The digital revolution began in the 1950s but truly took off in the 1990s with the invention of the World Wide Web and the growing availability of affordable digital devices. Today over 4 billion people use the internet globally through computers, phones, and other connected devices. E-commerce is also growing significantly across all retail sectors as more customers conduct online searches and purchases. However, the rapid pace of technological change has disrupted many industries and business models. It remains to be seen how businesses, customers, and societies will continue to adapt to an increasingly digital world.
3. The World Wide Web
The history of the internet dates back to the 1950s with the development of computers
but it
wasn`t until the mid-1990s that the use of the internet as a means of communicating
digitally began to grow globally. The catalyst for this was the invention of the World Wide
Web in 1989. Today there are 4.4 billion people using the internet with South and East
Asia being the main areas of exponential growth.
I
4. The Evolution in Digital Communication
The earliest computers developed in the 1950s were large and expensive machines with
the internet used exclusively as a scientific and governmental research network. The
rapid advancement in technology has connected millions more people to the internet on
an ever increasing number of affordable digital devices. Today our cars, homes, banks
and shops are all connected to the internet.
5. Growth of Digital Buyers Globally
According to the International Data Corporation data creation has doubled in size every
2 years growing to one trillion gigabytes of data by 2025 due in large part to the rapid
adoption of smart phones and devices globally.
It is forecast that by 2021 the numbers of people attracted to the convenience and lower
prices
of shopping on-line will grow to 2.14 billion globally the consequence of which is that a
record
number of stores disappeared from UK high streets in 2018 (PWC).
6. Internet Speeds
This graph shows the residential broadband connection speeds in the UK(2008-2017)
and serves to highlight the significant improvement in data transfer speeds over a short
space of time. In the mid-1990s average speeds were only 56Kbps (1Mbps=1000Kbps).
Current 4G mobile broadband offers download speeds of up to 60Mbps. 5G will
theoretically be 100X faster than 4G!
7. How Customers Search for Information On-Line
• 89% of customers begin the buying process using a search engine (Fleishman-Hillard
2017).
• 75% use social media as part of the buying process (IBM 2017).
• 49.7% of all web page views globally were carried out on a mobile device (Statista
2017).A typical information search will broadly fall in to one or more of the following categori
SHOPPING - find the best holiday deals and pay for flights and hotels.
ENTERTAINMENT – watch a music video or plan a night out.
RESEARCH - check out the local weather forecast or how to bake a cake..
8. What Customers Buy On-Line
This chart (‘E-commerce revenue forecasts in Europe 2017-2023 by segment’, Statista)
indicates that on-line sales are forecast to grow significantly across all retail sectors with
Furniture & Appliances growing by 75% in the period 2017-2023 and that the greatest
share of customers on-line purchases will continue to be in fashion retail.
SHOPPING - find the best holiday deals and pay for flights and hotels.
ENTERTAINMENT - make a dinner eservation at a restaurant.
RESEARCH - check out the local weather forecast.
9. The Importance of Visual ContentThe Importance of Visual
Content
This infographic shows the
psychology and physiology of why
visual images are so effective in
delivering information.
b
Video will increasingly dominate
internet traffic with volumes
increasing 4X between 2015 and
2020.
79% of global internet traffic by 2020
will use video content. .
Consumer video internet traffic will
increase from 68% in 2015 to 82% in
2020.
10. Consumer Trends
The barriers of literacy and language are reduced by the use of video and its use will contin
grow as businesses seek to build sustainable relationships.
The use of voice (“ask Siri, ask Alexa”) will increasingly drive internet searches in the future.
By 2022 there will be 3.6X more connected devices than the global population.
By 2022 M2M devices (‘The Internet of Things’ such as smart meters, video surveillance,
healthcare monitors) will account for 51% of all connected devices.
Smartphone traffic will exceed PC traffic by 2022 rising to 44% of all IP traffic.
By 2022 IP video traffic will be 82% of all IP traffic globally.
11. Summary
The digital revolution is arguably the single greatest change to human society in over 2000
It is a change that has occurred in little over two decades and affected the daily lives of ove
of the worlds population. It has created a global social, information and entertainment netw
available 24/7 accessible from the convenience of your own home and in the palm of your
‘Globalisation is shifting wealth across the world’ (Kotler, P).
Technological change has created significant opportunities for businesses and consumers b
speed and degree of change has thrown up many challenges. We can explore these from t
perspective of the marketing mix.
Product: Greater choice, price transparency, detailed information of features and benefits
backed up by peer reviews have all put the consumer in charge of the buying pr
Businesses are under increasing pressure to offer a wider range of products and
services at competitive prices.
Price: Traditional bricks and mortar businesses are failing at an alarming rate battling a
a perfect storm of higher staff and property costs whilst competing on price with
on-line businesses operating under lower costs, less regulation and lower taxatio
Promotion: Technology has enabled businesses to promote their products and services to
consumers across many time zones, at any hour of the day and directly to the
homes but in doing so they must entertain, excite and inform.
12. Summary
Place: Technology has disrupted many established markets. Large retail stores and banks
have closed their doors in great numbers as consumers have embraced the
convenience of mobile banking and shopping and in so doing reduced overheads.
This has resulted in less choice for those without access to the internet.
People: The customer is king. Technology has empowered people by giving them access t
information, opinion and choice. The AI behind banking apps, warehouse robots a
the lack of a need for salespeople will demand new skills training if significant job
losses are to be avoided.
:
Technology has created exciting ways for businesses to understand and track their
customers,
to develop products and services that meet individual customer needs and enable them
to
bring these products to market more effectively and efficiently. However with such
opportunity comes heavy responsibilities. Businesses are held to account for their
actions by consumers who expect and demand the highest levels of moral,ethical, social
and environmental values.
It would be a brave person who predicts how the digital revolution will play out over the
next 20 years. Some observers believe that the rate of technological change will slow and
growing concern for our planet and the sustainability of its resources may lead to a
