- Article
- Innovation
- Digital Transformation
How the New Economy puts digitisation at the heart of everything
It’s never been more important to be clear minded about the strategic value of digitisation. The New Economy has dramatically broadened the horizon of opportunities for companies looking for an edge in payments and so many other areas. But it’s also upped the expectations around customer experiences and keeping pace with innovation.
With this in mind, let’s take a fresh look at how the New Economy – the intersection of technology and innovation across sectors – is driving the digitisation agenda and what businesses can and should do to capture the opportunities.
Making partnerships work
Ecosystems are one of the many outcomes of the New Economy. Businesses today have access to ecosystem partners that will help them digitise while advancing their business goals. It also means they can stay agile and adaptable to changes in the market.
But there’s a growing need to optimise these partnerships to ensure they’re advancing innovation and efficiency. Regularly reviewing the shared aims will help businesses co-create effectively.
This is relevant in both B2C and B2B contexts. For example, B2C companies must listen closely to their customers as partners and obtain feedback to ensure that any new systems or services align closely with their needs.
While in B2B, for example, a business that wants to digitise their payment processes may partner with HSBC who can provide tailored recommendations around solutions and strategies. Leaning on a partner to integrate digital payment collections or other capabilities shortens the timeline for offering these services to the market and benefits from comparative advantages in innovation.
Co-creation and collaboration are key to growth and innovation. We rely upon different partners to support our business, including HSBC, and are always looking for new and innovative ways to advance our goals.
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Adapting to adoption
There’s no question that digitisation is here to stay. Now, it’s about adapting to the use of digital tools across industries and markets. Efficiency gains are certainly everywhere, from the use of container technology to deploy applications to the automation of payment processes with AI.
In the next five to ten years, we’re going to see significant growth in cloud transformation and the use of Gen AI. Businesses are moving quickly and the technology is only getting better and more reliable.
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But there’s a persistent question: how do businesses adopt technology strategically, in a way that makes them stand out rather than blend in?
First, know your audience. Be crystal clear about your audience and what drives their behaviour. The achievements of the New Economy won’t compensate for lack of awareness of your audience.
Second, think holistically. The more closely technology adoption is aligned to key commercial goals, at all levels of a business, the greater likelihood of growth.
Third, persuade the persuaders. Company-wide support is the beating heart of successful technology adoption. Senior management have an important role to play in communicating the purpose of a given technology to the wider team.
Trials of trust
We mentioned at the beginning that the New Economy has raised the stakes for companies competing for digital excellence. Customers are more discerning, and brand preferences and loyalties can change fast.
What we call ‘trials of trust’ are the day-to-day digital experiences that businesses offer their customers. These interactions, wherever they occur in the customer journey, need to be of a consistently high standard to build and retain brand loyalty.
Always keep the end user in mind. We always need to think about whether new technologies are aligned to market demand and are able to deliver true value to the customer.
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Moreover, these ‘trials’ are ongoing because new technologies come with new expectations. Take, for example, our recent launch of Digital Merchant Services (DMS), which consolidates multiple digital payments options with a single provider. Building on the success of Omni Collect, which is designed to help business digitise their payments across in-store and online channels, DMS is designed to match the scale of e-commerce today by bringing simplicity to a still often chaotic issue for businesses.
Companies are increasingly looking for partners that can help them meet the needs of their customers and their growing business in the digital era. That’s why we at HSBC are focused on developing and co-creating future fit solutions that enable our clients to integrate emerging payment trends into their business processes and successfully navigate the future.
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All of this is to say that companies must constantly earn trust by digitising intelligently, taking care to consider the impact on both their operations and their customers. Continuously thinking about how adding value to customers will keep businesses focused on the right things for the right reasons.
Because the difference between rising and falling in the digital era is ultimately a pragmatic one - is your business working well?
