The Shift to DX – What Brands Need to Do in the COVID-19 World

The years 2020 and 2021 will go down in history as among the most challenging years for people, businesses, and the world. However, one of the positive outcomes of the pandemic is experience and innovation. There has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of rapid shifts across different industries as the world has changed over the past year.

New research shows that the crisis has prompted most businesses to break their cultural barriers and make a shift toward digital transformation (DX). The next normal world will be all about redesigning, reinventing and adapting to the changing needs for customer behavior.

Today, being just customer-centric won’t work for any business. They need to be customer experience-centric, and for that, businesses need to change their gear to DX. Here is how digital transformation and customer experience can help brands to attract, connect, engage, and convert more customers in the COVID-19 times and even in the post-pandemic world.

1. The Virtual Experience
Virtual experience has emerged as one of the top trends for 2021. With restrictions on in-person gatherings and lockdown announced in several countries around the world, people are longing for experiences that can help them beat the loneliness and the feeling of being stuck at home.

A study revealed the nearly 40% of sales and marketing leaders cite Virtual Reality (VR) to improve the customer experience, while 78% of brands have already implemented virtual reality by 2020 to better serve customers. There are several brands that took advantage of virtual reality in 2020 and have increased their customer base since then.

As the world entered a lockdown, Peloton, a brand that sells at-home cycling equipment equipped with high-tech features, got a chance to take advantage of the closure of workout studios and gyms across the world through its subscription-based model for users who want to stay fit in these times.

With its subscription, people can get access to live-streaming and on-demand cycling, running, boot camps and yoga classes personalized for their needs. With a retention rate of 95%, the company has proved that both its product and experience are attractive and the virtual experience is a great way to go forward in this crisis.

Brands need to create intelligent software that manages virtual profiles customers which clearly outlines which products and services they are seeking for. Then they won’t have to send unnecessary promotional content to customers. Brands can interact directly with customers with communication materials that are relevant.

2. True Customer Obsession
COVID-19 has caused tremendous changes in global and local conditions. The world now demands true customer obsession – a relentless pursuit of understanding, delighting, connecting and servicing customers.

To truly meet the customer demands not just on instinct but based on what the customer wants at this moment requires an overarching commitment to data. Primary, secondary, and third-party data need to be collected to get an all-encompassing, 360-degree view of the customer. It’s critical to learn lifestyles, channel preferences, behavioral tendencies.

Next, companies need to invest in the right marketing technology, particularly in analytics, to turn those data into disruptive insights. A Customer Data Platform (CDP) is one such example that enables marketers to link together data from disparate sources and define their customers within a single platform.

The last thing to become a truly customer-obsessed organization is to create the right organisational mindset. From content marketing and customer support to product development and sales teams, everyone needs to work together to provide instant gratification to customers.

Netflix has been able to become such disruptive forces in (and beyond) their industries by becoming obsessed with customer needs and demands. It has integrated artificial intelligence, customer data, and the right technologies and mindset.

With the worldwide lockdown in 2020, the viewership of Netflix increased multiple folds only because of providing personalized suggestions to customers who had and have enough time today to watch movies and shows they love with their families.

3. Robotic Sales and Delivery
Robotic delivery has been in development for years, but the experience of using robots for the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to learn a few things. Robots do not replace humans, they help human beings. They help to decrease workload and perform tasks that a person could not do safely.

Robotic delivery of needed goods is a great way to ensure customers do not leave their homes. Many companies have already started using robotic sales and delivery during the pandemic.

UPS recently partnered with CVS to deliver prescriptions via drone to the largest retirement community in the US. Domino’s have enabled customers to have their order delivered by robots. Once the robot arrives, customers are prompted to enter their PIN code on the robot’s touchscreen. The doors open and the customer can get their order.

4. Original Content in OTT
The demand for original content will double by 2023 to more than 3,000 hours per year in India alone. Over the top (OTT) players spent only more than 1,020 crores on creating around 1,200 hours of original content in 2020. It is estimated that by 2021, 39 million subscribers will pay for 71 million subscriptions.

Even after the pandemic, reports say that the demand for original content in OTT platforms is poised to grow. The investors and OTT players will keep this momentum going.

After major players like Netflix and Amazon Prime, Spotify pivoted to the original content and invested in podcasts. It invested in podcasts from big names like Michelle Obama and Joe Rogan.

Within a single month, Spotify saw more than 150,000 podcasts uploaded to its platforms and the number of users who listened to them more than doubled in one quarter.

5. Experiential Retail 

Limitations on in-person gatherings have been especially difficult for companies that rely on having customers come to the store and interact with products. Brands are shifting to experiential retail outside of the storefront. They are adopting mobile, portable formats in an effort to ease anxious shoppers’ minds, while following physical distancing measures.

Fragrance brand D. S. & Durga has started Fumetruck,a pop-up shop, which rotates between locations in New York City, including the Union Square Greenmarket and Williamsburg, and helps people to try exclusive scents.Nike has started offering NTC Premium streaming workout service for free, which resulted in an increase in digital sales in China.

Instead of just focusing on retail, Zappos is trying to build a community with customers online.Zappos has put its customer service employees to work on a hotline and asked them to talk to anyone calling in about “anything.”

6. Digital Connections
As the pandemic hit the world, brands started reassessing their digital marketing strategies and are communicating with their consumers in new ways. They are not focusing on generating revenue or acquisition during an uncertain time. In fact, they are working on long-term tactics to foster better digital connections with customers.

Brands like Chanel, Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen have become creative with their online presence. They now act as entertainers for their followers, from hosting musical performances to offering guided drawing sessions for their followers.

Zara and Entireworld fashion brands have used images shot at home by models and influencers for their marketing campaigns. Jacquemus fashion brand released its new Spring 2020 campaign, featuring Bella Hadid and Barbie Ferreira in their own homes.

Brands can’t just use the same messaging and themes they used before the COVID-19 pandemic. They will have to adapt and make better digital connections and re-engage with their consumers emotionally.

7. AR and VR
Employees around the world have started working remotely. People are isolated in their homes. Public places are closed. Social interactions have become limited. AR and VR-powered platforms have emerged as a saviour for people in this crisis.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies enable a substantial number of people to effectively work from their homes, thereby reducing their levels of risk. Medical schools are using AR technology to train and support surgeons and nurses in teaching medical procedures. Museums such as the Louvre, the Vatican Museum, and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam all offer virtual tours to people.

Netflix Party is providing virtual social experiences of watching web shows and movies along with friends and family and chat about the show. AR and AR service provider like Wave is hosting virtual concerts like Tinashe, and T-Pain.

The rising potential of VR and AR has been growing. They provide additional comfort and freedom under the current circumstances. The engagement with AR and VR experiences is likely to grow in the future.

Final thoughts
Even after the discovery of vaccines against corona virus, the end of the pandemic does not appear to be in sight. Countries are facing a second and third wave of the pandemic with millions of people getting infected every day worldwide.

As people are forced to stay at home for a little while, their expectations of brand experiences have changed and will stay like that in the near future. Brands need to craft strategic digital experiences and infuse innovation and transformation into their services.

If brands are successful in creating connected, emotionally compelling experiences for consumers, they are likely to succeed. Customers will remain loyal to brands that know how to digital connect with people, provide experiential retail services, original content, advanced technologies, and amazing virtual experiences. We’re just excited to see where brands take DX next!