The Rapid Rise of Digital Transformation Brought On by COVID-19

Digital transformation across enterprises has become even more essential during the COVID-19 crisis. Its implications for revenue and profits can be dramatic.

There is also a learning curve for most organizations to rapidly pilot and adopt new digital initiatives at the scale and speed required by the COVID-19 crisis. Well integrated digital strategies will be a huge differentiator for companies that succeed vs. companies that lag behind, with the digital disruptors being the biggest gainers. Now is a critical time to reassess digital initiatives – to focus on those that provide immediate engagement with customers, facilitates employee productivity, and benefits stakeholders, while positioning the company to survive during this pandemic and subsequent economic downturn.

As we have seen, one of the biggest impacts of the crisis on the corporate environment has been the emergence of mandatory ‘work from home,’ which has been a privilege, many employees value. However, many companies lack the technology infrastructure to enable a widespread remote workforce. This has also led many companies to quickly fast-track the digital transformation of their processes. In one European survey, about 70 percent of executives from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland said the pandemic is likely to accelerate the pace of their digital transformation. This acceleration is evident across sectors and geographies. We have seen the rapid rise in healthcare providers adopting telehealth solutions, insurers offering self-service claims assessments, and retailers providing contactless shopping and delivery. This is just the beginning of the era in which digital channels have become a primary customer-engagement model and automated processes being the primary driver of productivity, which also lays the foundation for agile, transparent, and stable supply chains.

This blog brings to light some digital trends in these critical times that have become prerequisites to managing businesses and exceeding customer expectations.

Digital transformation and COVID-19: Some trends emerging from the crisis

1. Advancing towards a cashless society

Early in March, the World Health Organization warned that banknotes may spread coronavirus. The WHO recommended using contactless payments where possible to help control the virus. Many retailers were forced to close their doors and sell exclusively through online orders for delivered goods. The pandemic has been driving adoption of contactless payments in a big way, pushing many markets towards a new cashless paradigm.

2. A need for securer fraud protection

Drastic changes occurring at high speed around the world has also led to a sharp increase in fraud. In response to rising cyber scams, organizations need to make significant investments to fight data theft and prevent fraud. Investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning can make a significant difference here.

3. Automation of revenue processes

Automating the order-to-cash process will shorten billing and payment cycles, mitigating delays in payments by partners, vendors and customers. Blockchain solutions to track assets and payments could also get more traction, especially in trade finance.

4. Payments fintechs face the heat

A decrease in global payments is impacting the payments industry significantly. Fintechs must prepare for a more difficult funding environment. Partnering with established financial services organization may be a solution.

5. Tighter cashflow management

The challenging financial situation caused by the pandemic have resulted in re-evaluation of outgoing cashflows by organizations as well as individuals. For individual consumers and small businesses, the use of payment instruments like direct debits and recurring card payments is likely to shrink and be replaced by new format like “request to pay” and other tools that allow for greater control. There will be a greater need by organizations for real time dashboards for forecasts, analysis and actionable strategies.

    6.  Growth of mobile wallet market

Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay allow contactless payments. The use of token-based wallets will only grow in the future, while the use of physical payment cards will be reduced. Businesses need to be compatible with this trend or experience constrained growth in the post-pandemic world. Person-to-person as well as business-to-business payments through digital wallets will also see a rise.

   7.  Rapid rise in e-shopping and other digital checkouts

This year has seen an even greater adoption of online shopping and delivery systems. Demand for online platforms like PayPal, Amazon and Instacart have experienced a significant spike. Implications for businesses include the adoption of a competent online shopping and seamless checkout experience for customers. There is also a trend of increased analysis of consumers’ purchase patterns to provide shopping convenience through IoT-driven payments for automatic purchasing of groceries at appropriate intervals. Its predicted that IoT-driven payments will go through a rapid rise.

8. Scaling the business with recurring revenue steams

Subscription based business models are on the rise as they can drive increased revenue through a wider variety of solutions and pricing options for customers, offering more predictable revenue streams and increased loyalty from customers. However, as companies embrace recurring-revenue business models, they will need to invest in a strategic plan to address billing capabilities to handle the increasing transaction volumes and contract complexity. 

9. The evolution of revenue management technology investment

The emergence of modern revenue management platforms has enabled the application of disciplined analytics that predict consumer behavior at the micro-market levels and optimize product availability and pricing to maximize revenue growth. This digital transformation empowers organizations with a scalable and predictable revenue engine that enables improved financial management and increased and sustained profits.

In sum, to be successful today, enterprises need to keep a close eye on the industry and consumer trends and adapt quickly. How quickly they adapt being the differentiator. Businesses are leveraging technology in novel ways to raise the bar in their customer engagement. This era of digital transformation is re-writing the rules for companies seeking competitive advantage and growth. Organizations are embracing the new digital landscape and improving customer satisfaction, while optimizing their revenue management. Digital transformation is essential for any business looking to grow and stay ahead of the competition, it is thus imperative for business leaders to partner with the right digital transformation platforms.

By adopting a platform like RecVue, during a digital transformation initiative, it can be a game-changer in terms of leveraging technology and automation to deliver performance optimization as well as time and cost savings. RecVue’s unified platform integrates with any ERP, CRM and front-end order processing systems, enabling customers to improve efficiencies across order-to-cash, revenue and general accounting, while gaining real-time access to data. Finance groups are able to increase accuracy and timeliness of billing and invoicing and aggregate billing information in a single system to improve analysis and forecasting. RecVue’s monetization platform includes a 360-degree view into the entire contract lifecycle, rules-based attribute pricing, complete order-to-invoice capabilities, pay-side management for third party obligations, and robust analytics and reporting. When the new revenue models associated with digital transformation take shape, they bring an exponentially greater level of complexity.

Reach out to us today for a Revenue Management assessment and to learn how RecVue can empower your organization to deliver on digital transformation initiatives to support future growth.