Insight
How the U.S. Presidential Election Is Ratcheting Up Risk for Fashion Stocks
Matt Katz shares key considerations for retailers navigating today’s complex market in this WWD article.
Learn More
Insight
SSA & Company Notebook: Digital Tools to Get Ahead During Constant Change
< BACK TO INSIGHTS
Insight
SSA & Company Notebook: Digital Tools to Get Ahead During Constant Change
Note From Our CEO:
The impact of COVID-19 continues to shift priorities for businesses, employees, and customers, and the acceleration of cultural and generational trends has been relentless. As the challenges of the new environment evolve across all industries, leaders continue to look to digital transformation to position their organizations for ongoing success in the future. Inside this newsletter, you’ll find the most recent insights from SSA & Company industry experts on how to navigate new realities. Below, a “deep dive” roadmap in Digital Transformation, a series of thought pieces focused on the insurance industry, and a host of perspectives from our retail experts.
SSA & Company is growing! As the needs of our industries evolve, so do we. Get to know our newest hires and recently promoted team members here.
SSA & Company Deep Dive
When a Digital Transformation Is Nearly Grounded at Takeoff
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our financial services team was working to roll out a multi-million-dollar digital transformation for a leading re-insurance organization. The goal was to work with the organization to digitize its global operating model to expedite transaction execution, reduce cost, enhance overall service delivery, and grow its competitive advantage. Despite obstacles, our team successfully developed the business case for digitization, drove consensus and adoption of global standards, and oversaw execution.
Read the full deep dive into our team’s work here.
Our Latest Thought Leadership
1. Post-COVID Customer Service: Where AI Can Help
| COVID-19 drastically altered customer expectations relating to every aspect of the retail experience. As we enter a new environment, shoppers will no longer tolerate pandemic-era excuses from retailers and are back operating under the mindset that the customer is always right. AI can be the solution for retailers trying to meet evolving customer service needs, as many have come to embrace new technologies during the pandemic. AI-driven tech can fuel predictive personalization, helping supercharge even the most intuitive and knowledgeable customer service agents.
Read the full article here. |
|
- The Insurance Industry Can Reposition to Appeal to Digitally Savvy Youth – The insurance industry finds itself facing a crisis of talent as technology and digital enablement are rapidly shifting both internal processes and customer interaction models and experience. This has led to the need for a realignment of resources, governance, and infrastructure to accommodate employees in these new working environments- and strongly affects talent acquisition, from recruiting to managing that talent.
- Talent Crisis Will Drive Change in Insurance – Insurance companies must reach out to a non-traditional pool of applicants to attain the diversified talent they need. The talent crisis, coupled with other market forces, will require a massive shift within insurance recruiting, talent management, and digital adoption techniques. Successful firms will embrace challenges and deploy teams to serve their customers in more nimble ways, to attract, nurture, and keep the talent they need to sustain their business.
3. Commercial Insurance Brokers – Disrupters Are Headed for You
| The commercial insurance brokerage space is ripe for disruption unless legacy brokerages can get there first. By investing in digital transformation, incumbents can become more agile, fend off new entrants, and disrupt the disruptors. Brokers must recognize the urgency to amplify the digital journey to protect the business not only from outside disruptors but also from system obsolescence and operational risk from within. Digital transformation will result in efficiency gains, improved customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, back-office empowerment to gain market share.
Read the full article here. |
4. Digital is Fueling an Insurance Evolution
|
Retail Perspective in the Press
- Retail TouchPoints: Making the Most of BNPL: How Education and Total Cost Transparency Can Lead to Bigger Baskets
- Sourcing Journal: DTC, Drop Shipping and the New Normal
- CNN Business: Amazon Helped Crush Department Stores. Now it Reportedly Wants to Be One
- Insider: 5 E-Commerce Technology Trends Brands Are Thinking About Right Now, According to Experts
- New York Times: Brandon Blackwood Blows Up
- Retail TouchPoints: Customer Service Can Be Retailer’s Secret Weapon in Building Customer Loyalty
- The Robin Report: Sak’s Bold Move
Interested in having insights like these sent directly to your inbox? Sign up for our newsletter here.
Share
Recommended Insights
Insight
Solutions Designed for Retail Associates Need to Keep the Customer Experience in Mind
As retailers continue to test new in-store solutions to cut costs and accommodate labor shortages, it is essential to consider the impact had on the customer. Nick Kramer outlines the potential implications of these new retail solutions on the in-store shopping experience in this Retail TouchPoints article.
Learn More
Insight
For LendingClub and SoFi, a Rate Cut Rally is Coming
Online lenders are often smaller and less-experienced, leaving them open to additional risk compared to traditional lenders. Pierre Buhler outlines the risks facing digital lenders in this The Information article.
Learn More