NZ Businesses lagging in customer experience, data analytics

Media Release
Embargoed until 5 May 2017

NZ Businesses lagging in customer experience and data analytics - PwC Digital IQ Survey

PwC New Zealand’s 2017 Digital IQ Survey reveals that when it comes to their digital investments, only 6% of Kiwi companies are thinking about creating better customer experiences while 76% are focused on growing their revenues.

“New Zealand businesses are struggling to put people and data together at the centre of their digital transformation. Instead, they’re focused on increasing revenues and making improvements to their products and services. However, now more than ever, putting the customer at the centre of their digital strategies will be key to unlocking the value of their investments,” says PwC Partner, Kris Nygren.

“It’s also a question of balancing multiple priorities – 44% of our respondents said their most important digital initiative over the next year is to re-imagine their product and service offering. On the other hand, only 14% are prioritising enterprise transformation and 18% are focusing on the customer experience. There are clearly some missed opportunities here,” says Mr Nygren.

Digital transformation is slowly making its way into organisational strategies with 50% of companies indicating that they have integrated their digital strategies into their corporate strategies (compared to 70% globally).

The Human experience
Data and analytics is an area we’re really seeing local businesses lagging behind their global counterparts with only a third saying that they’re making analytics a priority, compared to 44% globally.

A truly world-class data and analytics function isn’t just about investing more money though, it’s also about taking a human centred approach to developing an analytics function - from how you engage the business, through to how you prioritise what the analytics function does.

“We believe that the ability to create great human experiences will become an even greater source of competitive advantage as emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and internet of things define the next wave of technological disruption and the way people interact with machines,” says Mr Nygren.

Are we ready for emerging technology?

When we asked which of the ‘Essential Eight’ emerging technologies our Digital IQ respondents were most comfortable with, the Internet of Things (IoT) was by far the most popular.

A third of the respondents said they were struggling to integrate new and existing technologies and data, compared to 22% internationally. As a result, many are turning to external partners to help them implement new technologies in their organisation.

While New Zealand companies are clearly struggling to master emerging technologies, it isn’t surprising: these technologies are emerging for a reason. Technology like Blockchain is only now seeing its first commercial applications, but that doesn’t mean companies can afford to ignore its disruptive potential.

Preparing for the future

Our Digital IQ Survey looks at what companies have to aim for with their transformation efforts if they want to succeed in the digital age.

That ideal future state means bringing together their business strategy, customer experience and technology into a coherent, fully-fledged digital strategy. As we’ve seen in this year’s New Zealand findings, it also means being able to bring together human centred design with data and analytics, a combination that is central to this broader transformation, and yet is still a weak point for the majority of our survey respondents.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

•This year’s Digital IQ Survey is the 10th we’ve run internationally. It’s a study of over 2,000 global business leaders, including 50 in New Zealand, on their view of what makes a digital business succeed.

•The “Essential Eight” emerging technologies we refer to are: Blockchain, The Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, 3-D Printing, Robotics, Drones and Artificial Intelligence.

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