Digital Transformation in Business: 5 Companies That Got It Right

Find out how your organisation can stay ahead of the curve too.

To stay relevant and profitable, businesses today need to integrate digital technology into all areas of their operations. This is key to their survival and ensuring that they keep delivering value to clients. 

Here are 5 companies that mobilised the power of digital to transform their businesses, leading to enhanced efficiency, increased customer value, and new revenue generation opportunities. 

IKEA

Source: Strategy Result

The Scandinavian furniture and homeware maker leveraged e-commerce to become more efficient and agile. The organisation has been committed to a radical digital transformation strategy that incorporates cloud computing since 2018, with the onset of the Covid-19 crisis provoking them to step it up. As a result of the pandemic, IKEA was compelled to increase its online presence using innovative methods to engage consumers. 

After 70 years, the brand’s paper brochures were discontinued and digitised services were devised when stores were shut down during Covid lockdowns. The savings made on the discontinuation of paper brochures have been used for various acquisitions, including the acquisition of Geomagical Labs, a specialised provider of 3D imaging and visual AI solutions for home furnishing inspiration. This technology has enabled IKEA to launch a new AI-driven interactive design experience called IKEA Kreativ for its website and app, allowing consumers to virtually design and visualise their living spaces with digitised furniture. It marks a powerful step forward for IKEA, with the cloud being a central tool in its digital transformation efforts. 

Netflix

Source: BMI

Perhaps the ultimate digital transformation case study, Netflix has used the changing digital landscape to its advantage to become one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. The company shifted from physically renting DVD films to customers, to becoming a cloud streaming service. In the process, it improved customer satisfaction and generated billions in revenue. Once cloud-based, Netflix closely monitored its data, searching for patterns in the ways that viewers consume content, what keeps them interested, and how customisation influences consumption. They have employed an algorithm to serve up content that specifically caters to the interests of their clients. By transforming their entire business model and chartering into unprecedented waters, Netflix acted as a disruptor in the video-rental industry, and later, the film industry as a whole, as they have since become a film studio themselves. 

Amazon

Source: Pure360

The company that started as an online bookstore has not only revolutionised how consumers shop on a regular basis but has also cemented itself as an integral part of society. The company utilised digital advancements to simplify the buying process for customers by making it easy to find information about a product. They make the ordering process intuitive and make shipping, delivery, and even returns incredibly transparent and easy. Amazon has done this by creating a one-stop shop that leverages customer data to provide a shopping experience tailored to each unique customer’s interests. An individual can shop for a vintage vinyl record player and vinyls from their favourite artist, all while ordering their monthly supply of groceries in a single order. To the benefit of the customer, Amazon has eliminated the need to visit many stores to purchase a list of different things. Customers can now buy products quickly and easily, and Amazon’s back-end operations run more effectively and transparently as a result.

Uber

Source: HBS

The monopoly that taxi drivers enjoyed in cities across the world came to an end with the arrival of Uber. Uber has been able to develop quickly, maintain a low-cost value offer, and launch additional services thanks to technology that made it possible for it to cut many of the costs associated with providing taxi services. While the Uber brand is still primarily identified as a ride-sharing app, the company has successfully expanded its offerings beyond the original platform, to include UberEats, the restaurant-meal delivery service, and other Uber-oriented services like UberConnect. Uber’s unique innovation, leading to the creation of an app that would marry the demand and supply for transportation services, is perhaps one of the first examples of how a traditional industry could be disrupted through digital transformation. One important lesson from this digital disruption is that an industry’s days are numbered if it becomes arrogant and complacent due to lack of competition.

Nike

Source: DSM

In 2017, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of athletic footwear and apparel believed they were beginning to lag behind and become dated. The top brass at Nike didn’t think twice. The company’s attitude, supply chain and brand have undergone a major digital transformation since then, allowing it to better engage with its consumer base. The company increased its direct-to-customer sales, modified its e-commerce strategy, concentrated on more powerful data analytics, and strengthened its digital marketing activities. Nike opened concept stores, increased membership options, and enhanced the user experience for customers online and through apps as a result of more effective and efficient use of digital consumer data.

How Companies Stay Ahead of the Curve

The examples above reflect the impact of digital transformation, and how staying ahead of the curve with regard to harnessing technology can help to accelerate business processes and overall performance. Importantly, this agility is people-led and technology-supported. Underlying all successful digital transformation efforts are the people with the skills, knowledge and proficiencies to drive it. When leaders think about investing in technology, they should first think about investing in the talent that can make that technology useful.

Finding the talent that will drive digital transformation in your organisation is imperative. Visit www.theroom.com to access a pool of world-class digital talent. The ROOM is home to a lifelong, highly specialised community of skilled and early-stage technology talent that will power the future.