At The Dot Society, we are always looking to broaden our horizons & to discover the trends of tomorrow. By doing so, we were happy to attend the Digital First event at Tours & Taxis a couple of weeks ago. We had the pleasure to attend the session of Tom De Ruyck, which opened our eyes concerning the mind of the customer of tomorrow in a post-covid world. As we were so excited, we are thrilled to share our main learnings with you!

We have talked a lot about the entire covid-situation before. But instead of focusing on the past & current situation, we are more interested in the customer behaviour of tomorrow, in a post-covid world. The changes in technology which we experienced the past 2 years, aren’t a jump into the future, they are simply a catch-up sprint from the technological backlog we have built up over the past years. That said, the progress we have made is certainly not a small one. These rapid changes and technological improvements are clearly things we are quickly getting used to. De Ruyck describes this as the principle of liquid expectations. With the digital transformation, our expectations are rising not only in the digital sectors, but in all sectors or in other words: If you have a great experience in one place, you suddenly expect the same experience everywhere.

What are we looking for?

Liquid expectations are build on four different principles:

• Instant experience: we want things to happen as soon as possible. Ordering a new outfit and getting it delivered within 2 days – no way, that’s not sufficient enough anymore. From the moment we placed the order, we actually like to have our parcel in our hands. The sooner the better, simple as that.
• Personalization: We want our purchases to be completely tailored to our preferences. And we also assume from the moment we have communicated our preferences, these should also be remembered for the next future order. 
• Effortless: The less effort we have to put in the better, right? We want to be able to place an order as simply and quickly as possible. 
• Frictionless: Nothing more irritating than wanting to place an order, but you need a card reader from the bank to pay? Or you get an error during the last step of your checkout process. Forget it, we drop out, and 9 out of 10 times our order will not go through either. 

A striking and oh so simple example which has it all is the ‘Push for pizza app’. Everyone has their favorite pizza which they resolutely choose when they place an order. Well with push for pizza you enter your data and preferences once & you simply press 1 button to place your order. Next time you have a craving for pizza, you open the app, it knows your preferences, delivery & payment details, you simply press the button & order is placed. Sounds like Italian heaven, right? 

Is digital the key to everything?

And to meet these liquid expectations, we need digital innovation. But is digital the key to everything? Certainly not! Technology is the essential foundation on which to build in order to offer every consumer an unforgettable experience. For example, remember the first time you paid with your smartphone without using a debit card? That moment created a brief WOW feeling, cool isn’t it what you can do today with technology? But did you also experience that feeling this morning when you paid for your morning coffee with payconiq? I don’t think so.  We get used to it so quickly that it becomes the new normal. 

So how do you make sure that an experience sticks with the consumer, even after a quick wow-feeling? By looking at technology as the basis and giving it the extra touch through human input. Let technology take over large parts of our daily tasks, which can easily be automated, and let us as humans go for that extra added value. For example, consider a strong CRM system that automatically indicates that the customer who placed an order with you today had his birthday last week. Nothing more pleasant than adding a handwritten card or a little extra to the order with birthday greetings. These are the things that your customer remembers and that will keep you top of mind as a brand. These are the things that are no longer an Instagrammable experience, but a memorable one. And those are the things the customer craves, and what The Dot Society strives for. 

We are more than ready to serve the customers of tomorrow! You’re looking forward to it as well? Contact us & discover how we can grow your business.