see it

Digital Transformation – The way we see it

Digital Transformation – Stay ahead of the curve, serve the consumer, beat the competition, and drive operational efficiencies …. The world has changed and there’s no turning back.

The number of internet users will surpass two billion this year, approaching a third of the world population and the shift to the mobile internet is accelerating with mobile internet users set to exceed desktop internet users within 5 years.

In the UK today there are 40 million internet users, with close to 30 million people using the internet for at least 27 minutes a day. Between seven and nine percent of GDP is attributable to the commercial internet with close to 60 percent of adults buying goods and services online, making it the largest e-commerce market in the world on a per capita basis (British shoppers spent £4.8 billion online during September alone, the equivalent of £120 per internet user). Mobile commerce is widely adopted in the UK, with 51 percent of mobile owners (around 23 million people) using their devices to make payments, redeem coupons and to research products and services.

People who frequent the digital world, social media sites in particular (these sites now attract 11% of all UK internet visits), are the people you need to know. Consider a few facts about the “800 pound gorilla” of social media, Facebook: If it was a country, it would be the world’s fourth largest with around 125 million unique visitors a month (there are 25 million active users in the UK alone). Accessing and downloading content from Facebook while at work accounts for just over 7 percent of all corporate web activity and 5 percent of corporate bandwidth usage. Nearly 70 percent of the community is over 21 years of age, its fastest growing demographic is 34 to 55 years old with the over 55 group just behind. This online community is vast, spanning nearly every demographic imaginable.

Consumer facing organisations that learn how to exploit this vast potential will have a distinct advantage over those that don’t. This is no longer mere rhetoric as there is a wealth of research to back this up. A recent study among the Fortune 100 found that the majority of these organisations are now using social media sites (specifically, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Business Blogs) for online reputation management. The study found that among these leading organisations 65 percent use Twitter, 54 percent use Facebook, 50 percent use

YouTube and 33 percent make use of Blogs. Interestingly, the study found that among European companies, 88 percent use at least one of these channels and 15 percent use all four. From a consumer perspective, the internet has become deeply entrenched in our everyday lives. Many organisations now offer online-only discounts, we have internet-only banks, and most internet users won’t buy without having performed an online price comparison first (the average online household saves close to £1000 annually). Online shopping, booking, check-in and customer service is now widespread and for many consumers a key factor in deciding between service providers.

It’s not only consumers that are benefiting. A recent pan-European research project led by the UK Office for National Statistics looked into the economic impact of information technology and found a strong positive correlation between the use of internet technology and organisational productivity.

Although the findings vary by country and industry, they show a productivity increase of between 1 and 3 percent for every 10 percent increase in the amount spent on internet technology. Unsurprisingly, in the UK manufacturing firms benefit most from the adoption of tools linking them with their suppliers (think e-procurement), while retailers benefit most from tools that enable online customer transactions. Services firms (including those in the financial services industry) gained most from giving staff access to high-speed internet connections.

The digitisation of existing services, the creation of new services and industries, and the information explosion are all factors which are continuing to shape life as we now know it. Although estimates vary, research suggests that the digital economy could make up 10 to 15 percent of the UK GDP in five years time.