MetaVerse. Cloud computing. Robotic process automation. 4IR Technologies. AI. A plethora of complicated terms and acronyms. The gateway to digitisation. A new way of life. Prior to the pandemic (BC – Before Covid), the world of online purchasing and door to door delivery was seen as a frivolous novelty, without much thought given to the semantics behind the entire supply and logistics chain involved in the process. Online shopping was a means to pass time, ‘shoot the breeze’ and buy often unnecessary ‘necessities’ which you most likely would not have purchased when doing physical shopping. Amazing how behaviour changes when online, let alone that your outfit is more often than not, pyjamas or track pants. After all, comfort when shopping is key, even if it is virtual.
The Covid pandemic shifted the world to embrace everything digital from ordering food and medication to online school/university classes and Pilates sessions. Never has your heart leapt in joy to see your delivery and more so, the delivery person (a person! Seeing anyone, outside the members of your house, became a connecting lifeline to the outside world during lockdown). What was even more fascinating was that the Internet held up: it didn’t slow down and it didn’t break. Pretty remarkable, considering that the whole world moved in its entirety to function online, demonstrating that life goes on despite stringent physical lockdown protocols.
Businesses, large and small, could never have anticipated what a catalyst the Covid pandemic would be to automation and digitisation of life in general, coupled with the sudden appearance of the Fourth Industrial revolution. An event that had been forecasted as a gentle unravel, but was impactful, as it was jarring.
Customers change and evolve, as do their needs. Finicky at best in the physical world, customers are not buying products and services. If anything the pandemic has taught us, customers are on the axiom of buying convenience (strong emergence of instant gratification complex, a bit like wanting all elements of life to be as simple as a drive-thru), and time (time to live their lives, enjoy their families, sleep more and catch up on a TV series, especially cooking shows or exercise classes. We all remember how much banana bread got made during lockdown, and how everyone was either a self-proclaimed MasterChef or a new age Jane Fonda online fitness fanatic).
Fear of the unknown came to the fore when we realised that customers, us being customers ourselves, are wary of too much automation, with a preference for the phygital world ( blend of the physical and digital), and a high need for personalisation of their experience. After all, no one wants to be a carbon copy of someone else and their life. A deep-seated need to be unique and different is inherent in individuals.
Thinking back on the multitude of team meetings, and waving at the end of each meeting, it was oddly comforting to reach out to colleagues, share experiences and speculate how long the lockdown would actually last. In line with this thinking, it is clear that there is alignment with customers that crave that personal engagement and direct contact, even if it is by phone, and not to be sold a new cellphone contract or offered another funeral policy. It opened up an avenue to shower attention onto customers and shape their needs and requirements into tangible outcomes or offerings that actually add value to their lives. After all, customers don’t know what they are missing till they find it, irrespective of product or service.
Customers seek simplicity in their access to information and online engagements. Too many tabs and clicks on a site can turn into a data treasure hunt, not the thought or plan anyone wakes up with (‘Oh, yippidee do dah, lets see how many clicks it takes before I actually find the order button on a site’- not). Take the evolution of how easy social media is these days. Algorithms have changed the way information is presented.. it started with clicks, moved to taps and scrolling and is now just on autoplay. Whether or not you admit it, the internet knows exactly how to draw you in, and keep you there. Further, how many people can truthfully say they steadfastly have resisted the temptation to click on pop-up ads? That alone can lead you down an expensive online purchase path with the multitude of sales and ‘special offers’. I am clearly suffering from experience. My kitchen cupboard bears testament to this, with shelves of unopened gadgets and must-haves, all of which was a ‘once in a lifetime offer’ at the time. But I have since cottoned on to the fact they run that same offer at least 6 times in the same month. I know this because I clicked. Everytime. In my defence, there were tweaks to the advert, some add ons and the opening music did change. Yes, the lady doth protest too much…
Data engineering. Big Data. Data science. Now matter how you describe it. It’s what we are all unconsciously generating. Business Intelligence (BI) can increase the overall profitability for various industries just by being in tune with their customers, through analysis of their life stage cycle, purchasing patterns and behavioural tendencies. Yes, humans are creatures of habit by nature and just tracking this can yield useful findings to shape apt offerings and services. It is the baseline for historical, current and future trends. Not creepy at all that your every move is an analysis and will likely culminate in a’ limited time only’, ‘not to be missed ‘ offer.
I realised over the pandemic period that FOMO (fear of missing out) was overrated. I learnt to embrace JOMO (joy of missing out). The joy of my own company. The joy of truly experiencing online living (akin to Second Life from aeons ago when the internet first conceptualised us having a virtual life as well as a physical one). Being allowed to configure my online experience was liberating. I was thrilled that the pandemic forced various industries to personalise the online customer experience. I could choose if and when I wanted to receive mobile alerts (after all our cellphones are like a body part, we don’t go anywhere without it) and even choose my medium and platform of preference to engage with key service providers. Appointment reminders, renewal notices, medication refills – the list of convenient automation abounds!
I must admit that I never thought gamification of sites would have such an appeal. Never could I have imagined that leveraging loyalty points, levels, badges, challenges, rewards and leaderboards could increase customer engagement, prompt purchase behaviour and impart useful knowledge through short animated videos and tutorials. An accelerator for innovation! One thing that always tickles me though is the security question of “Are you a robot?’ Ironic since the question is posed from a robot itself.
The lockdown period did highlight the darker side of the internet emerging, those using the internet for nefarious purposes such as fake romances (online dating is a grim place where ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’ or they just want ungodly sums of money transferred to them), online gambling (where you are convinced the next big win will make you a carefree billionaire), online inheritance claims (why on earth would you in SA, be a beneficiary of an unknown person in Scotland?). Never has the internet been so eye opening yet educational at the same time.
Ultimately as humans, we personify everything: assets and even experiences. The pandemic was a period of living in ‘pause’. I thought it only fitting to end off my subsequent reflections on life in general for you to mull over and potentially internalise:
⁃ Live each moment as if it were your last, but learn like you were to live forever (Gandhi)
⁃ Travel – for the world is a book and if you never travel you only read one page (Yes, I do know the borders only opened fairly recently)
⁃ Be careful who you trust. Salt and sugar look the same. Converted into the lingo of today, choose your Facebook friends, Linkedin connections and Instagram followers carefully. As they are not your friends, but in actual fact, surveillance cameras.
⁃ Don’t climb the mountain so others can see you. Do it so you can see the world.
⁃ Authenticity – be the same person privately, publicly and personally (social media life (and all its filters is not real life).
⁃ Begin anywhere. Life is a monopoly . You can go back to start anytime
The truth is that technology can be likened to education. It’s always there but can never be forced. Teachers can impart information and make suggestions, but they are like sign-posts—they can only by example and precept point out the way. A sign-post is of no earthly use unless the person who consults it wants to go somewhere. — Robert Shafer, 1921
