Technology trends that will transform Kenyan business in 2022

According to CM.com, many businesses are still responding to changes in the business environment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The global crisis prompted many businesses to reconsider how they communicate with their customers and repackage product and service offerings for the new landscape – one defined by digital transformation.

This evolution is reflected in the numbers. According to Statista, 97 percent of respondents to a digital transformation survey said the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation processes in their organizations. In 2022, global spending on digital transformation is expected to reach $1.78 trillion. But how will this transformation manifest itself? The answer lies in technological trends that will shape tomorrow’s businesses.

A single solution for omni-channel communications

As more businesses interact with their customers in online and remote environments, communication channels must be streamlined and improved. As a result, an omni-channel approach to Customer Experience (CX) has emerged, consisting of multiple platforms through which customers can interact with business operators and services. It’s a process that’s as straightforward as possible while also being accessible and cost-effective.

This trend can be seen with social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, which, in addition to being social media products, now offer business-oriented features to facilitate B2C communication. Similarly, the most recent WhatsApp Business platform feature allows brands to provide an eCommerce experience within a WhatsApp conversation, making online interactions instant, simple, and powerful.

However, with so many channels comes the need to manage them effectively and efficiently. Many businesses lack the resources and manpower to handle client conversations across a diverse digital landscape. What is required is a single technological solution capable of managing all communication and acting as an end-to-end portal for the entire customer journey. By combining existing technologies, companies may be able to track and collect critical customer and CX data, which can then be used to drive better business decisions and streamline issue resolution. This is something that companies should look into in the coming year.

Humanity and automation

Automation has been around for centuries, but its application in the digital age is novel. We’re seeing it infiltrate almost every aspect of our lives, with far-reaching and previously unseen consequences.

Consider the 2021 Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix, where fans could order tickets, get refreshments, make purchases, and have all of their questions answered via a chatbot that runs on WhatsApp. The Dutch Grand Prix could interact with fans more efficiently and effectively with the help of data reporting and features such as suggested answers, internal collaboration, and skill-based routing.

This was accomplished by deploying a Customer Data Platform (CDP) to manage event pre-registration data and utilizing marketing cloud software to implement attendee reductions due to the pandemic. The technology aided in the creation of a seamless experience for both event organizers and attendees.

While the focus of this type of technological automation has been on improving customer experience, it also has the potential to impact employee experience (EX). Because the concept of total experience is set to guide many business decisions in 2022. Strong CX principles, or the belief that the customer is always right, cannot be sacrificed at the expense of employee well-being. This has an impact on the company’s overall health.

According to McKinsey research (https://mck.co/3ndsaZX), people who have a positive employee experience are 16 times more engaged than those who have a negative experience. This, combined with widespread employee apprehension about the consequences of increased workplace automation, makes EX more important than ever. Employee happiness breeds customer happiness.

Chatbot technology, another popular area of automation, has the potential to streamline and improve customer experience (CX) even further, thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Gartner predicted that by 2020, a quarter of all customer service operations would integrate chatbots into their engagement channels, a significant increase from the previous two years.

Customers receive a more personalized approach from businesses in their dealings, with longer availability periods, and businesses can identify behavioral patterns and preferences, as well as gather insight to improve their products, thanks to AI chatbots. Chatbots are also a time-saving resource for employees, allowing them to devote more time and energy to other tasks and thus increasing job satisfaction.

Mobile connectivity’s potential

Mobile phones are no longer just for making and receiving calls; in the first quarter of 2021, they accounted for more than half of all web traffic globally. A sizable portion of the world’s population accesses the internet through a mobile device, necessitating the need to innovate and expand service offerings for them.

M-PESA, Africa’s biggest mobile platform success story, was born in Kenya, where it revolutionized mobile banking and dramatically improved financial inclusion across the continent. Aside from banking and retail, most other industries have embraced mobile platforms to provide quality service and products to customers, deploying solutions that digitise traditional processes and increase convenience.

Businesses can use mobile to implement innovative solutions such as contactless payment methods, online registration processes, and even conversational channels. They must engage in proactive client engagement strategies and embrace technology that fully utilizes mobile capability. After all, when it comes to determining the path of least resistance, modern technology has it covered.

In the future, these technologies will converge to form a digital economic and logistical ecosystem based on mobile connectivity. With increased connectivity comes the possibility of new commercial opportunities and the ability to reach previously untapped consumer pools. Finding unified solutions that integrate as many functions and services as possible, recognizing every touchpoint as a commercial opportunity, and supporting the entire customer journey in a seamless, data-driven, proactive manner will be critical to success.