Which tech trends are really driving mobile digital products?, Manchester

Event summary

On Wednesday 22nd May, we gathered digital experts to explore which trends are working, or missing the mark, for major brands. Our panellists included:

• Rob Barlow, Principal Product Owner at Asda Rewards

• Emma Aldington, Senior Content Designer at eBay

• Adam Fleming, Chief Technology Officer at Apadmi

Personalisation - but not as you know it

A challenge for many businesses is finding a balance in catering to a variety of customers and their often contrasting needs. When it comes to mobile apps, some users will want more advanced functionality and features, while other customers may find this overwhelming or unhelpful.

Asda’s Rob Barlow explained: “There are some customers who might already struggle with elements of our current app, so we have to be careful not to isolate these users by adding further, more complex technology to our digital products.”

However, the challenge comes when there are also customers where AI and new technologies might be relevant and drive ROI for your business.

“We can’t leave anyone behind - so you have to be creative with personalisation. We’re playing with ideas of leveraging tech to create different versions of the app for different customers, so that we can create value for everyone.

“At the end of the day, we can’t just add things to our app for the sake of them. You have to carefully identify and understand different groups of customers - it’s something many retailers say, but you have to hold onto this as a value.”

Utilising tech to create a whole new level of personalisation is an interesting avenue that for many, could unlock a great deal of value. 

Creating an immersive, premium shopping experience

Retail perhaps lends itself more readily to the world of augmented and virtual experiences and we’ve seen some brands dive in head first. When done right, it can create a premium feel for the customer. Being able to virtually try on clothes at home before purchasing them online, especially in the second hand market, is a game changer. 

Clearly a platform like eBay has to be all over the virtual shopping experience. Senior Content Designer at eBay Emma Adlington elaborated on the good and the bad: “In the beauty space brands like Dior are doing this well, with technology that allows customers to trial a range of make-up items in different shades on their own skin virtually before purchasing. The whole user journey is smooth and allows customers to purchase products with ease.

“However, you can also miss the mark. L’Oreal tried something similar, but it didn’t hit the mark in quite the same way and the user experience wasn’t particularly easy. It shows execution is really key when it comes to using new technologies.”

Accessibility - can AI really help?

AI and accessibility is understandably a hot topic. Generative AI can be used to spin up different UIs on the fly, so when someone opens a website it looks different depending on their accessibility needs, and it constantly regenerates based upon how they’re using the site.

“On the surface this sounds great,” explained Emma. “But it was actually a bit of a miss with many accessibility advocates."

Our panellists agreed that many businesses still don’t see the ROI of implementing accessibility into their digital products. There are many guidelines and tools out there that can be used to enhance accessibility, but what is lacking is investment in these.

“Progress can be made with the tools we already have, we don’t need new tech to do that. Just saying we use AI to make things accessible isn’t quite right.” Emma argued.

“However, where there is real potential is with the things that we can’t do already. There have been examples of people translating video content into multiple languages with AI, but they are also using AI to change how their mouth moves for each language, so those who lip read can still understand the content, which is amazing.”

Experiment and pivot

We’ve previously discussed the importance of giving people room to experiment and play with new tech at our future-thinking event earlier in the year. 

The topic cropped up again. Rob said: “You need to generate the time to understand and play around with technology - it’s clear to me that the tech out there is mature, but there is still a gap to be bridged. It’s about finding the right way to apply the technology in a way that helps people. Asda is in the game and we want to drive forward quickly if we can - we’ve been doing that for 6-8 months now.”

Apadmi’s CTO Adam Fleming reiterated that you have to spend time understanding and exploring actual, practical use cases for new technologies before investing fully in them. 

“I love playing with technology and see real value in that,” shared Adam. “But the only time you want to actually take a new piece of technology to market within your digital product is when there is a fully fledged and proven use case at the end of it.

"That's not to say don't experiment with tech - do! Afterall, the cost of failure is usually lower than the cost of not taking any action at all. Just make sure you're creating the right use cases for your business."

Emma also explained how the eBay Web3 team had pivoted when it came to the type of tech they were exploring and experimenting with.  

“Our Web3 team had originally been born out of NFTs and digital art, but that wasn’t a long-term play for us. We pivoted and we’re looking at different applications of blockchain. It’s about authenticity, tracing, sustainability and having a secure system to log everything with a digital stamp”.

Remember what you’re really selling - tech vs baked beans

It can be easy to get swept up with shiny new tech toys, but realistically, if you are not a tech company this can’t be your only focus. 

“Asda isn’t a tech business, it’s more about exploring how tech can help our business,” explained Rob. “At the end of the day, we’re a grocery store that sells baked beans (and much more) and we can’t lose sight of that.” 

Adam reiterated, "Eventually these technologies will become commoditised. Tools won’t generate revenue, but how we use them will. Think about how technology can uplift your core business."

Whilst new technologies are helping to drive digital products, you can’t forget what sits at the heart of your business, and what your customer wants, and needs from you. It then really becomes about figuring out where it best fits in and making the most of that while keeping it easy for customers. Easy right…?

If you’d like to talk to our experts at Apadmi about how we might be able to help new technologies support your business, we’d love to hear from you.