Digital/Physical Convergence: The Power of Frictionless Engagement

Customers want what they want, when and how they want it. Increasingly, they also expect organizations to deliver and take their business elsewhere when organizations don’t. Their “ordinary” expectations drive the need for engagement that moves seamlessly between digital and physical in a digital/physical convergence.

Successful organizations have to:

• Refocus their digital/physical convergence discussion where it needs to be, which is around customer experience and engagement
• Recognize that most of the world is already actively participating in the digital/physical convergence of which we speak

Why is this critical? What would it look like? And what key considerations do organizations need to weigh to optimize a frictionless customer experience? This whitepaper addresses these questions, and more.

An ordinary story
Not long ago, on a Friday, I ordered a hardcover book from Amazon. I needed to receive it on a Sunday before I left for a conference that I was speaking at in California. Amazon guaranteed delivery by that day and I trusted them, so I submitted the order, paid for the book via the credit card that I have registered with them, and waited until Sunday.

Sunday came, and by 6:00 pm, I hadn’t seen the book at my doorstep. At 6:30 pm however, I was notified via a text message that my book had been delivered. I went to the mailbox, not my doorstep, and there it was.

Think about the process that got the book to me.  First, Amazon, triggered by my purchase, had to see what kind of customer I was: Amazon Prime member or not. Based on that knowledge and the options that I chose for delivery, including factors like promotions and payment type, Amazon had to make a shipping decision.

Amazon’s marketing systems, accounting systems, supply chain and logistics systems, etc. all had to do something to the transaction, either record it or take another action on it. The system of record captured the transaction so that it could either:

• Use it later, e.g., to process a return
• Analyze it later, e.g. to optimize an offer based on buying patterns
• Provide it later, e.g. to fulfill a federal requirement for filing taxes

Read this white paper from Paul Greenberg – Author, CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition; Managing Principal, The 56 Group, LLC to learn more about the customer digital/physical convergence.