Editor’s Note: With 2014 now upon us, RCR Wireless News has gathered predictions from leading industry analysts and executives on what they expect to see in the new year.
“It’s all about me!” While that expression is often used in jest in casual conversation, it is no joking matter when it comes to mobile consumers who are increasingly demanding personalized content and services – and they want these now. Such is the backdrop for what I envision as the top trend in 2014 – personalization.
Personalization represents a fundamental shift in the mobile industry. Traditionally, customers have participated in the mobile ecosystem primarily as service recipients: service providers configured products on behalf of their customers and delivered a portfolio of solutions to the market. This model is less relevant now that consumers, armed with smart devices, a choice of cellular and Wi-Fi broadband connections and easy-to-use software, can configure their applications and provision many aspects of their network services as well.
The personalization trend will gain importance in 2014 because consumers – fueled by pervasive social media platforms that make sharing almost as ubiquitous as running water – have begun conveying their likes and dislikes loudly and clearly to their providers. They have become assertive and will do business only with companies that meet their very personal needs.
A phrase commonly used to describe this new business environment is the “Internet of me.” The “Internet of me” is emerging because consumers are saying: “I want the world to revolve around me; I want to be able to use the solutions that I need and the solutions that I like, when I want to use them and on the devices that I prefer to use.” Consumers are also saying: “I want access to this solution regardless of the type of content I’m engaging with, whether I’m home or traveling, and whether I’m connected via LTE or Wi-Fi.”
The “Internet of me” is exciting because it opens up a world of new opportunities for startups to introduce novel products and services. I can envision imaginative developers in 2014 finding new ways to use enabling technologies – such as personal assistant solutions based on artificial intelligence and natural language interpretation – to create new and compelling personalized features that customers want and value. End users are also likely to respond to personalized applications that enhance their m-commerce activities, mobile advertising and productivity tools.
How retailers are using mobile to introduce creative, personalized services
Mobile applications are now pervasive in business and most sectors – from the retail industry to the financial services and utility industries and more. These progressive businesses recognize that highly personalized mobile services are essential to developing successful consumer strategies, better brand awareness and higher revenues.
The retail sector is a particularly compelling illustration of this. Battered by competition from online rivals and customer demands for personalization, brick-and-mortar stores are creating breakthrough mobile applications and services that deliver a seamless blend of online and in-store shopping conveniences tailored to individual customers. For example, if an off-site retail customer purchases an item online but wants to pick up the item at the local store, the application, informed by location-based services, will recognize the customer’s arrival at the store and alert staff to have the product ready for pick-up by the customer. The service can also recommend accessories or other products for the customer, based on the customers’ purchase history and personal profile as an added shopping convenience.
Retailers and other businesses will need to make sure they have the infrastructure in place to support wireless services, and they will need to partner with their service providers to make sure they have the appropriate connectivity and needed bandwidth. They will also need to build better back-end systems to support these new services. They will need real-time analytics, new database technologies, machine learning and potentially software robots to automate processes. They will be looking to their partners in 2014 and beyond to support these types of needs.
Address core issues with your personalization strategy
Any startup that wants to stay competitive in the “Internet of me” era must heed the personalization trend, but success in this new consumer-driven environment is not guaranteed. Companies pursuing personalization strategies must do more than follow the trend or produce wannabe or me-too solutions. And technology for technology’s sake will not suffice either. Developers must ponder the core issues driving these demands and come up with truly creative ideas that meet the customers’ complex needs and expectations.
The market’s experimentation with wearable technologies is a case in point. I believe there are three outlets for wearable technologies: health products, wellness products and Internet access devices such as computer-assisted glasses and smart watches. Aside from health-oriented devices, which serve an essential need, it’s still too early to gauge how consumers will benefit from wearable technologies.
Health-related devices offer the most promise in the wearable category because these products address very specific, vital issues for very specific customer segments, such as the population of people who have diabetes and need convenient tools for monitoring their weight or blood sugar and communicating this information to healthcare providers. Without question, these users’ health and well-being can be improved with these technologies.
Wearable wellness devices for exercise, diet and similar applications have varied value propositions and developers should pursue these cautiously. To date, these types of products are priced at a sweet spot that makes them affordable. However, consumers’ dedication to these devices is not always assured and their usage of these products can taper off after a short period of time. If consumers abandon use of their wellness devices, they are also giving up on the associated analytics, which curtails the market for the data the devices generate.
The emerging selection of wearable Internet access devices is creating much excitement now, but the value these products offer to future consumers must be established. Computer-assisted glasses and smart watches need to become more affordable and offer unique capabilities in order for consumers who are already well served by smartphones to respond to these new wearable options in the near future. I also believe that computer-assisted glasses will become a valuable industrial application for personalized wearable tools. For example, an engineer who requires both hands to operate or manipulate a machine could use computer-assisted glasses to command the machine or communicate visually with a remote support team. This type of application fills an important use case that could not be served with previously available technology and represents the type of original mobile solutions that will find value in future markets.
