Optus Business reveals how retailers can use new technologies to improve customer experience

Enterprise 4.0 studys insights to drive revenue growth through personalisation

The creation of digital and interactive retail environments offering customers sensory experiences, on-demand services and new communications methods is key to retail sector success, according to The Path to Personalisation in Industry 4.0, a white paper released today by Optus Business based on its recent Enterprise 4.0 survey.

Optus Business Managing Director John Paitaridis said, Australian businesses must embrace Industry 4.0 technologies to engage more meaningfully with their customers and optimise emerging business opportunities as we move into the fourth industrial revolution.

Australians rely on technology in many aspects of their lives and that is likely to become increasingly true for their purchasing decisions, meaning the retail sector must lead, rather than chase consumer behaviours.

Creating a digital and interactive environment can allow retailers to offer more engaging and sensory experiences, deploy on-demand services inside and outside the business, and find new ways to communicate with employees and customers.

The Optus Business paper recommends a cycle of connect, collect, learn and act to create the personalised engagement which always on, connected and mobile Australians expect and demand.

Leveraging the power of Industry 4.0 technologies will help Australian enterprises capitalise on the economic value of personalisation both locally and internationally, said Mr Paitaridis. As technology also simplifies market entry for overseas competitors, keeping up with global personalisation trends and expectations becomes even more critical for Australian enterprises to avoid displacement.

According to Enterprise 4.0 study, enterprises in Australia have been slow to embrace social collaboration tools, with just one-fifth of respondents mandating their use across the entire organisation. Most respondents said the platforms are more likely to be used by siloed, individual teams.

The Path to Personalisation in Industry 4.0 notes that just 41 per cent of the enterprises surveyed are looking to online communities for inspiration. Companies which solely rely on traditional communication approaches miss out on the opportunity to have two way-conversations that could drive peer-to-peer value creations.

Enterprises must have a robust personalisation strategy in place which leverages the advantages of the Industry 4.0 technologies. Otherwise, they may struggle to sell products and services to tomorrows customer.