We see that digital champion brands look at brand, service, and commerce in an integrated way. At the heart of customer experience lies the continuous improvement of these three dimensions. Disruptors like HelloFresh (Food), Coolblue (Retail), and AirBnB (Travel) have combined brand, service, and commerce into a platform that gives the customer a distinctive total experience thanks to an ecosystem consisting of products and services.

1. BRAND, SERVICE & COMMERCE
CONVERGENCE TACTICS
WWW.VALTECH.NL/BLOG/CONVERGENCE
stijn.van.aert@valtech.com

2. BRAND
COMMERCESERVICE

3. We see that digital champion brands look at brand, service, and
commerce in an integrated way. At the heart of customer experience lies
the continuous improvement of these three dimensions.
Disruptors like HelloFresh (Food), Coolblue (Retail), and AirBnB
(Travel) have combined brand, service, and commerce into a platform
that gives the customer a distinctive total experience thanks to an
ecosystem consisting of products and services.
EXPERIENCE PLATFORMS - The total experience is the product

4. SERVICE COMMERCE
NVERGENCE CONTEXT
digitale winnaars zien brand,
rvice en commerce als een
ïntegreerd geheel en niet als losse
titeiten. In de klantbeleving staat het
rsterken van merk, commerce en
rvice continu centraal. Op de
rschillende assen vinden er specieke
egraties plaats met specifieke focus
ema's:
AND + COMMERCE
rect channels
mnichanneling
arketplaces

5. BRAND COMMERCESERVICE+ +
CONVERGENCE

6. If you aspire the Holy Grail of complete integration as a non-digital
company, you inflict a paralyzing ambition upon your organisation.
Setting strategical priorities on the intersections of digital integration
helps to prevent getting stuck in an abundance of initiatives.
The various integration options are defined and rolled out in
thematically and stepwise manner. Each convergence intersections has
its own attributes, opportunities, and challenges.
In the following slides a selection of various integration tactics
are presented.

7. BRAND
COMMERCESERVICE
• OMNICHANNEL
• GO DIRECT (D2C)
• EXPERIENCE COMMERCE

8. There is still a lot to be gained in the
field of creating seamless commerce
journey experiences,
One trend is that traditional retail
brands are moving the transactional
aspect outside the store, transforming
the physical channel into a service
point.
BRAND + COMMERCE
OMNICHANNEL

9. Going direct is a great opportunity for brand
manufacturers to reclaim ownership of the
customer experience, retain a bigger margin,
and presenting the product assortment with
the right content.
Nowadays, there are multiple models and
mechanisms that invalidate the fear of channel
conflict when creating an own commerce
channel.
For more information please consult this article
GO DIRECT
BRAND + COMMERCE

10. Brand experience added into the
commerce interaction is necessary for a
multitude of products and services in order
to convey a distinctive brand value.
This applies to Fast Moving Consumer
Goods, but also services in which
storytelling is used to make the experience
more tangible in an online environment.
BRAND + COMMERCE
EXPERIENCE
COMMERCE

11. BRAND
COMMERCESERVICE
• SELF-SERVICE
• INSTANT SERVICE
• SMART SUPPORT

12. Self-service ratio and first time right
KPI’s are the business drivers that
enable customers to do more by
themselves.
Service efficiency is not only about
autonomy of the customers. It also
means thinking about how customers
experience the convenience of
interacting with an organisation.
SELF-SERVICE
(CONVENIENCE)
BRAND + SERVICE

13. “Thank you for your question. We
will come back to you with in
answer within 5 days.” #FAIL
Customers want to be serviced
immediately and expect an
organisation to talk back.
INSTANT
SERVICE
BRAND + SERVICE

14. Brands possess a wealth of data
with which they can pro-actively
inform customers. In turn, this can
help improve the service and avoid
negative surprises amongst other
things.
These contact moments also offer
commerce opportunities.
SMART
SUPPORT
BRAND + SERVICE

15. BRAND
COMMERCESERVICE
SUBSCRIPTIONS
BRAND UTILITIES
CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE

16. SERVICE + COMMERCE
SUBSCRIPTIONS
“Everything as a service”
A growing number of services (e.g.
Food, Media, Software) are
offered as a subscription model.
A subscription model enables
customers the convenience and a
low threshold for access to the
services and products.

17. SERVICE + COMMERCE
BRAND UTILITIES
Utilities are added to a product or
service, sometimes even as a
subscription model.
These tools offer relevant insights
and advice in the form of data that
encourages customers to act.

18. SERVICE + COMMERCE
CONVERSATIONAL
COMMERCE
Conversational commerce is a
theme that is gaining momentum.
An example of this is integrating
a virtual assistant into the decision
making process to offer support
and encourage a purchase.

19. CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATORS

20. “The next big thing isn’t a thing.
The next big thing is a change in the
relationships amongst things that are
already there”
CONVERGENCE MINDSET

21. CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATOR 1
THINK
PLATFORM
Brand, service, and commerce
integrations demand an operating
system – functional and technical – in
which products and services
complement each other to create a
total experience.

22. CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATOR 2
EMBRACE
SERVICE DESIGN
As a customer, every step feels
logical, natural, and pleasant. Integral
designing of customer experiences
across touch points and journeys is a
core competence to realize
integration.

23. CONVERGENCE
ACCELERATOR 3
FLEXIBLE
ORGANISATION
In order to realize integration success,
new, more flexible organisational
structures and roles are necessary.
Customer experience needs to be at the
centre of it all, and representatives of
brand, service, and commerce need to
collaborate.

24. THANKS & CHECK
WWW.VALTECH.COM/BLOG/CONVERGENCE