Digital Love
Before we start, let’s find out: Who are ‘WE’? We are the technology advanced modern consumers. What makes our life so easy and comfortable? IoT, Big Data, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printers, a sharing economy or we can say “our fully digitally transformed lives”.
Today, ‘we the consumers’, leverage for every possible thing from shopping to entertainment to social networking. Digitalization has effectively put us in the driver’s seat and as a result, we have become more demanding, more informed and more vocal. Digitalization has led to new value creations. It has given us increased levels of convenience, simplicity and knowledge, and most importantly has altered the overall competitive landscape.
Consider a day in the life of a modern consumer., what do you think how would it unfold? Our lives have been gradually taken over by digitalization. Take a tour of our daily activities, how many gadgets are around us? With the multiple availabilities of wi-fi enabled devices, we have changed the way we work, entertain and even raise our children. We are in the era of “liquid audience” which is characterized by dynamic movement across multiple touchpoints to engage in apps and video viewing behaviour which impact the 24/7 journey of our digital engagement.
Gone are the days of going online., we are always in a state of permanent connectivity. Technological advancements fuel the connectivity that brings together the world as one big community, from smartphones to super-fast data. Our tech-dependent lifestyle is causing huge changes on both the professional and personal fronts. The change will only grow with each passing day.
Let’s have a look at how digitalization permeates and transforms our every moment of the day — be it at work or at home or while shopping.
Our Digitally ruled Professional Lives
Digitalization has forever changed the way we experience everything. More than 80% of the employees including myself works online, be it by web calls, emails, messaging, video conferencing, or a combination of any of the above. Remember the time, when we used to communicate professionally through writing letters, spending hours on phone calls and sending faxes. Not anymore! Emailing and web calls are now our predominant means of communication. Now, we can able to communicate much faster and better than ever before. Employees as well as the organizations are reaping the greater advantages. It is seen that there has been more than 85% rise in productivity per hour of employees since the adoption of the internet at workplaces but 55% greater work pressures and stress amongst the folks. What are the key driving forces? Softwares, hardware and of course smartphones.
Our Tech-Enabled Personal Lives
Our hyper-connected lives have been rewired for the digital age. We don’t leave technology at work rather we are moving towards more tech-enabled personal lives. With the rise of multiple devices at home like PC’s, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, gaming consoles, GPS enabled Cars and much more available at every corner of our life., forgot unplugging after 6 o’clock, we rather plug inn for the next moments of our life. Smartphones being the most prevalent household device, we’ve become seemingly inseparable from it. Connected home entertainment devices such as Amazon’s Alexa, smart TVs, game consoles, smart refrigerators, iRobots etc., are complementing primary online devices like smartphones and tablets, rather than competing against them. While smartphone and laptop usage peaks throughout the day, we move to entertainment in the evening on home devices.
For shopping, we use technology. Around 70% of decisions to purchase a product or service are made before we actually buy a product. Consumers are often actively engaged in collecting information: read online reviews, scour social media and takes feedback from friends and family. Subsequently, they make their final choice. Also, we aren’t using one channel of communication but many. Social media platforms and live chats are our major weapons. I think, the only time we aren’t digitally active is when….. we are dead!
Down below, is a sarcastic remark on our everyday digital life, showing how connected we are throughout the day with technology.
Spanning All Ages
Digitalization is not limited to a specific age group but spanning all ages. Unlike Millennials, the younger generation has been raised with a constant influx of technology around them — have a greater impact as compared to other age groups. A kid as young as 5 years old, knows how to operate a tablet or a smartphone. However, Gen X (35–46), Younger Boomers (47–56) and Older Boomers (57–65) were not far behind with 89%, 80% and 75% using the technology at some point in their life, consecutively. My parents use Facetime to connect with me, and their friends. My grandparents are seriously addicted to YouTube. Therefore, the most prevalent myth while identifying the digital consumer is that they are all Millennials.
Key Take On!
“Like air and water, the impact of digitalization on our lives will be noticed only by its absence, not its presence”. Our lives have absorbed digitalization to such an extent that going without them, can cause severe anxiety for some. Both professional and personal lives have become tech-dependent., the next wave of generation can’t picture their lives without technology, but you might not have to worry about anything. Trust me it’s just the beginning……. Be ready!!
