Digital commerce demystified

Source: Accenture. Four business models shaping digital commerce - sharing, personalisation, replenishment and services.

Retailers and consumer goods companies could unlock US$2.95 trillion in value for the industry and consumers over the next decade by accelerating digital transformation, according to a new report* by Accenture Strategy. Investments in new, digitally-driven business models will give consumers greater choice around how they purchase goods and services, and enable companies to deliver profitable, differentiated experiences.

Accenture Strategy’s Painting the Digital Future of Retail and Consumer Goods Companies report, based on analysis for the World Economic Forum, quantified the impact of digital transformation on consumer industries over the next decade. The study identified current consumer appetite for new purchasing experiences, the business models that have the highest potential to unlock new value, and how organisations and policymakers can prepare themselves.


“The next decade will be a golden age for consumers, with technological innovation creating a variety of shopping experiences that will give consumers the simplicity, convenience, or excitement they crave,” said Alison Kennedy, MD, Accenture Strategy. “Out of the US$2.95 trillion in value the report identified, consumers have the most to gain – just over US$2 trillion – through cost and time savings. The success of retailers and consumer goods companies to unlock value will be dependent on their ability to gain a deep understanding of consumers, embrace disruptive technologies and adopt innovative business models.”

Singapore consumers look to be more advanced along reaping digital benefits compared to the rest of the world. Today, 41% of Singapore consumers, compared to the global average of 36%, would allow companies to collect their personal data via intelligent devices in return for a better experience or financial reward. Brand loyalty is at stake. Another 47%, again above the global average of 37%, would subscribe to a service that constantly looks for the best pricing deals on their behalf, and actively recommends which company to switch to, and when.

Forty percent of Singapore consumers, versus the global average of 28%, would use sensor-based digital services that pre-emptively address their needs without human intervention. Another 36%, 10% more than the global average, would subscribe to brands that analyse their shopping history to select products especially for them, and then orders them automatically.

“The retail and consumer goods industries will change more in the next 10 years than they have over the past 40,” said Kennedy. “As expectations around cost, choice, convenience and experience continue to increase, consumers will challenge the industry to evolve and innovate which will drive huge growth in digital commerce.”

To reach the next frontier of digital commerce, retailers and consumer goods companies need to explore the following transformative business models which are already being welcomed by Singapore consumers:

1.     Sharing economy (the next-generation rental market) – Convenience and experience over ownership, at a fraction of the price. Sixty-six percent of Singapore consumers (globally, 52%) said they would use a rental subscription for clothing, renting an item for an occasion and returning it after, instead of purchasing it outright.

2.     Personalisation economy (‘surprise me’ subscriptions) – Expertly curated products tailored to the individual and automatically delivered. Sixty-four percent of consumers (globally, 48%) said they would use this subscription for clothing, where an expert personally selects items they might like based on previous purchases.

3.     Replenishment economy (auto-replenishment) – Smart sensors detect when a product is running low and automatically re-orders then delivers it. Seventy-eight percent of consumers (globally, 63%) would use auto-replenishment for household goods like detergent. Further, 73% would consider it for fresh food items, which is more than the global average of 58%.

4.     Services economy (‘do it for me’) – Services are outsourced so someone else who does the heavy lifting. Sixty-eight percent of consumers (globally, 50%) would use this service for their laundry – pickups, wash-and-fold services, and delivered back to their door.

There is however potential disruption for people and society which companies, policymakers, and regulators need to actively address to:

·         Minimise the impact on local communities – With an increasing number of retail stores downsizing or closing due to the rise of digital commerce, local communities need to respond by businesses and government establishing economic development strategies and partnering with communities to repurpose physical space as hubs for experiences, leisure and lifestyle activities.

·         Reskill the workforce – Emerging technologies will drive a range of efficiencies which will significantly change the nature of the industry’s workforce. Business leaders and policymakers must focus on accelerating reskilling people, creating partnerships with educational institutions, and influencing public policy to meet the needs of the future workforce.

·         Ensure sustainability – Meeting consumer demand for rapid delivery needs to be achieved in parallel to minimising environmental impact. Shifting to electric vehicles and exploring load-sharing can help while also enhancing delivery efficiency. Furthermore, innovation in packaging design and supporting recycling infrastructure is also critical, helping to build a more circular economy.

“To thrive in the next decade, organisations must aggressively pursue innovation and be willing to disrupt themselves. The winners will be those organisations that prioritise adopting a partnership mindset to offer customers new value, innovatively meet consumer demand for new services, and implement advanced data sciences to derive deeper customer insight to enable better decision-making,” said Kennedy.

Interested?

Find out more about the Accenture Painting the Digital Future of Retail and Consumer Goods Companies report 

Hashtags: #Retailers, #CPG

*Accenture Strategy created a value-at-stake methodology to quantify the impact of digital transformation on the retail and consumer goods industries, and consumers, in digitally developed economies over the next decade. Consumer insights were taken from Accenture Strategy’s latest Global Consumer Pulse Research which surveyed 25,426 consumers across 33 countries during July and August 2016, including 360 Singapore consumers.

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CEOs have to take charge of reskilling their workforces: Accenture

Source: Accenture website. The top skills required to stay relevant at work in the next five years include technical skills, adaptability and problem-solving capabilities.

A new report* by Accenture Strategy cautions that in a rapidly changing digital landscape, CEOs must lead the charge in reskilling their people to be relevant in the future and ready to adapt to change.

According to the report, Harnessing Revolution: Creating the Future Workforce, CEOs must put their people first and at the centre of change to create the future workforce.

The stakes are high for businesses, workers and society as a whole. Development of human skills such as leadership, critical thinking and creative skills, as well as emotional intelligence, would reduce job losses due to total automation considerably. The survey of 10,527 working people in ten countries, including Australia, India, Japan and Turkey, coupled with Accenture Strategy modelling show that if the rate at which workers build relevant skills is doubled, the share of jobs at risk of total automation would be reduced.

“Paradoxically, the truly human skills, from leadership to creativity, will remain highly relevant and winning organisations will strike the right balance — leveraging the best of technology to elevate, not eliminate their people,” said Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer, Accenture. “Not only are workers optimistic, but they understand they must learn new skills. Digital can accelerate learning by embedding training seamlessly into daily work — so learning becomes a way of life — helping workers and organisations remain relevant.”

Fully 84% of workers surveyed are optimistic about the impact of digital on their job. More than two-thirds think that technologies such as robots, data analytics and artificial intelligence will help them be more efficient (74%), learn new skills (73%) and improve the quality of their work (66%).

Eighty-seven percent of these working people expect parts of their job to be automated in the next five years, ranging from 93% of Millennials to 79% of baby boomers. Of those who expect automation, 80% anticipate more opportunities than challenges in how automation will impact their work experiences in the next five years.

Additional Accenture research shows that artificial intelligence alone has the potential to double the annual economic growth rates and boost labour productivity by up to 40% by 2035 in the 12 developed countries examined.

Additionally, the values of today’s workforce will require leaders to respond with a different range of rewards, benefits and support. According to modelling undertaken by Accenture Strategy and Gallup, non-financial factors, such as well-being, engagement, quality of life and status are equal, if not more important to workers than income and benefits.

“Creating the future workforce now is the responsibility of every CEO. Those leaders who make their people a strategic business priority and understand the urgency of this challenge will be the ones that make the greatest gains in growth and innovation,” said Mark Knickrehm, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Strategy.

To help leaders navigate and shape the future workforce, Accenture Strategy has the following recommendations:

· Accelerate reskilling: From top to bottom, invest in technical and more human skills involving creativity and judgment, taking advantage of the fact that 85% of workers are ready to invest their free time in the next six months to learn new skills.

Scale reskilling by using digital technology. This can include wearable technologies, such as smart glasses that provide technical advice and information as workers carry out tasks. It can also include intelligent software to personalise training that offers recommendations to support an individual’s lifelong learning needs.

· Redesign work to unlock human potential: Co-create role-based, gig-like employment opportunities to satisfy workers’ demands for more varied work and flexible arrangements. Develop platforms through which a range of resources and services can be offered to employees and freelancers alike in order to create a compelling community that keeps top talent loyal.

· Strengthen the talent pipeline from its source: Address industry-wide skills shortages by supporting longer term, collective solutions. These include public private partnerships designed to create a broad adoption of skills training. Work with the education sector to design curricula that develop relevant skills at the beginning of the talent supply chain.

*Accenture combined quantitative and qualitative research techniques in order to analyse how responsive and responsible leadership could help create the future workforce. The research programme is built on three pillars of a survey, econometric modelling and an index, complemented by secondary research and interviews with experts from universities, startups, large corporations and government organisations.

The online survey was conducted in the US, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, India, Japan and Turkey of 10,527 workers across skill levels and generations between November 26 and December 9, 2016.

Fintech investment in Asia Pacific heats up

Investments in Asia-Pacific financial technology (fintech) ventures, primarily in China, reached US$9.62 billion as of July 31, more than twice the US$4.26 billion invested in the region in all of 2015, according to Accenture.

An analysis of CB Insights data also showed that investments in Asia-Pacific have eclipsed North America, which as of July 31 garnered US$4.58 billion in fintech investments; and also tops Europe, which attracted US$1.85 billion in the same period.

By deal volume however North America and Europe, show more activity as the Asia-Pacific increase is due to big investments in a few select fintech companies in China, Accenture said. There have been 192 deals in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year, as compared with 509 in North America and 230 in Europe.

In fact, the top 10 investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures occurred in mainland China and Hong Kong, accounting for 90% of overall Asia-Pacific investments and valued at US$8.75 billion. In total, China and Hong Kong fintech ventures have attracted US$9 billion in investments to date in 2016.

“China’s established companies, rather than nascent startups, are at the forefront of the fintech trend in the region,” said Beat Monnerat, Accenture Senior MD, Financial Services Asia-Pacific. “Fintech companies with major backers such as Alibaba and JD.com are focused on providing positive end-to-end customer experiences, which includes payments and lending. This is transforming China’s financial services industry and is consistent with the global ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, which is bringing innovation from non-traditional competitors to the financial services industry.”

Ant Financial Services Group, the financial-services affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding that operates China’s online-payments platform Alipay, closed a US$4.5 billion fundraising round in April. Ping An-backed Lufax, which is now using the name Lu.com, completed a US$1.2 billion round of fundraising in January. In that same month, China’s second largest e-commerce company, JD.com, raised US$1 billion in new funding for its consumer finance subsidiary, JD Finance.

In recent years, major Alibaba affiliates and China’s biggest social network company, Tencent, have also invested in other smaller startups, such as Fenqile, a micro-loan site which literally means “happy instalments,” Qufenqi, an electronics retailer that lets buyers pay in monthly instalments, and India’s One97 Communications, a mobile Internet company.

“The fintech trend in China continues to skew toward online payments and lending, including peer-to-peer (P2P), which is creating market-share dilution for banks,” said Albert Chan, MD, financial services for China, Accenture. “China’s banks, whether building their own competitive platforms or not, should consider investing in collaborative fintech ventures in order to remain competitive.”

Just-in-time marketing increases conversion rates: Accenture

Source: Accenture infographic.

Just-in-time marketing can deliver a higher return on marketing dollars and companies pursuing this approach are three times more likely to beat their peers on revenue growth, according to a new report* from Accenture based on a survey of more than 500 chief marketing officers (CMOs) globally.

Just-in-time marketing is focused on creating only marketing content that’s needed, when it’s needed, and attuning it to the needs of interested consumers exactly when they are in the buying mood. In contrast, mass marketing strategies are focused on creating extensive content aimed at reaching the broadest possible audience. According to the survey, this strategy is proving to be less and less successful, as CMOs said that as few as 20% of the customers typically reached are interested in the promoted product or able to buy it.

“By adopting just-in-time practices, we’re seeing leading marketing organisations unlock value through efficiency and better positioning,” said Thomas Mouritzen, MD, Accenture Interactive, ASEAN. “This value accrues mostly from just-in-time marketers’ ability to engage the customer at the exact moment of need and from avoiding wastage.”

Where just-in-time marketing organisations excel

Thirty-eight percent of the companies which Accenture identified as just-in-time marketers have grown their annual revenues by more than 25% compared to just 12% of their peers. They are also ahead of the curve regarding the following capabilities:

Waste consciousness – 82% report large efforts to minimise marketing inefficiencies (peers: 49%).

Right-time marketing flexibility – 57% are “very satisfied” with their ability to share the right message with consumers at the right time (peers: 36%).

Ability to generate customer insight – 87% have employees with specialised analytical skills to develop actionable customer insights (peers: 67%).

Higher digital integration – Just-in-time marketing companies do not isolate digital marketing efforts from the rest of their marketing organisation, as 58% described their digital and traditional marketing initiatives as “very highly integrated” (peers: 19%).

Freedom with technology – 58% report “complete independence” when it comes to making IT investment decisions (peers: 14%) – indicating that the chief information officer (CIO)-CMO relationship has grown more collaborative in just-in-time marketing companies.

“Just-in-time marketing organisations provide more satisfying and engaging customer experiences,” said Mouritzen. “To deliver on the personalised experience customers expect, they have changed their marketing operating model, for example, by integrating digital and analytics. The winners will be those who balance creative excellence with operational rigour.”

Key steps towards just-in-time marketing

Marketing organisations wanting to transform into just-in-time organisations should consider the following recommendations:

Optimise operations
Sharpen operations and train people to execute quickly; to react smarter and more nimbly; to glean insights and turn them around in days or weeks, not months. Put talent and decisions closer to the front line, aggregate the insights and act on them. Optimise the governance structure and make sure management knows who is accountable and responsible for every decision, eliminating process steps and handoffs where possible.

Become an effective “listener”
Listen through social media for cues to take immediate action, and become more comfortable using unstructured data to make decisions based on a combination of data-based insights and instincts.

Solve for leading indicators, not just for the masses
Set the unit of analysis at individual interactions along with a broad campaign approach as a means of achieving total quality among customer interactions. It’s not only necessary to address the masses today, but also to consider those who are predictors of what the norm will be in the future.

“Marketing organisations are increasingly held accountable for delivering tangible business outcomes,” said Duncan Eadie, MD, Infrastructure Services, Accenture Operations, ASEAN. “To provide an edge in the marketplace, traditional marketing organisations should invest in the capabilities and technologies that will transform their operations, moving them toward an as-a-service model.”

Interested?

Watch the video Waste or Win? The Case for Just-in-Time Marketing

View the infographic

*For the report Building the Just-in-Time Marketing Organization the Accenture Institute for High Performance surveyed 532 chief marketing officers between September and November 2015. Participating CMOs represented companies headquartered in 11 countries, across 10 industries, with reported revenues of more than US$1 billion.

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Acquiring digital skills could close the gender gap as much as 40 years more quickly: Accenture

Source: Accenture. Closing the gender gap at work.

Digital skills and technologies are helping women in Singapore find, and advance at, work, but men remain the dominant wage earners, Accenture research* shows. Women’s success in becoming digitally fluent – the extent to which they embrace and use digital technologies to become more knowledgeable, connected and effective – moved Singapore to 5th place among 31 countries participating in Accenture’s research.

Getting to Equal: How Digital is Helping Close the Gender Gap at Work provides empirical proof that women are using digital skills to gain an edge in preparing for work, finding work and advancing at work. While women still lag behind men in digital fluency in all but a handful of countries, improving their digital skills can change the picture.

If governments and businesses can double the pace at which women become digitally fluent, gender equality could be achieved in 25 years in developed nations, versus 50 years at the current pace. Gender equality in the workplace could be achieved in 45 years in developing nations, versus 85 years at the current pace.

“Women represent an untapped talent pool that can help fill the gap between the skills needed to stay competitive and the talent available,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s Chairman and CEO. "There is a clear opportunity for governments and businesses to collaborate on efforts that will empower more women with digital skills – and accelerate gender equality in the workforce.”

Although digital fluency helps women advance in their careers, its impact has not closed the gender gap among executives – or extended to pay equality. In Singapore, men are still, by far, the dominant earners by household for all three generations. This will change as more millennial women and digital natives move into management. The research found that, in Singapore, seven in 10 millennial and Gen X women surveyed aspire to be in leadership positions.

Men use digital to prepare for and find work more frequently than women (100% and 90% respectively). Yet, the research found that, when women and men have the same level of digital proficiency, women are better at leveraging it to find work. Nearly six in 10 (58%) of all survey respondents in Singapore – men and women combined—agreed that digital enables them to work from home; 42% said it provides a better balance between personal and professional lives; and 48% report digital has increased access to job opportunities.

Women’s digital fluency is toward the lower ends of the scores in the research model and the gap between men and women is the second largest. The model helps measure how digitally fluent women are compared to men, as well as how much that fluency is helping to drive positive changes in their education, employment and advancement at work.

The scores for education are relatively low for women and Singapore is one of the countries where men outperform women, according to the model. But almost three quarters (74%) of millennial and Gen X women report having earned a university degree, compared to only 11% of their mothers. Despite the low scores for digital fluency and education, women here do reasonably well for employment and advancement at work. Singapore’s advancement score is the fifth highest in the model.

“Although Singapore has performed better than the global average in terms of overall gender diversity, the research also found that Singapore has one of the biggest digital gaps between men and women, in which digital fluency will undoubtedly play a bigger role in helping to close the gender gap,” said Teo Lay Lim, Accenture Senior Managing Director, ASEAN, and Country Managing Director, Singapore. “At Accenture in ASEAN, women currently make up 49.4% of our workforce, and we are committed to grooming the next generation of women leaders. This means meaningful investments in building women’s digital skills – through education, training and on-the-job learning – which will help speed their progress at every career stage.”

This is the first time that Accenture has published its ASEAN gender workforce demographics and statistics. Moving forward, Accenture intends to report annually on its progress across diversity and inclusion globally.

“By taking a bold step towards increased transparency around our gender diversity statistics, Accenture is strengthening our commitment to levelling the playing field for women in the workplace. With access to an increased talent pool in the region, this will allow us to better serve the needs of our clients, people and communities. Encouraging young women and girls to develop science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills is critical to both our business and the region’s continuous development, and I believe that women have a lot to contribute in this area,” Teo added.

*To identify and better understand the role of digital fluency in workforce gender equality, the Accenture Digital Fluency Model was developed. A survey was conducted in December 2015 and January 2016 of more than 4,900 women and men in 31 countries to assess the extent to which people are using digital technologies in their personal and home life, as well as in their education and work. The sample included equal representation of working men and women, representing three generations (Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers) across all workforce levels at companies of varying size. The margin of error for the total sample was approximately +/- 1.4%. Digital technologies include virtual coursework, digital collaboration tools (webcams, instant messaging), social media platforms and use of digital devices, such as smart phones. Survey responses were combined with published reports and publicly available information on education, employment and leadership and research from the World Bank, the OECD, World Economic Forum and the ITU World Telecommunication. Countries included in the model are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greater China (includes Hong Kong and Taiwan), India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the US.

Accenture shows what the future of retail could be like in Asia Pacific

Key findings from The future is now: understanding the new Asian consumer report. In Singapore, 57% of respondents have bought something online in the past month. 

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies must fully embrace digital commerce or risk losing out to newer industry players in the battle for an estimated US$340 billion worth of market growth in Asia Pacific, according to Accenture.

In a new report, The future is now: understanding the new Asian consumer, Accenture estimates that the consumer goods and services industry will grow by as much as US$700 billion globally by 2020, with nearly 50%, or US$340 billion, of this growth coming from Asia—specifically China, Indonesia, India, Singapore and Thailand. China alone is expected to account for approximately US$200 billion, or 60%, of the growth in Asia.

“If CPG companies don't take action now, they risk losing out on the new generation of consumers. These companies must couple traditional models with new ones where consumer engagement is digital and one2one, social influence is perceived to be the trustworthy source and shopping is one click away,” said Fabio Vacirca, Senior MD in Accenture’s Products operating group in Asia Pacific. “The entire sales and marketing ecosystem is changing dramatically on the back of the new generation of consumers and pervasive digital technologies. In Asian markets, the change is faster and in many cases it means leapfrogging the traditional models.”

Instead of product centric, text heavy websites, the future may be about virtual stores. The system can be integrated with payment gateways. #Accenture #ecommerce

A video posted by J Tang (@techtradeasia) on Feb 25, 2016 at 7:41pm PST

The report estimates that retail sales across Asia Pacific’s booming consumer markets are on course to top US$10 trillion by 2018, with approximately one-quarter of that amount coming from digital commerce. Yet despite the heavy influence from e-tailers and online marketplaces, the digital commerce market in Asia Pacific remains under-penetrated for CPG companies, particularly in the grocery-product category.

In addition, using knowledge of consumer preferences and their evolving demands, leading disruptors in the market, such as Alibaba, have been adapting by reinventing and tailoring offerings to redefine the value chain and make the consumer their focal point. The report identifies a number of steps that established CPG companies could take to seize growth opportunities and counter the threat of the new players:

• Partnering with e-commerce platforms to reach new consumers/markets
• Maximise value from cross-border e-commerce
• Investing in brand building, with integrated marketing initiatives spanning online/offline
• Adopting a ‘mobile first’ approach
• Integrating e-commerce initiatives with social platforms to engage consumers and build trust
• Investigating opportunities for product testing and product development through crowd-sourcing
• Leveraging insights from big data to enhance and finetune customer interactions across multiple touchpoints.

The digital commerce opportunity for CPG

"The new Asian consumer expects a seamless shopping experience that saves time and makes life easier," said Mohammed Sirajuddeen, MD - Digital, Products, ASEAN, Accenture. Accenture researchers lived with respondents in China, India, Singapore to delve deeper into their thought processes when they bought online.

Despite the market seeing some digital transformation by CPG companies, Accenture’s research shows that consumers are not satisfied with their purchase journeys. Today’s top ‘ask,’ according to the report, is for a single platform where they can enjoy unique experiences that delight and enable their impulse decisions, receive tailored product recommendations that meet their desires immediately and where they are always connected to their favourite brands. "Time is very precious," observed Sirajuddeen. "(They say) 'I want digital to make my life much easier'. These expectations create huge opportunities for CPG companies."

Attitudes will evolve from 'give me what I want, when I want it' in 2016 to 'give me what I want when I need it' in 2020, Accenture said, and thereafter to 'give me what I want before I need it'. "Shopping will be fully integrated into 'life's moments'. Respondents want a smart digital assistant," explained Sirajuddeen.

This represents an outstanding opportunity for traditional CPG companies to capture the next wave of growth. By focussing on providing stronger digital commerce they can bridge existing gaps in consumers’ purchase journeys and provide the seamless shopping experiences they’re looking for.

“Technology will continue to evolve and influence how consumers shop in the future,” said Vacirca. “By better using digital technologies, CPG companies can engage with consumers on a real-time basis, allowing the companies to provide the maximum value within the minimum time. This will, in turn, create opportunities for CPG companies to control the consumer buying experience of tomorrow.”

Accenture Internet of Things Centre of Excellence

The research was launched at the Accenture Internet of Things (IoT) Centre of Excellence in Singapore. Accenture has called Singapore a "living lab" for e-commerce in the region, with its extremely cosmopolitan population, excellent logistics and deep mobile connectivity. The Centre brings market expertise, industry-leading practices, leading-edge technologies, and consumer research together to create an experience that empowers businesses to think differently about the future, and had been set up to showcase consumer IoT use cases on the day of the launch.

Vacirca noted that consumers in Europe and America are still more comfortable with physical stores and showrooms, whereas digital channels are embraced in the Asia Pacific region. " It's very important to show to our clients how new technology will change the way they will engage with their consumers. Asia (has an edge) on the rest of world in e-commerce in terms of speed and scale," he said.

“The next generation of digital commerce is here, and consumer empowerment enabled by smarter technologies will change how we shop and make purchases,” said Vacirca. “From the virtual reality room to its next-generation experience space, the Accenture IoT Centre of Excellence in Singapore helps businesses take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities that exist in the rapidly evolving digital marketplace.”

Accenture has worked with customers to conceptualise various ways of providing customer delight. One possibility is an 'always on' artificially intelligent device that can understand different languages and accents without training. Such a device, placed in a home, could order groceries or favourite foods when spoken to. Intelligent voice-activated devices worn by the user or placed in a store could provide additional information on products. Smart assistants on websites can go beyond scripts to offer more contextual responses such as recipe suggestions.

'Micromoments' are one possibility, small touches that make the shopping experience more seamless. Micromoments can be realised through using a handheld device as a portable shopping list, interacting with barcodes to identify products and enable purchases. Alternatively, pictures of a product taken on a mobile device can link straight to stores which sell that product. Mobile apps can also be used to control equipment and forecast how much food or drink might be required for a party.

Yet another concept is about the immersive store experience and virtual commerce. Virtual reality goggles allow people to shop together remotely, for example. Gamification through virtual or augmented reality can provide interactivity that provides discount coupons, adding an element of excitement to the shopping experience.

#Accenture demonstrates a new way to shop. Scanning a picture of the product with a mobile app will allow shoppers to access more information about the product. It is possible to buy the product through the app #retail

A photo posted by J Tang (@techtradeasia) on Feb 25, 2016 at 7:18pm PST

Augmented reality facilitated by an app. A simple card turns into a virtual 3d experience with the consumer Internet of things #iot #Accenture #ecommerce #retail #AR

A photo posted by J Tang (@techtradeasia) on Feb 25, 2016 at 7:45pm PST

Smart assistants dispense with scripts. They learn from conversations and pull information from up to date sources to provide a better customer experience. They can even track what is available at the customer's home and mention promos and suggest restocking goods #Accenture #ecommerce

A photo posted by J Tang (@techtradeasia) on Feb 25, 2016 at 7:31pm PST

Entrepreneurs could see synergy working with larger companies

Corporations seek greater revenues from working with entrepreneurs, while large and small businesses are failing to use digital collaboration to innovate together, according to new research* by Accenture. As a result, they are putting at risk a US$1.5 trillion growth opportunity, equivalent to 2.2% of global GDP.

The report, Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurs to Open Innovation, published in association with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance, surveyed more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and 1,000 large companies in the G20 economies. It found that 82% of corporates say they can learn from startups/entrepreneurs about how to become a digital business. And they expect the proportion of their revenues generated by collaboration with entrepreneurs to rise from an average of 9% today to 20% in five years.

Large companies and entrepreneurs agree that today’s corporate venturing and incubator models of collaboration will increasingly give way to more open and joint innovation, whereby corporates don’t just fund startups, but use digital collaboration to jointly create innovations in broader networks of partners. However, corporates and entrepreneurs don’t see eye to eye on how to achieve that.

While 78% of large companies say that working with entrepreneurs is important or critical to their own growth and innovation, only 67% of entrepreneurs hold that view. And while 41% of corporates believe small companies are committed to supporting their growth as they work together, only one quarter (24%) of entrepreneurs think large companies are likewise committed to supporting the growth of their smaller partners. Further, entrepreneurs and startups are four times more likely than corporates to say their counterparts lack commitment to working together (29% versus 7%).

“In the digital economy, corporations have the opportunity to disrupt their markets by working more effectively with innovative startups to jointly create new products and services,’ says Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology Officer, Accenture. “That means corporates should not just fund startup innovation, but actively participate in it by pooling ideas, assets and intellectual property. And it will require them to take new approaches to sharing risks and rewards more equitably.”

The report also reveals that greater digital collaboration between G20 large companies and entrepreneurs could result in an additional US$1.5 trillion in global economic output, according to Accenture’s Digital Collaboration Index and economic model, equivalent to a 2.2% uplift to global GDP. US$779 billion of the total would be generated directly through greater revenues by large companies, and US$671 billion would be generated indirectly through economic activity in value chains.

The Index uses the survey data and economic modelling to predict the potential dividend of greater digital collaboration. It shows that the top fifth of those committed to collaboration achieved higher levels of revenue growth and that, if all entrepreneurs and large companies were to achieve the degree of collaboration of the top 20%, revenue growth rates could rise between three and 18 percentage points for entrepreneurs, and between two and 16 percentage points for large companies.

“The journey to open innovation requires large companies to recognise that collaboration cannot continue to be done on their terms, on their premises or just for their benefit,” said Jitendra Kavathekar, MD, Open Innovation, Accenture. “To make a success of digital disruption will require new forms of innovation in which multiple partners collaborate to create, fail and try again in more experimental and entrepreneurial settings. That can only happen if more participants come together through digitally enabled networks to create innovations together.”

*Accenture explored the views and attitudes of entrepreneurs and large companies relating to collaboration and innovation. The research, conducted in cooperation with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, comprised of the following:

· An online survey of 1,002 entrepreneurs and 1,020 executives at large companies
· In-depth interviews with 20 executives at companies and institutions
· Analysis of the digital business and collaboration landscape in all G20 countries

Businesses not maximising mobile app investments: Accenture

The vast majority of executives recognise the value of mobile apps for their business (87%), but very few are prepared to successfully deploy and maintain those apps, finds a global Accenture study*.

Source: Accenture.

The Growing the Digital Business: Spotlight on Mobile Apps report surveyed nearly 2,000 senior decision makers across 15 countries. It found that during the design and build stages of app development, only 52% employ a testing programme that includes user feedback. Nearly half (48%) carry out usage reporting or analytics to understand any user pain points in live apps.

Senior decision makers expect enterprise apps to play a major role in adding value to their business, according to the survey findings: 

• Eight in 10 (82%) of respondents see apps as integral to their organisation
• Eight in 10 (85%) believe that apps are the dominant user interface of the future
• Nearly nine in ten believe apps to be a portal to the digital business (87%).

In Asia Pacific, a major proportion of respondents said apps are necessary to fully realise the benefits of digital technology, from 98% in India, 97% in China, 94% in the Philippines and 93% in Japan.

Abhijit Kabra, Mobile Applications Practice Lead, Accenture Digital - Mobility, noted that many companies are not bothering to improve their existing apps, which could put their investment in jeopardy.

“Businesses are not keeping a close eye on their apps. Nine out of 10 respondents told us that they see high customer demand for effective mobile apps, but despite that half of respondents felt that mobile apps cannot be appropriately secured for business purposes, and only 45% of them have crash reporting in place,” he said.

"To get the best results from apps, businesses must do rigorous testing before launch and robust app management once deployed. Not only does this help to provide the best possible user experience, but it will also help make sure that security challenges are addressed as an ongoing priority.”

App management throughout the app lifecycle helps avoid impaired performance that can frustrate users and create a poor user experience, or lead to weak security. 

“Apps are becoming critical to access business data for real-time decision making, whether it’s to manage industrial processes, employee collaboration, training programs or the customer experience,” said Kabra. “So, user experience and app performance are more important than ever. Our research shows that business leaders clearly need to raise their game in app management to make sure they make the most of their investment.” 

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*The study is based on a combination of online and telephone interviews, conducted in December 2014 and January 2015, with 1,925 senior decision-makers for digital strategy and technologies. Participating companies represented 15 countries and nine industries, and over 85% had revenues of more than US$1 billion.

Tech companies predominate in Asia Pacific LinkedIn members' mindshare

IBM, HP, Accenture, Google, Tata Consultancy Services. These are the top five companies that LinkedIn says its 50 million-plus members in Asia Pacific follow, and all of them are international tech companies.

Source: LinkedIn

The story differs in different countries. Google is in the top three in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, but not even in the list for India, Indonesia, Malaysia, or New Zealand. LinkedIn observes that many 'home-grown' companies or those with a significant market presence also have strong local followings. These include Petronas (Malaysia), Rio Tinto (Australia), Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore), Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong) and DeNA (Japan).

Thought leader and consumer darling Apple is, strangely enough, not in the regional top five list, nor Facebook, which you might reasonably believe to be one of the social platforms which many people use today. Apple does rank 4th in Singapore and Japan and 5th in Hong Kong, but that's it. Facebook does not even make it to the list by country.

LinkedIn does mention that it has helped clients across the region "reach out and engage with a broader audience". These clients include Standard Chartered Bank, AirAsia, SingPost, Lenovo, University of Queensland and Van Heusen. It's possible that such campaigns have helped put certain brands into LinkedIn members' mindshare beyond the ones most likely to be there - certainly Standard Chartered Bank is in the top five in Singapore and Hong Kong, and AirAsia in Malaysia. 

LinkedIn could well be a good channel for reaching out to targeted audience segments, especially if your brand makes it to the top in terms of companies that LinkedIn members want to follow. With 50 million-plus users already in the Asia Pacific region, reaching the people you want to will not take long.