In the past 10 years, there have been perceptions of online shopping as something that is unsafe. It was unable to replace conventional shopping as we usually do at department stores. Also, in the past, not many people thought of selling their products on the internet. At the time, the online market was not considered as a conventional market’s competitor, but only as an alternative market.
But now everything has changed and online shopping remains one of the most lucrative industries. Digitization touches all sectors of which trade is one of the majorly impacted ones. The growing number of online stores mushrooming. And the increasing number of online transactions have created a new paradigm called e-commerce. Based on the Indonesia Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) the Indonesian e-commerce industry in the last ten years has grown by about seventeen percent with the total number of e-commerce businesses reaching 26.2 million units.
The growth of the online market can be considered as a competitor of conventional markets because it affects physical trading drastically. People would rather now turn to online shops rather than conventional shopping. While these physical shops still need to exist. It is very common now to have companies also have an online presence to have an edge of catching their target audience on the Internet. This phenomenon is what we call digital disruption.
What is digital disruption?
Digital disruption is the change that occurs when new digital technologies and business models affect the value proposition of existing goods and services (Rouse, 2017). Digital disruption is one of the effects of digitization. The adoption of technology is expected to make the business operations more efficient. With the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), competition is accelerated to deliver goods and services according to market demand and deliver them at competitive prices.
We can take the bankruptcy of Kodak as an example of digital disruption. Kodak was one of the first companies to introduce cameras to the mainstream market. They monopolized the markets for the majority of the 20th century but unfortunately failed to keep up with the changing identities of their customers and the changing needs and expectations that came along with them. They didn’t turn to innovation like other companies did, like Sony or Canon.
Also read: The IT Industry Isn’t A Front Runner of Digitization
From this example above, we learn that digital transformation is something you have to do for your business. Not to be denied much less fought. Unfortunately, there are still many business leaders who are unaware of digital disruption. And do not understand how to deal with it.
Maybe some of them have been aware of digital transformation, but face deadlocks. The solution is to choose the right leader to run it. The leader must then be able to come up with strategies for allowing the company. To undergo digital transformation with capable human resources.
We can learn from the story of Carol Hurwitz-Broadstein, who now runs the customer experience (CX) part of a sizable bank in Boston that has been going through a sluggish digital transformation initiative for the last 12 years. Her story shows that experiences and demands from customers are things that must be accepted and sought to be realized. Many companies do not accept and fail to realize that the customer experience is important. And if the company fails to understand or accept this. It will be hard to produce something innovative that responds to consumer demands. Of course, companies who successfully follow the demands of consumers will be winners. Hence, it is important that businesses find the right technology and human resource that can help them to face the challenge of digital disruption.
Meet the right partner to help you digitize your business
As one of the expert companies in real-time communication (RTC) technology, in Qiscus, we are helping companies in Southeast Asia leverage on technology to virtualize their businesses and help them to expand beyond any physical boundaries. We can help you to transform your conventional business digitally through our chat engine technology.
We are experienced in virtualizing businesses. The launching of the iRecite application by Qiscus last year is an example. The iRecite application is aimed to facilitate the learning of Qur’an anytime and anywhere. It breaks the physical boundaries of time and space to meet Qur’an teachers and encourages learning the Qur’an digitally. The application has been officially endorsed by Darul Quran Singapore, a premier Qur’an learning institute in Singapore.
Are you ready to face the possibility of digital disruption for your company? Tell us what you think about digital disruption and what’s your difficulty to transform your business at www.qiscus.com or e-mail [email protected], and we will come up with the best solution for you.
