The world of business is being profoundly affected by the global virus pandemic. In fact, the economic and labor market shock impacting small and medium enterprises badly compared to large ones. It is very tough time pushing businesses to the red ocean where competition is bloody and innovation is the key differentiation.
During such pandemic time, yet customer needs are changing rapidly, while customer needs are driven by safety and distance interactions. Online services, video conferences and a lot of other technology solutions were introduced in different sectors.
Zoom, MS teams and other video-telephony programs disrupted many sectors such as education, medical and other sectors, however the next big disruption will be the E-commerce where customer will no more used traditional e-catalogues and online pages to find a product. It will be much easier by setting an appointment with service agent to discuss certain requirement through video call accordingly the service agent can accompany the customer in a tour inside the store showing him products, sizes, colors and materials, then the call will be ending with clear order ready for payment then delivery.
The video-telephony (video conferences) will have a great impact on shopping in general while its impact is maximized for the below scenarios where:
1- Customers are not Tech. savvy and looking for simple customer experience. (for example: an elderly buying furniture for home).
2- Customers are looking for customized products and special order (for example: patient buying medical equipment and looking for details in how to use it, quantity of usage and technical advice).
3- Customers are needed to attend for verification such as courts or banks.
4- It is complicated sectors such as Agriculture where items are not easy to be listed online similar to food or retail sectors.
Agriculture in general is very well-known with couple of challenges:
- Firstly, “Technology for Farmers Is Always Rocket Science” which make it very difficult for most of technology companies to transform such sector.
- Secondly, “There Is No One Size Fits All” it is always customized solution based on your case and situation.
I was attending one of the MVP “Minimum Viable Product” for one of the new AgriTech startups (Awanah) where I have noticed that the customer was buying very special fertilizer for organic farming, which needs a lot of explanation in how to use and its advantage and I have noticed that the supplier was customizing his solution to meet customer needs. This also proof that some sectors are unique enough to reject the one size fits all model alternatively designing customized solution for each customer.
It was very unique to see such new customer journey with the below steps:
1- The customer is showing his interest on the product and set appointment to discuss his needs with an expert based on his convenience through a video call.
2- The service agent is accepting the time and reflect that in both agent and customer calendar.
3- During the call both customer and service agent are discussing the order, quantity and prices while the startup team is attending the call to take the required notes and make sure of customer satisfactory and confirm the quantity and payment.
4- After the video call, an automatic e-mail sent from the system to the customer to confirm the order and complete the payment.
5- Once payment is completed, the purchase order is sent automatically to the supplier from the system.
6- Once the order is ready for delivery, the system is automatically notifying the courier company with the order details including location for pick up, phone number of the supplier, location for delivery, contact information of the customer, and finally the convenient date and time based on customer choice.
7- Once the order is delivered, the system is notifying both supplier and customer with completing the transaction and asking the customer to rate the supplier based on his product quality, price and duration for delivery.
It looks simple but smart journey in a very complicated sector.
Then I started to imagine the future of Agriculture, can a farmer in Al Ain (100 mile from Abu Dhabi) call the agriculture supplier in Abu Dhabi and order his items through a video call? Can a farmer in Africa call an expert of irrigation in India to seek his advice and consultancy during his farming cycle.
By adding the layer of IoT (internet of things) you can also provide a complete solution to rural areas that can monitor and manage the agriculture while the data, the monitoring, the advice are provided from different continent.
In general, the virus is an opportunity to accelerate the changes and the disruption not only for businesses but also for people needs and expectation.
Soon we might see Zara or Guess taking you in a tour inside their warehouse with some technical facilities to estimate how this can fit on you.
Soon we will see the video conferencing the main way for education not only in schools but also universities and specialized courses such as programming, cooking or playing music.
Let me know if you like the article and I will be happy to receive your feedback (aly_1980@hotmail.com)
