2020 will be the start of a new digital landscape

The connected generation, otherwise known as Generation C, is fast becoming the dominant psychographic throughout the UK. That means the range of technologies used by both customers and employees is more varied than ever before and the digital retail landscape will continue to evolve. There is no time for retailers to rest on their laurels as the digital realm continues its revolution.

What lies beyond the digital landscape?

In the last five years, digital transformation and technological change have forced companies to completely rethink the way they do business, both on and offline. The pace and scale of these changes has been drastic, with a new generation of customers and employees demanding ever more sophisticated experiences from the organisations that they work for and buy from. As digital becomes less disruptive, businesses must start to look beyond the obvious. They must ask where we go from here. Where do we go, beyond digital?

In terms of figures, customers are accessing the internet via smartphones more than laptops (83 percent vs 78 percent) and 1 in 10 are even using their smartphones for more than five working hours a day. The UK is now a smartphone society, notes Ofcom. Smartphone users with 4G are shopping online more than those without 4G (55 percent of 4G users do this compared with 35 percent of non-4G users).

New technologies will revolutionise the way consumers purchase products, interact with brands, defining a new era of online experiences. And it is not just the payment process that is set to change. For example, in Infomentum's Beyond Digital research, 16 percent of its respondents believe that 3D printed “product downloads” will be possible by 2020, while 15 percent would like to see augmented reality incorporated into the buyer journey such as a digital “try before you buy” service.

Social media is also considered an increasingly vital part of the purchasing process, with many respondents wanting to provide open feedback at every stage of the sales cycle.

Customers are 'digital natives'

Generation C’s members are ‘digital natives’, who are always connected, communicating, computerised, community- oriented and always clicking, says Vikram Setia, Chief Commercial Officer of Infomentum, a company that enables organisation to successfully evolve through tech changes in the digital landscape.

By 2020 Generation C will have become the dominant customer and the workforce. Their expectations and eccentricities will have become the new norm, placing higher demands on businesses to keep up with the latest trends.

In order to meet these demands, the things that most annoy Gen C (slow loading times, poor UX and old fashioned IT), should be eliminated from the buying process. Personalisation will continue to be key. As automation and mass production become increasingly commonplace, customers will look for new ways to inject variation into both their products and their experiences.

In its 2014 report, Infomentum found more than 98 percent of people were annoyed or dissatisfied with the current standards of web design. Two years on and consumer standards have become increasingly more stringent. 77 percent of their respondents stated that if they struggle to access a site they will immediately leave. 89 percent stated they would discuss their negative experiences on social media.

Brands have to get their web experiences right the first time, or risk losing customers to the competition.

www.infomentum.com, source: Beyond Technology