5 Use Cases where Digital Transformation Made a Big Impact

871 5 minutes read

In today’s business world, digital transformation is the key to staying ahead of the competition. By definition, digital transformation is using technology to create new or improved business processes, products, or services. In other words, it’s about using technology to make your business more efficient and effective.

To say that digital transformation has been revolutionary would be an understatement. Now, more than ever, organizations of all sizes are moving their business processes to the web, mobile apps, and other digital channels.

Digital transformation use cases — the practical applications of DX in your organization — are the key to integrating the latest technologies into daily operations and achieving real-world results. Five highly effective digital transformation use cases of notable companies are Ikea, Sephora, Twitter, Honeywell, and Facebook.

Let’s explore their digital transformation use cases in detail.

Table of Contents

#1. Ikea — Leveraging Augmented Reality

IKEA became an early adopter of AR technology. The digital transformation business case was to help shoppers make more informed decisions. IKEA’s app allows users to place virtual furniture in their homes before purchasing. This technology has helped IKEA streamline the shopping experience.

Another great innovation by Ikea is its augmented reality catalog — it lets people view all available products on a sofa, bed, or table just by pointing their device at it. And since the catalog is digital rather than paper-based, buyers can get much more information about what they’re looking at — including price!

Ikea has had difficulty selling things online because it’s a cumbersome experience for shoppers. Letting people see what a product would look like in their home without going on a three-hour Ikea adventure may fix that problem was the idea behind the AR-based furniture shopping app.

Ikea reached a potential sales boost from AR and described it as a dream scenario as the business targeted €5 billion ($5.9 billion) in online sales by 2020, up from the €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) it generated in 2016. Ikea has 340 stores in 28 countries, with e-commerce services in 14 countries.

Note: Early social media feedback from Ikea Place caused the developers to introduce a search feature for people to find the desired products, which they quickly built and launched.

#2. Sephora — Making the Most of Omnichannel Presence

Sephora delivers a seamless omnichannel experience. The digital transformation of this cosmetic giant, where the physical and digital realms coexist in harmony, is evident in its cross-platform initiative. Their in-store experience provides digital tools to re-engage the customers.

In the past decade, Sephora has become one of the most digitally-savvy beauty retailers, with an e-commerce site that accounts for 50 percent of its sales and a mobile app that has been downloaded 5+ million times. But it’s not just about selling products online — Sephora has also used digital transformation to enhance its in-store experience.

The company has implemented in-store technology such as digital signage and virtual assistants, which help provide a personalized shopping experience for each customer. In this digital age, omnichannel marketing caters to the new wave of customer-seeking consumers. Today, omnichannel engagement is no longer just a cliché.

It has progressed past its merely trendy period and cemented itself as a must-use strategy for this new digital transformation era. The enterprise leverages omnichannel solutions with several innovative approaches to capture store data & use it for personalization.

The beauty retailer has also partnered with the tech giant Google to broadcast its video content on the Google Home Hub in-store to help users explore further with voice and visual assistance. Moreover, like Ikea, Sephora provides shoppers with a 3D live experience.

#3. Twitter — Created TwitterLite, a Powerful PWA

Source: Statista

Twitter saw the potential in digital transformation early on. To make their platform more accessible to users with slower internet speeds and data restrictions, they created Twitter Lite — a powerful Progressive Web App.

Twitter Lite loads quickly, is extremely lightweight and works offline. As a result of this digital transformation business case, Twitter has seen an increase in users and engagement from countries with slower internet speeds.

Twitter has 329 million monthly active users worldwide who consume, create, and share information. More than 80% of Twitter’s users are on their mobile devices. Twitter Lite Progressive Web App provides a faster, more reliable, and more engaging mobile experience.

In April 2017, Twitter Lite became the default mobile web experience globally for all users, intending to provide a more robust experience with instant loading, user engagement, and lower data consumption.

Following are some notable insights on the success of Twitter Lite:

An increase of 65% in pages per session
An increase of 75% in tweets
The bouncing rate dropped by 20%

#4. Honeywell — The Digital Transformation of the Tech Enterprise

The tech giant Honeywell has helped many companies improve their digital presence and capabilities, but surprisingly, their digital transformation began not long ago. Honeywell focused on quality rather than quantity, reducing its industrial end markets from eight to six, and leveraging its digital solutions to their fullest potential.

The Honeywell Company supports its customers by leveraging data. However, in 2016, the company began transforming into a digital company by introducing data-driven, internet-connected offerings and devices. Honeywell began digitizing and streamlining its internal processes to build quality products and relationships.

By using digital solutions within the company and customer data, the company has expanded its technology solutions for its customers and reimagined its industrial process control.

#5. Facebook — Used React for an Advance Rendering Experience

Source: Statista — Facebook Daily Active Users

Although Facebook does not qualify among the typical examples of digital transformation use cases, the social media giant has created an advanced rendering experience for its mobile application using React. The result is that the app loads significantly faster and functions more efficiently than before.

To put it into perspective, users can now open an app 3x faster and with 20% less data usage. In light of these impressive results, Facebook’s decision to switch to React was an intelligent move to stay competitive in this fast-paced digital world.

Digital transformation, in this case, study, refers to updating the technology platform without changing the business model or brand identity. For instance, Forbes went even further by investing in digital transformation efforts like rebranding on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, which resulted in increased engagement rates.

The advanced rendering capabilities introduced with React have since caused disruptions in social media platforms. In fact, React became a developer’s & enterprise’s favorite in no time.

Wrapping Up

Digital transformation isn’t just about big investments, either. Sephora learned to adapt when working with bloggers for their beauty brand instead of traditional TV advertisements. They also partnered up with YouTube beauty influencers, so they could test out new products before launching them globally while saving money on expensive campaigns.

Moreover, outsourcing is always the option when looking for a successful transformation within a limited budget. Digital transformation consultancy companies in India can help you identify the benefits and challenges of digital transformation in your business case and assess risks, all at an affordable budget.

Sahil99

871 5 minutes read