SOFTWARE company Adobe recently shared the key findings of its 2022 Digital Trends: APAC in Focus report, a derivation from the company's annual global Digital Trends Report.
The report, highlighting the most powerful forces shaping the digital landscape and the strategic imperatives for marketing organisations, was based on a survey of more than 943 senior executives, IT professionals and marketing practitioners, conducted between November 2021 and January 2022.
At a media briefing held to share some of the key highlights, the company presented findings that show Asia Pacific businesses outstrip other global regions in customer experience investment in 2022 in response to a pandemic-induced surge in new digital consumers and online behaviours.
"The digital rewiring of consumer mindsets in Asia Pacific has been of high benefit to those businesses who have embraced an agile digital mindset, purposeful collaboration and sped up their time-to-value ratio," said Adobe Asia Pacific & Japan's vice president digital experience marketing, Duncan Egan.
However, APAC businesses recognise that critical skills and capability gaps may hold them back as they seek to maximise this world-leading commitment to serving digital-first consumers.
"Companies that overcame organisational and technology silos to work cross-functionally, were able to drive meaningful customer experiences that are personalised, real-time, relevant and connected across all channels," added Egan.
OVERCOMING LEGACIES
In pursuit of global leadership in digital customer experience and ensuring a return on elevated investment, businesses rely heavily on skills and agility. However, the report shows that, on average, APAC businesses are lagging behind their global counterparts in these crucial operational capabilities.
According to the report, 83 per cent of APAC business leaders are worried that their organisation doesn't have the necessary skills they need. In addition, digital skills was ranked as the joint top barrier to digital experience delivery together with poor integration between tech systems.
The report also reveals that half of brands feel that the biggest obstacle holding them back was digital skills and capabilities and that 55 per cent thought that investing in work and project management would be key to drive productivity.
APAC businesses are believed to have untapped opportunities in viable talent attraction and employee retention, and in a world where remote and flexible working is commonplace, a market research by Forrester outlines that only 40 per cent of APAC business leaders intend to make remote work permanent compared to 70 per cent on a global scale.
Similarly, the report by Adobe also shows 55 per cent of APAC leaders expect hybrid work to return to pre-pandemic levels, while just 36 per cent plan to hire remote workers at levels higher than before the pandemic.
With a global constraint on the availability of digital talent, not embracing remote working is believed to further constrict supply and further delay businesses digital transformation goals.
In terms of agility, 92 per cent of APAC leaders 'agree' that their ability to be agile will decide their success. However, the report shows that just 25 per cent of practitioners rate their organisation's agility in responding to opportunities and disruptions as positive (above eight out of 10).
According to Adobe Asia Pacific and Japan's chief technology advisor, Scott Rigby, despite the low acceptance of new hybrid or remote working arrangements, and low agility rating, most respondents expect more changes to continue happening.
"Given that, 84 per cent of APAC organisations expect the rate of technological and social change to continue at the same or higher levels, developing the skills, agility and innovation required to keep pace should remain a top strategic priority," said Rigby.
NEW DIGITAL AND MOBILE-FIRST
Based on the responses, the Adobe's 2022 Digital Trends: APAC in Focus report finds that 77 per cent of APAC businesses have experienced a surge in new customers through digital channels over the past 18 months, and another 77 per cent saw new customer journeys. Even so, only 25 per cent of the businesses agreed that they have significant insight into this new wave of digital-first customers.
Contributing to these new online behaviours is the 130 million new APAC mobile subscribers that became first-time internet users in 2021.
In a bid to meet new customer expectations, the majority (59pc) of APAC businesses are stepping up their investment in customer experience management, edging ahead of North America (57pc) and Europe (53pc).
"Understanding and serving a new breed of online consumers, many with mobile-first preferences, has become the new competitive battleground for APAC businesses," said Rigby adding that while many organisations are responding decisively by fast-tracking investment in improving the digital experience, spending alone is unlikely to set the leaders apart.
In Malaysia alone, 36 per cent of all digital service consumers are new to the service due to Covid-19, pointing towards faster digital transformation in the coming years.
These new mobile-first users in emerging APAC economies such as Malaysia are 'leapfrogging' consumers in more mature digital markets, rapidly adopting advanced digital behaviours such as mobile payments usage.
The report also shows that 60 per cent of APAC businesses are expected to accelerate investment in customer data technology with 45 per cent of Asian interviewees said that their digital experience lags customer expectations and another 45 per cent said it kept pace.
DIGITAL MATURITY, THE PROS AND CONS
Taking a closer look at businesses between Australia, New Zealand, Asia and India show unique opportunities and challenges.
For the comparably more digitally advanced markets like the Australian and New Zealand, simplifying their technology stack is a priority for one in three businesses, far more than in Asia (13 per cent) and India (24 per cent).
However, businesses based in India are more likely to see new digital customer behaviours as new internet users emerge.
They too have greater focus on artificial intelligence to deliver experiences as compared to other markets in APAC, and more practitioners in India consider their innovation capabilities and collaboration with technology teams to be strong.
Poor integration between systems is also ranked as the top factor holding back marketing organisations in Australia and New Zealand, illustrating the potential drawbacks of longstanding digital legacies.
Asian businesses on the other hand, rate lack of skills as their top barrier and are prioritising development as a result.
Compared with practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and India, substantially more Asian respondents see room for improvement in innovation capabilities as well as gaining customer insights.