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Survey identifies protecting market share as one of top priorities for South African organisations

SIMON RUSSELL
Creating a presence that separates businesses from the pack is critical for improving competitiveness

SIMON RUSSELL Creating a presence that separates businesses from the pack is critical for improving competitiveness

11th August 2017

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

     

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Protecting market share, strengthening customer relationships and driving efficiencies are key priorities for South African organisations, according to survey findings presented at the Experian 2017 Innovation Summit in Johannesburg last month.

While South African businesses are gearing up for the competitive marketplace, many are yet to face the realities of navigating the changes brought about by digitalisation.

This is evident in the Experian 2017 yearly commissioned survey, ‘The New Frontier: Unlocking the power of data’, which was commissioned by global information services company Experian and conducted by research-based consultancy Forrester Consulting.

The study was conducted in June 2017 among C-level and function heads in South Africa in the retail, telecommunications and financial services and insurance industries, with a focus on understanding their business priorities.

South African organisations believe differentiation – and efficiencies – can be achieved by better insights of customers (87%), expanding fraud mitigation capabilities (84%) and enhancing analytics capabilities (74%), Forrester Consulting principal analyst Martha Bennett, who presented the survey findings, noted.

However, 74% of South African organisations viewed increased activity from existing competition as a key challenge to their success, while 63% also cited new competition as a key challenge to success, she highlighted.

Further, 88% of organisations report that they are not confident in their ability to meet new and existing regulations in terms of regulatory compliance.

Given the local economy’s performance and the stage a business has reached in terms of maturity, entering into new markets – while protecting current business – presents opportunities and challenges, Experian MD Simon Russell noted at the summit, pointing out that for many, these were intensified by the digital era involving a constant flow of data and analytics.

He added that this placed more pressure on businesses to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, while improving their overall competitiveness.

The study shows that this is not limited to South Africa, as many companies in Europe and the Middle East face the same recurring challenge.

“Creating a presence that separates businesses from the pack is critical for improving competitiveness. For many, differentiation is helped by taking on an ‘outside-in’ approach by focusing on experiences, outcomes and desires rather than on traditional products and services, as our research shows,” said Russell.

He suggested that this required strong leadership from the top down to form strategies in becoming analytical-insights driven.

Fundamental to business priorities was the need to unlock the power of data, an enabler for businesses to gain first-hand insight into their customers and new markets, he pointed out.

Two-thirds of South African companies agree that the effectiveness and use of their customer insights can be improved, while 64% believe these are hampered by legacy technology and systems.

Bennett highlighted that better customer insights would preserve the customer relationship, improve cross and upsell opportunities, reduce collection losses, improve speed to market and enhance customer lifetime value.

Although big data has been repeatedly emphasised, many organisations still struggle when it comes to making the most of their assets and transforming these into insights for their decision-making, according to the survey, with 49% of respondents saying they were unable to obtain relevant insight from their data to drive their decision-making.

It is, however, promising that 61% of South African organisations are increasing their investment in analytics. In fact, 62% have already invested or are planning to invest in partners that can build, run and manage analytics.

Fraud is another top business priority and remains a barrier, with 74% of respondents registering increased exposure to fraud as their top challenge. Fifty-seven percent of respondents reported an increase in fraudulent transactions in the past 12 months.

While 69% of respondents are struggling to manage the complexity of fraud, 64% are not confident that they can mitigate this crime.

“Data and analytics, if harnessed to . . . full capability, can play a role in improving fraud management by providing predictive models to identify risks at an earlier stage [so that companies can] take appropriate action without disrupting the customer experience,” said Russell.

He added: “In the digital age of accelerated business cycles and increased consumer expectations comes the growing need for real-time interactions, where winning or losing market position will really come down to how local businesses are able to make the most of their existing data.”

Key strategies to unlock the power of data included the use of third-party expertise to boost companies’ analytics strategy, taking a holistic approach to mitigating fraud and reliance on an automated decision platform, Bennett concluded.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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