Smartwatch Customer Journey Map and Digital Transformation Report

This report examines the disruption in the smartwatch industry, focusing on Apple as a disruptor and the challenges faced by incumbents. It explores digital transformation initiatives and business strategies, highlighting the importance of customer experience. The report includes a customer journey map with recommendations for digital innovations to compete effectively against disruptors and achieve a competitive advantage. It discusses potential business benefits and required technology initiatives to improve performance, emphasizing the role of digital technology in enhancing overall customer experience and market position. The report concludes with insights on leveraging digital transformation for sustained growth and customer satisfaction. Desklib provides access to similar assignments and study resources for students.

Customer Journey
Map and Report to
CIO

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Industry that has been disrupted and identifying a particular 'incumbent' and 'the disruptor'.........1
Key challenges industry is facing in general, as well as 'The Incumbent' - referring to as ‘The
Organisation'....................................................................................................................................2
Organisation's digital transformation initiatives and associated business strategies.......................4
Nature of the 'product' at the centre of the Digital Transformation initiative (Corporate,
General Public, etc)................................................................................................................4
'Services and/or products' provided by the Organisation that could use an 'update'; 'uplift in
Customer Experience'.............................................................................................................4
Digital Technology can support an improvement in the overall customer experience..........5
Competitive advantage and ensuing impact of the Organisation's digital transformation on.........6
Overall customer experience..................................................................................................6
The general marketplace in which Organisation competes....................................................7
A customer journey map and accompanying report for presentation to the CIO of Your
Organisation.....................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations of potential initiatives/digital innovations to help the Organisation compete
effectively against The Disruptor(s) and attain competitive advantage...........................................9
Potential business benefits of proposed Digital Transformation initiative in terms of the
Organisation's competitive advantage....................................................................................9
Required technology initiatives to drive uplift in performance............................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Customer journey map refers to the process of creating a journey map for customers to
determine vivid customer interactions with a particular brand, product and service. The customer
journey maps are important to determine the customer pain points and improve their customer
journey. It needs the research for experiences of the users with the company's product and
services by identifying their sentiments or experience (Vocell, 2021). The following report will
be focusing on the smartwatch industry that has been disrupted by identifying a particular
incumbent and disruptor. It will also identify and discover main problems that are faced by the
smartwatch industry as well as the incumbent with the help of a chosen organisation. Moreover,
it will identify some of the digital transformation initiatives and business strategies that the
organisation uses for enhancing customer experience. Also, it will also examine the competitive
advantage of the company by utilising the digital transformation for enhancing customer
experience and covering larger market areas. Furthermore, it will present a customer journey
map and accompanying report to be presented to the CIO of the chosen organisation. It will also
recommend the subtle initiative and digital innovations that organisations can utilise for
competing against the disruptors and gain competitive advantage for growth. Finally, it will
describe reporting benefits to the business again by utilising the digital transformation and
technology initiative for uplifting the business performance.
Industry that has been disrupted and identifying a particular 'incumbent' and
'the disruptor'
Disruptions are a natural product of market economics that lead to the innovation and
development of new technology for improving the quality of life for human beings (Rinaldi,
2021). It has been since the beginning of time for innovations and will remain persistent in the
upcoming future. Digital disruption is among the most common phenomena across the globe that
has affected the value change and industries, creating gainful opportunities, dissolving some
incumbrancers such as Kodak, Apple etc. The smartwatch industry and market trends consists of
many leading vendors and companies including Apple, Xiaomi, Fitbit and many others that are
operating in this industry. These products have many features that serve the customers including
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the notifications, alerts, alarms, recording mode, fitness trackers, applications, voice
communication etc. According to this smartwatch industry analysis, Apple has produced and
shipped more than 30 million units of its smart watches in 2019 which is expected to be 50%
more than the entire Swiss wrist watch industry.
Disruptions have occurred in the smartwatch industry as the product satisfies the creation of
New Market by entering the market as a niche. Apple sells its smart watches to the people who
wear watches and to those who don't that describe the coverage of the company into the new
market for growth. The Apple smart watches already create asymmetric motivation for entering
higher performance segments whereas the existing competitors like Samsung, Sony, Pebble,
Zolo, 5ive, and others will also be under pressure to integrate them with it. The existing players
will try to fight the competition against Apple on utilising this technology and create a disruptive
model (Austin, 2021). It is important for the incumbents to understand their challenges and use
the benefits to build barriers to entry and competitive advantage with the help of delicate and
balanced acts of exploration and exploitation. Digital transformation has been termed as the
fourth industrial revolution and it has given birth to the new generation of technology such
as artificial intelligence (AI), artificial reality (AR), cloud technology, robotics, big data,
machine learning and cloud computing, digital transformation will be gaining higher pace. Any
industry transformation is descriptive to the existing business models and markets and it creates
opportunities for new businesses, new entrance, start-ups, research and development, innovative
opportunities etc.
Key challenges industry is facing in general, as well as 'The Incumbent' -
referring to as ‘The Organisation'
Like many new products in various industries, these smart watches are also developing their
pathways into the customer lifestyles. The research done by Parks Associates research shows that
the number of people who are willing to purchase smartwatches is increasing constantly. The
growing interest of the customers towards the smart watches overview years have resulted in the
increase in new companies and competition in the smartwatch industry (Corbett, Huggins, Price
& Twibill, 2019). The smart watch producers and manufacturers like Apple smart watches are
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thinking to create a higher level of demand for their smart watches but certain challenges exist
that are elaborated below.
 Concept of style conscious design instead of gadget like design: The early entrants into
the smartwatch industry were focused on improving technology for the device. Now the
companies and new entrances like Apple are focusing on the fashion and customer
expectations or influence for increasing their sales.
 Inadequate information about uses, defects and functionality: The smartwatch
manufacturers are struggling with the market to target the customers precisely or for
general purpose or functionality. The lack of clear value proposition or killer applications
has also created the lack of undifferentiated products and reduced satisfaction among the
customers.
 Confusion regarding the distribution channels: The smartwatch industry mainly runs
on two major criteria that are technology and fashion (Denning, 2016). The technology
and fashion industries have their own channels for reaching the customers and have clear
distribution channels, which makes it difficult for the smartwatch manufacturers to
distribute their products to the customers.
 The pricing of the product: The smart watches are launched with a high price range and
show the requirement of margin requirements for increasing their profits. These watches
come in the category of luxury watches and for those people who wish to wear luxury
watches, the style of these watches does not fulfil that criterion. The consumers in the
market do not wish to spend such a high amount for something similar to their
smartphones.
 Improper fitness tracking: The watches tend to provide real time health and fitness
information but this information are largely incorrect and majorly focus on a single point
of the body that provides accurate data. There is opportunity for these companies like
Apple smart watches for enhancing their fitness tracking systems for improving the data
in the best possible ways.
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Organisation's digital transformation initiatives and associated business
strategies
Nature of the 'product' at the centre of the Digital Transformation initiative (Corporate, General
Public, etc)
Smart watches are among the very important parts for the development of wearable
gadgets with the help of IT technology and fashion products. Smart watch is similar to a small
computer in the form of a watch that consists of a touch screen interface and many uses in day to
day life. The smart watches provide various options for general personality that can be used by
the general public as well as the corporate and government organisations. It mainly consists of
functions similar to the smartphones including the applications, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
connectivity, portable device, radio, audio visual aspects and many other functions pre-installed
to be used by the general public. Smart watches are advancing mainly with their design, battery
and fitness applications by the use of digital technology and digital transformation.
'Services and/or products' provided by the Organisation that could use an 'update'; 'uplift in
Customer Experience'
Over the last few years the wrist watches have significantly changed their shape and
function and offer many additional functions in the current time (Ab Rahman, Hamid & Chin
2017). It mainly consists of functions similar to the smartphones including the applications,
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, portable device, radio, audio visual aspects and many other
functions pre-installed to be used by the general public. The smart watches have developed from
a small category of expensive and highly specialized luxury digital watches that focused on
extreme sports and have moved towards becoming inexpensive gadgets. The introduction of
smart watches such as the Apple smartwatch or the Fossil sports smartwatch has also brought
dramatic changes over time. With the growing adoption and advancement of technology across
the world and emergence of the E-Commerce and digital transformation the smart watches has
also changed. After the outbreak of covid-19 the digital transformation has occurred in almost all
fields of the market. The Apple smart watches provide many services to the customers such as
touch screen interphase Hindi device that provides mobile operating systems, applications,
connectivity, calling, radio etc. With the help of digital transformation tools like 5G and internet
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of things, data fabrics, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, cloud technology and
everything as a service can be helpful for uplifting the customer experience.
Digital Technology can support an improvement in the overall customer experience
Digital transformation refers to the integration of digital technology into the areas of business
that result in many changes like improving the customer experience, better business operations
and delivering value to the customers. The Apple smartwatch manufacturers have understood
that the utilisation of digital technology is very important to stand in the comparative market and
connect to the customers effectively. It is very essential for the organisation and the smartwatch
producers like Apple smartwatch focus on inviting customer experience by delivering excellent
technology to them. Some of the ways by which the use of digital technology by Apple
smartwatch can create great customer experience journey are elaborated below.
 Defining the customer experience that the company wants to offer can help to deliver
the best customer experience journey across all the platforms in the market (Lucas &
Goh, 200).
 Making user-friendly products and easy to use products such as fitness bands and
smartwatches that are compatible with the customers can enhance their experience
journey with the product.
 Optimising for mobile friendly uses is also important to create better smartwatches and
enhance customer experience journeys over a long time.
 Personalisation and automation can also be helpful for ensuring and delivering high
quality products for achieving greater customer experience.
 Improving fitness data by Apple smart watches could also help to improve the
performance of the devices for enhancing the customer experience as well as their health.
Delivering the excellent and consistent customer experience is a multi-layered approach that
can be enhanced by the use of digital technology for delivering the best customer experience.
Customer experience is a continuous process and it develops everlasting relations among the
customer and the Apple smart watches.
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Competitive advantage and ensuing impact of the Organisation's digital
transformation on
Overall customer experience
The customer expectations and experience are constantly changing with the changes in
technology across the global markets. One of the reasons behind the dynamic customer
expectations is the rapid upgradation of technologies and digital transformation across all the
sectors that create the path for success and growth of an organisation. With the help of digital
transformation the companies across the world are witnessing highly positive impact on their
business revenue and optimisation of customer experience in excellent manners. Technology
advancement and digitalisation has raised the expectations of customers for a product and service
and similarly it has also affected the customer experience gained from Apple smart watches.
According to McKinsey, the rapid digital transformation has also changed the customer
experience process and the companies and acting those digital transformation tools have seen or
witnessed the growth of revenue up to 10 to 15% and cost reduction to 10%. There are certain
factors that must be considered for digital transformation that are elaborated below. Improving
the website design and customer oriented data by considering following points:
 Consider the customers, needs, desires and expectations for creating or designing such
products that can fill the customer needs more effectively (Smith & Anderson, 2014).
 Improving the customer journey to improve the customer experience is another key
aspect for improving the customer experience through digital transformation.
 Observing the companies that are doing better like Xiaomi, Fitbit, and Samsung etc. for
developing products that are highly consumer oriented and improves their experience.
 Using the big data for analysing the customer needs and requirements, customer feedback
and other aspects for providing excellent digital customer services.
With the help of digital transformation the customer experience program can be enhanced
and customers can be satisfied with their experience to ensure their loyalty towards the brand
(McWaters, Galaski, & Chaterjee, 2016). Apple smart watches utilize various digital
transformation techniques such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning,
artificial reality, data algorithms, etc. for enhancing customer experience. This has given a
holistic growth to the company and a better approach for enhancing customer experience and
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optimising their responsibility towards excellent customer service with the help of digital
technology.
The general marketplace in which Organisation competes
The digital transformation also has the organisation to compete more effectively in the
marketplace and cover a larger market area by investing fewer amounts towards market analysis.
With the use of big data and cloud computing the company can easily understand the specific
market areas that can be covered for improving the number of sales. Digital transformation
technology is like cloud computing and big data provides information about the latest trends of
the customers for enhancing their custom experience (Wlomert & Papoes, 2016). With the help
of big data and digital tools Apple smart watches can easily segment, target and place their
products into the market for covering larger areas. This provides a higher opportunity of growth
for the organisation and increases the competitiveness of the firm in the market.
A customer journey map and accompanying report for presentation to the
CIO of Your Organisation
Customer journey map is a visualisation of a customer's experience with a particular product
or services of an organisation or a brand that decides their loyalty towards the organisation.
 Awareness: People do not purchase a product until they know whether that product exists
or not. Apple has a reputation for indigenous and campaigns that leans their customers
towards their products and services due to the high brand value. With the help of
awareness campaigns and advertisements along with the strategic PR and generating the
digital data that offers the information about the new updates and products are services
helps to spread awareness across the customers. In the similar way Apple smart watches
were also presented in the market that created demand for the product.
 Consideration: It is the company's values and culture that provides a support to the
customers against the competition (Seligman, 2018). Apple does not have such products
that are cheap or of low quality and are highly priced as compared to the competitions.
But the company provides a unique value proposition that can also be seen in its smart
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watches that determine the product's unique selling points in the market and attracts
customers towards the product.
 Acquisition: It can be explained as the phase when the prospects become the real
customers and it should be done in a less complex manner. Apple sides its customers
smoothly through the acquisition process for buying the new smart watches or other
products with the help of various payment options that may be full or partial or monthly
instalment. Apple tries to remove every impediment that can enter the customer
experience by improving the performance within the shops.
 Retention: The new customers are as important as the customers who are most loyal to
the organisation because the company is always willing to make the people satisfied with
their products. This helps to create better retention of the new customers within the
organisation and improve the customer loyalty towards the organisation. Apple has a high
level of customer loyalty and customer retention with the help of digital technology and
support tools that provide a high level of customer value where the customer reaches
ecstasy.
 Advocacy: When the customer passes through the various phases they don't just become
loyal to the organisation but they become defence who support the organisation with
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word of mouth. Apple smart watches and other products are highly preferred by the
customers and the people who purchase these products gain a level of superiority and
likely they also create a demand for the products of the company.
Recommendations of potential initiatives/digital innovations to help the
Organisation compete effectively against The Disruptor(s) and
attain competitive advantage
Potential business benefits of proposed Digital Transformation initiative in terms of the
Organisation's competitive advantage
There are many advantages and benefits of digital transformation that are gained by the
Apple smartwatch. The return on investment for digital transformation programs have various
results depending upon their performance and outputs generated (Koetz, 2018).
 Increases efficiency and productivity: With the help of digital technologies Apple smart
watches has improved the pace of the processes and streamlined the operations
effectively. With the help of automation technology, artificial intelligence, information
communication technology etc. companies have obtained a higher level of efficiency in
completing the work.
 Better resource management: with the utilisation of end to end digital technology the
company has also improved the utilisation of resources without wastage and eliminated
the duplication of work. With the help of automated technology, IT architecture and
robotic processes the utilisation of resources is much more efficient as compared to
previous processes.
 Higher level of resilience: The organisations that utilise digital technology are able to
build a digital culture and adapt easily to the changes in political, social, economic,
technology, ecological and legal environment in the external market. The use of cloud
computing, big data and the internet has provided much elasticity to the Apple
smartwatch producers for adapting to any situation.
 Improve customer experience by increasing responsiveness: With the help of digital
technology and transformation like social media, web and other digital tools has
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enhanced the reach of organisation to its customers. With the help of this the companies
can utilize data analysis and artificial intelligence to create such products that are more
alluring to the customers for deriving a higher level of experience.
 Greater innovation: With the help of digital transformation the companies are able to
innovate with higher speeds and generate new ideas for developing customer experience
(Venkatesan, Petersen and Guissoni, 2018). With the help of artificial intelligence and
artificial reality the Apple smartwatch producers have speculated ways to enhance
customer experience by developing the products in a more fashionable manner.
Required technology initiatives to drive uplift in performance
The Apple smart watch has utilised various digital transformation technology for enhancing
the overall performance of the product in the market. Some of the digital transformation
strategies and technology that Apple smartwatch producers have utilized are elaborated below.
 Mobile: With the help of mobile technology the company has developed such smart
watches that can be more users interactive and enhance customer experience (Micheaux,
Bosio 2019).
 Cloud and bock chain technology: By utilising the hybrid cloud technology and block
chain, Apple smart watch have developed products that are 41% more compatible to the
people smart devices.
 Making accessible websites: The use of the internet and web has become very common
in today's world. As per the survey of the world economic forum more than 70% of
people across the globe have access to 4G internet, and the companies utilize IoT data for
improving customer experience.
 Robotics: One of the major digital transformations that were adopted by Apple
smartwatch producers is the use of robotic processes in their production process. This has
increased the operational efficiency and lowered down the wastage of resources.
The digital transformation technology has provided a vital opportunity for growth of the
organisations and has improved the company's overall performance.
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CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above report that the customer journey mapping is very
important for an organisation to determine the customer pain points and improve the overall
experience of the customers with the brand. The report has been explaining about the disruptions
and incumbents within the smartwatch industry or watch industry. Moreover, it has been
providing information about the challenges that are faced by the industry such as concept of
product design, defects and functionality, improper distribution channels, level of pricing etc.
Also, it has been explaining about various digital technology transformations and business
strategies like defining customer experience, making user friendly products, personalization and
automation etc. for improving user experience journey. Furthermore, it has been describing the
competitive advantage for the organisation by using digital transformation for enhancing
customer experience and covering larger market areas. In this context, it has been providing a
customer journey map of awareness, consideration, acquisition, retention and advocacy for the
company. Finally the report has been providing benefits of digital transformation such as
increase in efficiency, high productivity, resource management, flexibility, innovation etc. and
various technologies that can uplift the performance such as cloud, internet of things, robotics
etc.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Corbett, P, Huggins, K, Price, P& Twibill, S 2019, Deloittle mobile Customer Survey 2019’
Deloitte Publishing. Pp. 1-34.
Denning, S 2016,’Christen updates disruption theory’, strategy and leadership, vol.44 no.2. pp.
10-16.
Koetz, C., 2018. Managing the customer experience: a beauty retailer deploys all tactics. Journal
of Business Strategy.
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photography revolution’, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol. 18, no. 1.
Pp.46-55.
McWaters, R, Galaski, R & Chaterjee, S 2016,’the future of financial infrastructure: An
ambitious look at how block chain can reshape financial services’, in World Economic
Forum, 12 August.
Micheaux A, Bosio B 2019. Customer journey mapping as a new way to teach data-driven
marketing as a service. Journal of Marketing Education. 2019 Aug;41(2):127-40.
Rinaldi, J 2021, ‘Inclusive Design: 11 ways to make your website more accessible in 2021’,
iMPACT, 26th January.
Seligman, J., 2018. Customer experience management-the experiential journey. Lulu. com.
Smith, A & Anderson, J 2014,’Al, Robotics and Future of Jobs’, Pew Research Centre, 6
August.
Venkatesan, R, Petersen, J A and Guissoni, L, 2018. Measuring and managing customer
engagement value through the customer journey. In Customer engagement marketing (pp.
53-74). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Vocell, J 2021, ‘The 11 elements of modern web Design 9and web designs to watch)’, Hubspot,
3 September.
Wlomert, N & Papoes, D 2016, ‘On-demand streamlining services and music industry revenues:
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vol. 33, no. 2. pp. 314-327.
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