As the Web takes an even more central role in social interactions, commerce, and professional collaboration, more organizations are hastening the progress of their digital transformation to meet the needs of remote workers and homebound customers.
In the short term, brands are looking to immediately and competently support their employees and customers with the experiences, content, and services they require. In the long term, they're eager to ensure their digital infrastructure is never again underprepared for change.
In short, delaying digital transformation is no longer a viable option for companies that wish to stay relevant—or even simply open for business.
Why Digital Is Now a Must, Not a Maybe
There are many challenges around digital transformation, including scaling content production, making data actionable, and aligning your C-suite. For that reason, many companies have dragged their feet regarding the establishing of digital connections between their brand and their customers.
For employees, those digital connections take the form of personalized intranets, digital asset management, and agile, marketer-friendly Web content management. For customers, those connections may come in the form of online sales, chatbots, and personalized digital experiences.
Those digital connections are no longer a nice-to-have: They're vital.
Put simply: brands must go digital or go unnoticed. The question is, How?
Digital Transformation Torchbearers
Your brand's digital transformation will be unique, but there are common themes, like taking physical shopping experiences online or enabling online bookings for in-person services.
To help you build or evolve your digital transformation strategy, consider these two national companies who embraced digital for the benefit of their customers.
Dignity Health
Comprising more than 60,000 caregivers who deliver care to diverse communities in 21 states, Dignity Health is the fifth largest health system in the US and the largest hospital provider in California.
Dignity Health sought to provide a positive and personalized patient digital experience that could reduce office calls via self-service features.
Using Sitecore Experience Manager (XP), the nonprofit created its "Office of Digital" team to focus on providing a personalized patient and consumer digital experience. It launched a new website and implemented powerful capabilities, including "Search and Schedule," which made finding a provider and scheduling an appointment as easy as booking a restaurant via OpenTable.
Today, Dignity Health patients can find a provider based on symptoms, conditions, specialty, or by name or preference (gender, languages spoken, location).
Finally, by combining Sitecore with an identity management solution, the company launched the My Home app, which enables patients to build their health team, map relevant locations, pay bills, schedule appointments, request prescription refills, access clinical information, and securely message with their provider. All in one place.
(Learn more about the digital transformation of Dignity Health.)
Foodstuffs North Island
With over 15,000 products across 120 stores, Foodstuffs North Island, New Zealand's largest grocery cooperative, wanted to offer a seamless omnichannel shopping experience via its website and mobile app.
Using a range of Sitecore technologies, including Sitecore Experience Commerce, Foodstuffs North Island was able to launch a connected experience whereby shoppers could begin shopping on a Web browser and complete their journey seamlessly via mobile—or vice versa.
With integrations including Algolia, MapBox, and Google Maps, the company was able to offer customers extensive product search options, click-and-collect, and more timely deliveries. This all resulted in a 170% increase in the number of orders generated, and a 158% uplift in sales, compared with the period prior to its digital-transformation effort.
(Learn more about the digital transformation of Foodstuffs North Island.)
Go Digital, or Go Unnoticed
Had they not made their digital pivot, both Dignity Health and Foodstuffs North Island may have lost out to competitors when digital channels became even more significant for grocery shoppers and care receivers.
Using the right technologies, the companies were able to meet the needs of their customers on the channels they use and enjoy—and, perhaps more important, on the channels that endure even in trying times.
Meanwhile, companies using traditional technologies have been unable to adapt in time to serve their customers.
If you're still wondering about the next step for your digital transformation and creating stronger connections between customers and brands, visit Sitecore's digital transformation hub to see how we can help accelerate your transformation.
