KPMG’s findings from its Consumers and Convergence V: The Converged Lifestyle survey looks at consumer trends in digital technology, communications and e-commerce. It was conducted in late summer of 2011 and surveyed 9,600 consumers ranging in age from 16 to over 65, in 31 countries. As we prepare for the January business models workshop, key takeaways from this report serve as a useful additional checklist of trends to consider.
Enabling conversations – When we discussed the issue of strategic alignment, we found enabling the right conversations to be a critical element. This sounds easy, but in practice it can be very difficult to achieve. For a start, how do you know which are the right conversations? And how do you make sure that people have time for them?
Leveraging Customer Collaboration – fostering the real kind of collaboration that creates better products, builds brand champions and ultimately boosts bottom line revenue. feedback loops, actively listening and empowering their customers to become co-creators. some recommendations to weave with our own analysis
How will the collaborative economy will drive public services? – The collaborative economy is essentially the next phase of social business. The first phase was distinguished by the disruption of communications, marketing and customer care, as traditional models for all these were turned upside down by the advent of social media. Customers are now starting to use these technologies to buy products and share them with each other. This is clearly going to affect core business models, however you wrap it up. If customers are free to share, then the market is radically smaller.
Last week, KPMG released findings from its Consumers and Convergence V: The Converged Lifestyle survey which looks at consumer trends in digital technology, communications and e-commerce. It was conducted in late summer of 2011 and surveyed 9,600 consumers ranging in age from 16 to over 65, in 31 countries. As we prepare for the January business models workshop, key takeaways from this report serve as a useful additional checklist of trends to consider.
- Privacy and trust: Organizations engaging with customers over digital channels must focus on building trust and ensuring the security and privacy of their customers’ personal data. Trust will soon become the most significant differentiator for online businesses. This will pose significant challenges to traditionally run multinationals, as the concept of trust is rooted in cultural norms.
- Willingness to pay: Across all sectors, customers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of their technology without jeopardizing quality. From television service providers to mobile operators and ISPs, businesses will need to rethink their revenue models and price points. Much of the internal tension we saw in 2011 can be traced back to business model changes driven by changing willingness to pay.
- Impact of mobile devices: From mobile coupons to location-based advertising, mobile devices offer a wealth of new opportunities to businesses. Far from simply ‘optimizing’ web assets for the mobile platform, businesses will need to rethink the way they interact with their customers. Stay tuned to our line-of-sight theme as we explore implementation examples on this topic.
- Value of data: As customers increasingly start to expect customized services, businesses will focus more and more on identifying, capturing and analyzing customer data to gain greater insight into their preferences and demands. The challenge will be in finding the right price to both appeal to customers and achieve profitability. There is a reason data architects are in demand.
- Owning the customer: As more technologies converge, businesses are fighting to decide who ‘owns’ the customer (and their data). The issue is particularly fraught in the banking and retail sectors, where businesses hope to establish themselves as a conduit to a range of other services. There is a counter movement here as savvy customers resist and take personal ownership.
- Multi-channel convergence: Many consumer-facing businesses are putting increased focus on integrating their various channels to create a consistent and compelling brand presence across multiple mediums. Multi-screen viewing will offer new opportunities to converge messaging for businesses. Back in 2008, we introduced the concept of ‘living brands’ and with multi-channel convergence this will be more relevant than ever.
- Mobile payments: The introduction of mobile payments will fundamentally redraw the relationship between banks, retailers, telecom providers and device manufacturers. Adoption by retailers and banks will only increase as more customers demand the convenience of mobile payments.
- Social media: There is ample evidence that businesses utilizing social media to communicate with customers are building stronger, more trusting relationships. With consumer use outpacing business use, many organizations will need to play catch-up if they hope to meet the expectations of their consumers. We see excruciatingly slow progress on this front.
- Online viewing: The move towards viewing video content online is changing the business model not only for content providers, but also for advertisers and technology companies. Businesses operating in this arena would be wise to rethink their mix of traditional versus online offerings.
- Meeting customer demand: The converged lifestyle has empowered consumers who are increasingly vocal about their preferences and demands. Businesses that are able to gauge and respond to this evolving consumer relationship will ultimately build stronger relationships and gain critical trust with their customers. Arguably this should be the area of biggest focus for companies.
The full report is available for download here.