Should all companies go digital?
We are living in a society where the digital age is ever changing and developing, and thus with it, businesses must evolve as well to accommodate for this. Companies being digital is much more than posting on social media. To ensure that a company stays relevant and in line with competitors, it is crucial for companies to begin and progress their transition to Digital industry. (DMI, 2020) . The worlds obsession with the latest technology revolves around the desire for an easier life (DMI, 2020) If a company does not go digital, it could directly impact them in a number of ways including, the loss of relevance as a business, competitive disadvantage, inability to collect key analytics that could help business progression, risking of their marketing share, and missing out on social selling opportunities.
Example 1: Keeping up with digital trends is important, as reflected in the BlockBuster and Netflix Story. Reed Hastings approached former BlockBuster CEO John Antioco in 2000 and asked him to pay $50 million for the company he had founded, Netflix. At this point, Netflix was just a DVD mailing service which customers could order online. Antioco couldn’t and didn’t want to visualise a world without walking into a physical store, in comparison to Netflix who saw a world of digital opportunities and convinces. (DMI, 2020) Netflix is now one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, and BlockBuster went into liquidation and officially went bankrupt, leaving the question of if they had adapted to a digital era would there have been chance to save their business and survive in the digital world.
Example 2: 2020 saw at the Coronavirus Pandemic sweep across the globe and force a lot of businesses to close temporarily and upon reopening saw them having to adapt to a more digitalised way of operating to abide by social distancing and government guidelines. The app “Seatd” was created by 3 Manchester based entrepreneurs to help transition businesses into the digital world, specifically looking at the ordering element of the dining out experience. (Manchesters Finest, 2020) Seatd allowed customers to book a table, and place their order all from the comfort of their seats and their phones. It then transmitted this information back to the bar/restaurant who would then, like in pre-covid world, make the order. This really reduces the amount of contact waiters have to have with customers, and creates an incredibly safe environment. Seatd allows companies to become digitalised and adapt the way in which they operate to comply by the current climate. The picture below shows an example of the way in which the ordering system is laid out on the customers phone for them to order. Businesses had to adapt to a more digital way of operating in the fight for survival, and the methods used for reopening have continued to be used throughout the months prior, bringing the business into a more digitalised way of operation.
“The Key Concept of Marketing is customer centrality” (Sethna, 2019, page 6)
