Press Release

New York, NY, November 2, 2022 – Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation company, released today its second annual “Guide to Next'' 2023 reports. These reports provide an outlook of key trends expected to shape the world of business in the year ahead across diverse industries that organizations, from retail and financial services to energy and commodities and transportation, must focus on as they strive for transformational growth.

According to the reports, there are three top trends organizations should embrace: creating value through new digital touchpoints, leveraging data effectively to elevate customer experiences and putting sustainability at the heart of business strategy.

New Digital Touch Points Will Create Value

The rise of new digital touchpoints, like virtual experiences and the metaverse, are creating new opportunities and value for brands. There’s potential for new revenue streams by integrating these new digital touchpoints into organizations’ business models and services, combining both online and physical worlds. The metaverse, for example, may profoundly change how companies and consumers interact with products, services and each other in the coming years. It could serve as another channel where brands can sell products directly to consumers, whether that be virtual products or products that are delivered to them in the physical world.

According to a recent Publicis Sapient survey¹, two out of five consumers globally have an interest in doing things in the metaverse and a third expressed interest in using the metaverse to see how products look in 3D before making purchases. Although adoption and interest in the metaverse are still relatively low, as technology evolves, so will consumer needs. This means that organizations need to be ready to adapt quickly as consumer demands change. In addition, those enterprises that create metaverse experiences stand to have a competitive advantage over those that don’t when it comes to reaching the generation to watch – Gen Z – which, by the end of this decade, is expected to earn more than millennials.

“This next generation of digital experiences has the potential to not just create new revenue streams, but also offer new ways to increase consumer engagement and foster brand loyalty to better connect with Gen Z consumers," said AJ Dalal, GVP, Enterprise Data Strategy at Publicis Sapient. "There's a lot of experimentation to be done, but brands that leverage metaverse experiences to drive innovation could lay down the path for engaging younger audiences."

Put Data To Work For Better Customer Experiences

Engaging customer experiences are critical to the sustained growth of any business. In fact, according to a recent Publicis Sapient survey², 73% of consumers would stop shopping at a retailer after an unpleasant experience. Furthermore, most consumers today are accustomed to personalized experiences, and when it comes to customer loyalty, details matter. To enable personalization at scale, organizations need to make significant investments in their data. The right technology makes data more actionable. This could mean integrating technology like customer data platforms (CDPs) that enables getting to know consumers better, understanding their attitudes and preferences, and using that information to tailor content, messaging, channel and timing, in order to deliver hyper-personalized care offerings.

“An enterprise-ready CDP leveraging modern cloud infrastructures should be at the center of any data strategy and be equipped to move beyond data storage and be able to analyze and activate insights from across the organization in real time,” said Raymond Velez, Executive Vice President at Publicis Sapient. "Companies that capture first-party data can create robust and relevant data sets that they use for their own purposes, like delivering better customer experiences that can help build stronger loyalty."

Additionally, technologies like artificial intelligence will continue to play an important role in improving an organization's ability to put data to work more efficiently through better ​​analysis, data mining, and predictive analytics to understand customers' needs. Forging lasting customer relationships through personalized and engaging experiences is crucial, but the right data strategy will prove more important in the year ahead.  

Ensure Sustainability Is At The Heart Of Your Business Strategy

Sustainability is now a key consideration in a consumer’s purchase decision and has become increasingly critical for organizations to remain relevant and competitive in today’s world.

Customers want to know where products are coming from and how they can be reused or recycled to reduce waste. In fact, a recent Publicis Sapient survey³ shows that 71% of consumers said it’s important to know where the products purchased are sourced from and 62% are willing to pay for more environmentally sustainable products. However, consumers are also growing wary of “greenwashing,” a term for empty promises or green labels with no action behind them.

“With more consumers waking up to the realization that their choices have a profound impact on the environment, not just in terms of what they buy but also how they buy, expect to see an increasing number of companies explore opportunities to work with consumers in a more transparent and collaborative way to reduce environmental impact, inspire more responsible consumption, and strive for a better planet," said Scott Clarke VP and Consumer Products Lead at Publicis Sapient. "In this new model, consumer relationships will evolve from ‘direct-to’ to ‘direct-with’ and the company’s commitment to sustainability will become increasingly democratized and inclusive. Look to companies to become more ‘movement-driven’ and to start creating empowered communities of consumers, united by a common purpose and action, and to work side by side with these communities on issues of shared importance, particularly around improvements to the planet and society.”

To truly drive suitability throughout every part of the business, organizations must prioritize sustainability in their corporate strategy. Embedding sustainability in overall business strategies is crucial for long-term success, especially as millennials and Gen Z grow to make up the majority of the global customer base.

To view the "Guide to Next" 2023 reports for these industries – retail, financial services, energy and commodities, health, public sector, consumer products, telecommunications, media and technology, travel and hospitality, and transportation and mobility, please visit here.

About Publicis Sapient

Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation company. We partner with global organizations to help them create and sustain competitive advantage in a world that is increasingly digital. We operate through our expert SPEED capabilities: Strategy and Consulting, Product, Experience, Engineering and Data, which combined with our culture of curiosity and deep industry knowledge, enables us to deliver meaningful impact to our clients’ businesses through reimagining the products and experiences their customers truly value. Our agile, data-driven approach equips our clients’ businesses for change, making digital the core of how they think and what they do. Publicis Sapient is the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe with 20,000 people and over 50 offices worldwide. For more information, visit publicissapient.com.