Vice President of Group Human Resources Group Puven Nalatambi explained that the education industry is highly competitive where high-quality talent comes at a premium, and competition for the best people across all functions is fierce.

鈥�To reinforce our reputation as one of the top education providers in Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, we decided to redesign our human resources (HR) systems and processes to empower the team to deliver meaningful, engaging experiences that would help employees learn, grow, and become even more productive,” said Puven.

With its unsurpassed track record built up over the last six decades, it had earned the reputation for being the centre of excellence early years to postgraduate education in Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

“With Taylor鈥檚 University, the British University of Vietnam, Taylor鈥檚 College, and a network of successful international schools, we are constantly aiming to deliver educational excellence at every stage of our students鈥� journeys,” she added.

The facts certainly attest to her statement. According to its , Taylor鈥檚 University is the number one private university in South East Asia, for three consecutive years, and ranked #284 in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

Enter TEG鈥檚 Modern, Centralised Platform

By replacing its outdated HR information systems (HRIS) with a modern, centralised platform, TEG aimed to free its HR professionals from routine administrative tasks and enable them to focus on the employee experience.

“By creating an HR Shared Services Centre, HR operations would become more efficient and strategic. And by empowering employees with self-service functionality, TEG would create a dynamic, engaging workplace that would equip it for success over the next 50 years,” she said.

To help design and implement its new centralised HR platform and resulting experiences, TEG partnered with NTT Data, an 麻豆原创 partner, with over 30 years of experience with 麻豆原创 technology.

NTT Data made significant contributions by introducing leading practices from market leaders in the HR space, helping TEG understand the current trends and identify areas of its existing HR systems and processes to prioritise for improvement.

“Working with the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors team and NTT Data, TEG was also able to localise the solutions for different markets to fulfil legal mandates and gain peace of mind. With the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and 麻豆原创 Concur solutions in place, TEG now has a powerful platform to help transform the employee experience,” said Puven.

麻豆原创 Vice President and Head of Cloud, South East Asia Cynthia Quah said that 麻豆原创 is committed to enable companies to be intelligent, sustainable enterprises.

鈥溌槎乖� brings together the solutions, technology and best practices needed to run integrated, digital business processes in the cloud,鈥� said Cynthia.

She describes 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors as a cloud based human experience management (HXM) solution world-renowned for streamlining processes, winning at the recruitment and retention game, training and re-skilling the workforce.

鈥溌槎乖� SuccessFactors also leverages advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning for the long-term benefit of organisations,鈥� added Cynthia.

麻豆原创 Concur, meanwhile, is one of the world鈥檚 leading brands for integrated travel and expense (T&E), and invoice management solutions.

IDC recently said in a study that , including helping finance teams align the dual priorities of improving control and visibility into administrative areas such as budgeting, forecasting, and T&E policy management while delivering a seamless experience to end users.

Puven said the benefits realised have been enormous and ‘priceless’.

For example, with TEG鈥檚 new recruiting and onboarding workflows, new hires receive information well in advance of their start date, including a personal email from their manager welcoming them to the organisation. Their goals are clearly set, they have access to the materials and resources they need, and they can be assigned a ‘buddy’ to help them find their feet, so they have a positive day-one experience.

“Feedback from new hires has been outstanding, helping to reinforce the perception of TEG as a top employer across the region. Using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HXM Suite in offering a one-stop solution for all our employees鈥� HR needs is a transformative step. It shows our people that we are putting their experience at the centre of everything we do,鈥� added Puven.

Surveys show that TEG staff are impressed with the new employee experience: 75% agree that HR systems are now more powerful, more transparent, and easier to use. There are numerous examples of tangible time savings and productivity gains: for example, processing leave approvals used to take 10 minutes per employee; now the process is instant.

“With a single centralised platform, manual data entry is reduced, significantly improving data quality. As a result, payroll errors are largely a thing of the past, ensuring that all staff get paid correctly and on time, including the right expenses,” Puven added.

“As we continue our digitalisation journey, our 麻豆原创 solutions are helping to empower us to embark on our mission to streamline our HR processes, improve staff retention, and strengthen our position as an employer of choice in the education sector,鈥� concluded Puven.

The post Taylor鈥檚 Education Group Embraces the Cloud with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and 麻豆原创 Concur to Redefine Employee Experiences appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

With this reality, real estate developers are now embracing sustainable practices in their projects to help tackle this challenge. In the Philippines, is among these companies. With a homegrown legacy in acquiring, designing, and developing world-class projects, the Philippine-based real-estate developer strives to build long-lasting structures that are both functional and environmentally friendly. Daiichi Properties is behind the award-winning and premium office buildings in Metro Manila鈥檚 central business districts, including World Plaza, The Finance Centre, One World Place and the upcoming 56 Central.

With almost 30 years of shaping skylines, Daiichi Properties is known for sustainable architecture, design, and engineering. Complementing its award-winning projects with world-class property and customer-centric service, Daiichi Properties formed Daiichi Property Solutions (DPS), its own property management arm in 2017, to provide the utmost quality of real estate solutions to its partners and clients.

However, ensuring a seamless and elevated customer experience is not an easy feat. With the increase in properties managed by DPS concern from its tenants likewise increased as well. Furthermore, record keeping concerning equipment and service charges may have increased human errors as they were prepared by different personnel from each building.

To address this challenge, Daiichi Properties together with its property management arm DPS integrated 麻豆原创 C4C Service with 麻豆原创 Plant Maintenance within 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. Through these 麻豆原创 intelligent technologies, Daiichi improved interactions with tenants and properly maintained the records of all the issues, equipment, and cost charging to clients. With the data on hand, Daiichi made sound decisions that continuously elevated their service level to customers.

鈥溌槎乖� C4C has been helping us build on our customer relationships by offering a faster and more efficient feedback mechanism. It also helped us effectively monitor and track customer concerns with its ticket-based documentation system,鈥� J. Joel Cruz, General Manager, Daiichi Property Solutions, said.

鈥淣owadays, organizations need to be highly agile and swift to navigate disruptions in the business landscape. As real-estate developers like Daiichi Properties embark on their digital transformation journey, they become a testament that technological tools like Cloud and AI can help forge a lasting customer experience. 麻豆原创 aims to continue providing solutions to help companies like Daiichi Properties as they innovate to carve out new markets for persistent problems, define new markers for themselves, and embrace technology to transform their businesses while helping speed up economic recovery,鈥� said Rudy Abrahams, Vice President, Head of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, South East Asia and interim Managing Director 麻豆原创 Philippines.

With this integration, Daiichi was able to reduce customer complaints by 87.2 percent and achieved an average of 60 percent of closing of tickets per day. The company also gained 93 percent SLA compliance and a remarkable 98 percent positive feedback on the customer satisfaction survey. On top of these outcomes, the company had more time to focus on major concerns and anticipate possible issues.

As an implementation partner, Chesca Gallegos as Managing Director Delaware Managed Services and IT Consulting, Inc. said, 鈥淟ike Delaware, Daiichi puts the customer at the front and center of its business initiatives. This demonstrates that they go beyond property management 鈥� they enable their customers鈥� lifestyles. Every touchpoint with the customer must be delightful, and Daiichi saw the need to do this at scale and with the help of 麻豆原创 they are able to make this a reality.鈥�

These digital innovations made by Daiichi Properties were recently recognized as it was among the companies nominated for the 鈥楳ost Transformational鈥� and 鈥楳ost Adaptable鈥� awards in the recent .

The full details about the 麻豆原创 Best Run Awards for SEA 2021 are available on this .

The post Daiichi Properties: Shaping Sustainable Skylines, Forging Lasting Customer Experiences appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

In its聽聽Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) noted about 51.2 million unbanked Filipinos, translating to a whopping 71 percent of the entire adult population. But when the pandemic started, there was a big jump in account ownership due to the digitalization of financial transactions. Leveraging this trend, the report stated that the central bank aims to get at least 70 percent of the adult population to possess bank accounts by 2023.

But the question is, how聽can technology assist rural banks in ensuring financial inclusion? And what role does it play to help them be more agile and sustainable in today鈥檚 world and the future?

Braving Through Challenges

In a virtual event, 鈥楧igitalization in Rural Banking: Strategies for Financial Inclusion in the Midst of the Pandemic and Beyond,鈥� last March 2022, organized by the Bankers Institute of the Philippines (BAIPHIL) and co-presented by聽聽(NYSE: 麻豆原创), Estrellita Ong, Director of BAIPHIL and Chief Internal Auditor of BDO Unibank, Inc., said that rural banks currently face numerous challenges.

鈥淩ural banking is a segment most vulnerable to economic stops brought by calamities and the pandemic. It also requires approaches that are more personal, inclusive, and far-reaching. And while competition is fierce, regulatory compliance is a must. That is why rural banks need more than good people and sufficient capital. It requires an upgraded and robust IT infrastructure to keep pace with the evolving technology landscape,鈥� said Ong.

Business Innovation 鈥� A Necessity to Survive

To help rural banks and other financial institutions address these challenges, Nitin Vohra, Director of S/4HANA Center of Excellence for 麻豆原创 Asia Pacific and Japan, discussed how technology and business innovation are changing the banking game.

Today, business innovation is critical for companies to survive, despite its prevalence before the pandemic. Since 2000, 52 percent of the Fortune 500 organizations have gone out of business due to digital disruptions, says聽. Aside from being a means of saving costs, technological advancements also deliver fresh avenues and opportunities that contribute to value creation.

鈥淣owadays, digital startups are achieving a billion-dollar valuation in less than four years, while Fortune 500 businesses could do it in聽,鈥� Nitin explained.

Business Models to Adopt in the Digital Age

Nitin noted that traditional universal banking operates on a full-service model. They provide customers with different accounts and labeled products and services, such as mortgages and credit cards. However, this model contains several providers that offer a lower price, less friction, and better customer experience in the value chain. And with legacy software, competing with these providers is impossible.

鈥淏anks should rationalize their product offerings and concentrate on areas that command a competitive advantage. Another option is to become a service provider to other banks or fintech companies to eliminate the need for others to engage in heavily regulated industries and activities, readily taking on the compliance burden,鈥� Nitin explained.

Banks can also operate as aggregators of financial services and products. 鈥淚n this way, banks do not have to incur the costs of manufacturing products and services to be compliant. It also provides its customers with access to a broad range of products. On the other hand, they need to adopt a vertically integrated yet open platform to take advantage of their execution capabilities and extend their ability to offer levels of customer fulfillment. It also helps enable banks to capture the network effects and capitalize on their existing competitive advantage,鈥� he added.

Becoming an Intelligent Bank

For 麻豆原创, it is also critical for rural banks to transform their business and become intelligent, sustainable enterprises that consistently apply advanced technologies and best practices within agile, integrated business processes.

To help banks and financial institutions become intelligent enterprises, 麻豆原创 provides integrated applications and technologies in a digital platform. With its broad portfolio, the company helps deliver data-driven intelligence, operational effectiveness, financial insight, regulatory compliance, cost optimization, and the best talent in the industry.

Among its current offerings include , a Business Transformation as a Service (BTaaS) solution that aids in ensuring transformation readiness and access to simpler support models by consolidating the solutions and services businesses require in one package.

鈥淩ISE with 麻豆原创 provides cloud delivery capabilities that enable the journey to become intelligent banks. It mitigates risk, reduces cost, and accelerates time to value. It leverages the 麻豆原创 reference architecture built with the industry鈥檚 best practices over the last five decades. It has predictable and lowers total cost of ownership to help banks run today and become intelligent banks of tomorrow,鈥� Nitin said.

With its presence in over 150 countries and supporting more than 14,000 banks worldwide, 麻豆原创 also has a robust ecosystem that helps banks implement 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 solutions to ensure that they become sustainable and resilient enterprises of tomorrow.

Visit the 麻豆原创 News Center. Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

About 麻豆原创

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 麻豆原创 customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 麻豆原创 helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 麻豆原创 helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit .

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit . From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from 麻豆原创 TV.

For customers interested in learning more about 麻豆原创 products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1麻豆原创 (1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Rizka Laksmi, Head of Communications for 麻豆原创 Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines, +62 8121090021, rizka.laksmi@sap.com, GMT +7
Alvin Marayan, PRC, Inc., +63 99896137289, alvin.marayan@teamprcinc.com.ph, GTM +8
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ.聽 Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2022 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

The post Digitalization in Rural Banking: Key to Ensuring Financial Inclusion appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

麻豆原创 Industry Business Architect 鈥� Retail and Consumer Products Gabriel Lorenzo Santos underscored this need in a recent virtual event, 鈥楻etail Reimagined: How Technology Changes the Game of Retail in 2022,鈥� hosted by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) and co-presented by 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia.

Leveraging technology can help bridge the gap to ensure a seamless experience despite changing demands and buying behaviors, improving the topline and bottom line.

鈥淎cross our customers, benefits have been reaped with the use of technology, such as improved customer satisfaction, reduced days in inventory, reduced customer churn, and even increased digital channel revenue, which are relevant in today鈥檚 situation,鈥� he concluded.

This article was first published in .

The post How Tech Changes Retail Game appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

One undeniable shift we鈥檝e been seeing is in the area of e-commerce, consumers are connecting and shopping through online platforms more than ever. So much so that Asia Pacific鈥檚 e-commerce sales are expected to . Naturally this has caused an increasing pressure for brands to tap into social media and other digital marketing tools to virtually engage and build trust with consumers in addition to serving as retailtainment.

But that鈥檚 not all, Martech is also currently solving a lot of problems that traditional marketers didn鈥檛 realise they existed. 聽Or not yet. Many of these problems lie mostly upon one thing and that is customer data. Managed and harnessed correctly, customer data will be the key for organisations to unlock their current and future opportunities. We have seen a considerable move towards fixing the data problem in 2021 and how that has brought exciting results of what businesses can do with Martech, but it just a start (more on this below). We will be seeing rapid growth of that and more in 2022 as the world of marketing continues to transform. One thing is for sure 鈥� like most operating modules moving forward, Martech adoption will instead focus on agility, avoiding the hype of technology to look at practical tech solutions that can influence strategy, insights and engagement in the long run.

Here are key Martech trends that will help businesses in Asia Pacific get ready for 2022.

1. Contextual Personalisation Will Become a Basic Requirement

While contextual personalisation has been embraced and practiced by a large number of businesses around the world especially in recent years, we will see a massive increase in this area, if not a full adoption by the rest of the players who are yet to do so. Delivering contextual personalisation will no longer be an option or a nice-to-have feature in the overall e-commerce or customer experience strategy, but a necessity if businesses want to retain their customers and increase satisfaction. Considering that 69% of consumers across APAC expect brands they buy from to deliver a reward programme customised to their interest and 64% expect tailored suggestions based on their purchased history and preferences*, we are reaching the tip of maturity for contextual personalisation.

*Source: conducted in March 2021.

2. Humanised Content Marketing Will Be the Gold Standard

With the majority of us working from home in the past two years, the line between personal and professional life has blurred, and we鈥檝e seen many businesses communicate more humanly to their customers about their products and offerings. Especially more so for those in the B2B and technology industries, with Apple paving the way years ago, the demand for a message so simple that our grandmother can understand is one that cannot be ignored.

Additionally, with the webinar fatigue phenomenon that is so real, businesses can no longer afford to rely on a traditional one-hour webinar, full of technical details and jargon to convey their message to the customers. A case in point is what my team has started doing here at 麻豆原创 Customer Experience APJ where we break down an hour of content into a short series of not more than 20-min episodes* and make those to be easily accessed on-demand instead of expecting the audience to attend LIVE. What we鈥檙e seeing is when we let our audience consume the content at their convenience, they actually receive the information better.

*Source: .

3. Customer Data Management Will Be Your New Best Friend

GDPR has definitely changed the game for global organisations in how they deal with data privacy and management, especially with its non-compliance of 4% fine of one global revenue. Many countries have since taken the same step and imposed similar regulations.

This enforcement has made businesses search for technology to help them ensure that they keep abreast with the latest data regulations and that they can fully optimise the usage of their customer data. Because the problem most companies have today is not the lack of data, but rather the inability to fully optimise and harness those data. This is where technology like 麻豆原创 customer data platform comes in as the backbone that enables true personalisation, especially when it鈥檚 combined with a personalisation engine like Emarsys.

4. Less Is More (Consolidation of Technology)

Another massive phenomenon we鈥檙e seeing and will continue to see is businesses doing is called a technology house-cleaning that is mainly driven by the pandemic.

The pandemic has served as a stress test for businesses and many were found failing to deliver what we consider the basic. This was especially glaring in the area of supply chain and digital marketing, where on-time delivery, responsive customer service and the right product (or promotion) delivered was a hit and miss.

The root cause often is the lack of integration of their technology. Most organisations run on many solutions to manage different functions of the business and while it might be working pre-COVID, the sheer and sudden increase of demand has thrown the system off and many businesses find themselves caught in the mess. Moving forward, we will see massive efforts around technology overhaul.

5. Rise of a New Digital Marketing

I foresee that with the huge increase in digital marketing especially on paid search and paid media efforts, there鈥檚 a real demand for new channels and platforms to run these campaigns instead of the traditional ones we鈥檙e using today (Google Search, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook/or Meta). Especially when many of the existing channels are so clogged and saturated, with everyone targeting the same audience and posting similar content.

Rita Marini is head of Marketing for Customer Experience in Asia Pacific Japan at 麻豆原创.

The post Five Martech Trends in 2022 appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

We intuitively understand that genuine customer experience is an affair of the heart. Much like the friends we love to spend time with, we want to hang out with a brand that is trustworthy, empathetic, generous, and shares our values and concern for others. We are attracted to brands that take care of us and of what matters for us, not someone who only ever calls to ask for favours. At the core, this is why 麻豆原创 Customer Experience APJ built the Heart Matters campaign. Pinned on one fundamental question: what kind of customer experience (CX) would outlast any crisis and thrive in the future? They believe it is the kind of CX that comes from the heart, from companies that have a greater purpose and focus on things beyond profit and loss鈥攖hings like people, the planet, and prosperity.

At the heart of this initiative is research; they wanted to hear directly from the mouth of the customers, and they engaged their Qualtrics research team to conduct the survey. The main objective is to find out about what consumers expect from the brands they buy from, and more importantly, if the experiences they have had, meet their expectations. In total, they surveyed close to 6,000 consumers across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to find out more about what people care about, mainly how their views of brands correlate with their spending, as well as what matters most when it comes to customer experience. Questions were posed to customers across a range of age groups in Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea (Korea), India, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Depending on the country, respondents were asked questions on a total of six different industries, including supermarkets, telecommunication providers, hotels and entertainment, and consumer goods retailers dealing with fashion, electronics, and furniture. The campaign was launched on 5 May 2021, in a record time of just twelve weeks compared to the six-month minimum required to build an integrated, multi-touch campaign as such. It has garnered close to 100 media coverage across APAC and an impressive amount of pipeline to the business. The campaign is still running and full results are expected to come through by the end of this year.

For this effort, 麻豆原创 Customer Experience APJ received the 鈥淪ingapore Brand Experience of the Year – Technology鈥� award in the recently concluded Asian Experience Awards, presented by Asian Business Review. The awards programme recognises the ingenious initiatives of creative companies delivering meaningful brand experiences to their stakeholders in all industries in Asia.

The full Heart Matters report can be downloaded at .

The post 麻豆原创鈥檚 鈥楬eart Matters Campaign鈥� Wins Singapore Brand Experience of the Year – Technology in Asian Experience Awards appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

Customer centricity has always been the core of our business at BABA鈥檚 group of companies (BABA鈥檚). In the late 70s, a young man put his life savings into a mobile sundry shop, servicing the Klang Valley area of Malaysia. If ever there was a request for a particular product, he made it a point to source the finest quality ingredients and the highest quality items at the most affordable price. Throughout these years, our founders鈥� principles have guided the growth of our company.

Today our range of over 30 spice mixes and flour products are found on almost every retail shelf nationwide, making BABA鈥檚 more than a household name.

First Step Towards an Intelligent Enterprise

Digital transformation is a critical part of our business strategy, which not only makes us future-ready but also helps us meet our commitments to our customers, retailers, and distributors.

At BABA鈥檚, we pride ourselves in maintaining high standards in every aspect of business and for that we constantly evolve our processes to become more agile, and resilient.

To ensure we had access to the world-class technology, we partnered with 麻豆原创 early in our digital transformation journey. The first step in our journey was to digitize our core with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA and transition from manual, paper- based processes to a digital business platform. We looked for building capabilities that would enable us to achieve greater efficiencies, productivity and propel our business growth to the next level as we expand our business to other markets, including Australia, China, Indonesia, and United Kingdom.

In the first phase, we focused on finance and sales. Our chosen solution was 麻豆原创 Direct Store Delivery (DSD) with customer relationship management (CRM), a mobile solution that has empowered BABA鈥檚 field personnel to simplify complex direct-to-store delivery processes and enable real-time decision-making.

The DSD system has enabled sales leaders based in Kuala Lumpur to have full visibility of activities across the organisation. By using specialised mobile apps, field personnel can plan and schedule store visits and deliveries optimally, improve product placement and in-stock levels, and access key information about customer orders and deliveries in real-time.

Additionally, product returns, process orders, and bill payments can be made on the spot while sharing pricing, promotions, and discounts. The sales team can take real-time pictures, conduct surveys, and record customers鈥� feedback to make further improvements. This data is then transferred to the payroll department to compute commissions. The entire sales cycle is automated and has replaced tedious manual processes that would cause delays across several functions.

When 鈥楳ovement Control Orders鈥� were first introduced in Malaysia to curb rising COVID-19 infections, we faced significant challenges in our supply chains, specifically on getting our raw materials which are sourced from all over the world. During this challenging period, we remained committed in ensuring that our customers were serviced without major disruptions. Although we could not travel to our entities outside of Malaysia, 麻豆原创 systems allowed us to continue running our business seamlessly. Similarly, with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA as our digital core, we were able to manage our end-to-end supply chain without any compromise on the quality and standards on which our brand has been built.

When remote working policies were first mandated, like every other organisation, we had to adapt to new ways of working. The immediate focus was putting our people first, ensuring their health and safety, and providing them with flexible work options. In the next phase of our transformation journey, we deployed 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors and 麻豆原创 Payroll to improve employee productivity as we continuously adapt and remodel workplace processes in the 鈥榥ew normal鈥�. We wanted to completely redesign employee experiences by better understanding their needs and ensuring they remain connected and supported.

Today, BABA鈥檚 employees are seamlessly connected and enjoy a mobile-friendly user experience with social collaboration capabilities to access information anywhere, anytime. Our HR teams are also able to support employees with data-driven insights, cloud payroll, and timesheet tracking. This journey is a virtuous cycle and will continue for us.

Becoming Future-Ready

Without a doubt, continuous improvement is a must for every organisation. Likewise, businesses, management, and individual users must be open and receptive to learn from best practices. Organisations must embrace digital transformation to become an 鈥榠ntelligent enterprise鈥� while keeping in mind that customer-centricity is vital for sustainable growth.

Our digital transformation initiatives have helped us embrace industry best practices and become future-ready. I would go as far as to say the pandemic gave us an opportunity to rethink how we do business, particularly by embracing change and technology.

This article was first published on The Edge Malaysia on 25 September 2021.

The post A Taste of Innovation: BABA鈥檚 Group of Companies鈥� Digital Transformation Journey with 麻豆原创 appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

Brands globally, including appliance manufacturer De鈥橪onghi, nutritional products distributor Kyani and retailer Abrakadabra, have recently selected 麻豆原创 solutions to help deliver a rich, personalized omnichannel e-commerce experience that is reliable and scales to meet the demands of their customers.

鈥淲e believe this latest positioning as a Leader by Gartner is why brands across industries and geographies are turning to 麻豆原创 to broaden their commerce reach without compromising flexibility,鈥� said Nuno Pedro, global head, Commerce Solutions, 麻豆原创. 鈥淒igital commerce solutions from 麻豆原创 enable success across different industries, marketplaces and business models by providing customers enjoyable, individually relevant, in-the-moment experiences.鈥�

, which include聽听补苍诲听, help brands convert more customers by turning engagements into personal, shoppable moments. Additional companies that recently chose digital commerce solutions from 麻豆原创 in the first half of 2021 include the following:

• Hangcha Group聽is one of the largest forklift manufacturers in China and among the top 10 in the world. Hangcha Group chose 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud to simplify its front-end sales order intake process and integrate with its back-end digital core system, supporting the group鈥檚 business transformation and boosting sales revenue.
• JOY, a Swedish fashion retailer, no longer has any physical stores and is instead focusing on e-commerce and personalized fashion advice. Its founders see JOY as a startup building next-generation e-commerce based on AI and slow fashion 鈥� a more sustainable alternative with clothes lasting several seasons. JOY is also the first company in the world that has selected the combination of the cloud-based solution 麻豆原创 Upscale Commerce and the 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement platform.
• Perfumes y Esencias Fraiche, a Mexican company specializing in fragrances and essences that serves more than 20 million people through different sales channels, chose 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud and 麻豆原创 Marketing Cloud. With these solutions, the company can strengthen its online presence to meet new consumer needs, using a solid digital strategy that enables personalized fragrance sales for its customers and through thousands of distributors.
• WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG is a leading German manufacturer of electrical connections and components, and a specialist in spring clamps for automation. It recently implemented 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud solutions as part of its cloud transformation. With 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud integrated with 麻豆原创 Marketing Cloud and the 麻豆原创 ERP application, it plans to provide a great e-commerce experience for its business-to-business (B2B) customers.
• Wacker Chemie聽is a leading German player in highly developed specialty products for several industrial sectors. It recently implemented 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud as its new B2B e-commerce system to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.

Digital commerce solutions from 麻豆原创 are part of the聽聽portfolio, which goes beyond traditional CRM solutions by bringing together customer data, experiential and operational data, and machine learning.

To learn more, download a聽, including Gartner鈥檚 in-depth analysis of the digital commerce landscape.

麻豆原创 was also recognized for the third consecutive year as a Leader in the聽2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation.** Additionally, Emarsys, now part of 麻豆原创, was recently named a Leader for the third time in the聽2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Personalization Engines.***

Media Contact:
Samantha Finnegan, +1 (415) 377-0475,聽samantha.finnegan@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room;听press@sap.com

*Gartner, 鈥淢agic Quadrant for Digital Commerce,鈥� Jason Daigler, Yanna Dharmasthira, Sandy Shen, Penny Gillespie, Mike Lowndes, Aditya Vasudevan, August 31, 2021.
**Gartner, 鈥淢agic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation,鈥� Adnan Zijadic, Ilona Hansen, Melissa Hilbert, Steve Rietberg, August 4, 2021.
***Gartner, 鈥淢agic Quadrant for Personalization Engines,鈥� Jason McNellis, Claire Tassin, Jennifer Polk, July 19, 2021.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创鈥檚 future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创鈥檚 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (鈥淪EC鈥�), including 麻豆原创鈥檚 most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2021 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see聽聽for additional trademark information and notices.

This was originally published on the global 麻豆原创 News Center.

The post 麻豆原创 Named a Leader in 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

Singaporean businesses need to do more to become customer-obsessed. They currently fall short of consumers鈥� expectations by as much as 28% when it comes to being customer-centric, according to the聽 by software company聽. Comparing Singapore customers鈥� expectations to what they experienced in reality, some areas that local businesses were found to be lacking include responsiveness within 24 hours to customer queries (78% vs 51%), acting on customers鈥� feedback to improve products and services (84% vs 58%), and having a reward programme customised to their interests (81% vs 54%).

This gap is a cause for concern as customer experience, rather than price, is a key driver of customer loyalty and ultimately revenue. After all, the Pareto Principle says 80% of a company鈥檚 future revenue typically comes from 20% of existing customers. 鈥淐onsumers want to engage with companies that are authentic, understand their personal needs and preferences, and meet their expectations across the purchase journey. [Companies that can demonstrate] they have the customer at the core will be able to capture the hearts of their audiences, which will, in turn, bring in returning sales and brand loyalty that will drive long-term business growth,鈥� says Peggy Renders, general manager and senior vice-president,聽 Asia Pacific Japan.

鈥淐ustomers are looking for brands who understand them, not opportunistic ones trying to sell them something. Providing authenticity and empathy fosters more genuine and lasting relationships with customers while showcasing brand values as a company that cares for its customers,鈥� adds Dave Dabbah, chief marketing officer of , a customer lifecycle management and engagement platform provider.

New Rules of Customer Experience

The pandemic has led to shifts in consumer behaviour and expectations. Renders shares with聽The Edge Singapore three new customer experience trends that businesses should note. Firstly, consumers expect businesses to offer meaningful, memorable experiences as the pandemic has left individuals to look for deeper purpose and meaning in life. 鈥淐ompanies can [do so] by shifting their emphasis from the routine to the sublime, and find new ways to create and curate meaningful experiences across their products and solutions. These require customer data insights to deeply understand what customers need and desire,鈥� she says.

Secondly, consumers demand businesses to be purpose-driven. They are increasingly engaging with brands and buying products that reflect their own values. According to the 麻豆原创 study, Singapore consumers have high standards of expectations around people, the planet and prosperity. This includes respecting the rights and welfare of workers, reducing gender and racial inequality, treating suppliers ethically, having specific policies to reduce and report carbon emissions, and a focus on sustainability and ethics in sourcing and selling their products. Renders notes that Singaporean businesses have shown 鈥渁 positive shift towards building brand purpose and visibly demonstrating more societal concern and impact鈥�. However, this increased focus is slow to trickle through all the layers in an organisation as 鈥渕any companies do not see the immediate importance or direct outcomes of enhancing brand purpose if it does not improve their bottom line鈥�, she explains. As such, she advises businesses to educate employees on their role in building brand purpose and social responsibility so that such activities do not serve as a branding exercise but a reminder of the organisation鈥檚 purpose and values. Thirdly, consumers want to take centre-stage as contributors. They are more open to providing opinions to receive better products and more personalised services. Businesses that can capture customer feedback 鈥� such as suggestions on new product design or offerings 鈥� and act on them will be in a better position to retain their competitiveness.

Integrating Systems to Be Customer-Obsessed

It takes more than just understanding evolving customer demands and making superficial changes to the business to become customer-obsessed. Singaporean businesses need to transform their operations to deliver exceptional and delightful customer experience throughout the purchase journey. One way of doing so is by building a connected customer journey. Customer journeys today are not linear and straight-forward. They are a series of handoffs between traditional and digital channels, which can vary by customer type. This is why Renders encourages businesses to connect their various customer touchpoints into 鈥渙ne cohesive, end-to-end lead-to-cash process that provides consumers with a seamless customer experience鈥�.

Companies need to support their customers鈥� freedom to choose how, where and when to interact [and deliver] precise and personalised engagement at the right time.

Peggy Renders

Businesses can also gain actionable insights by integrating their data from multiple touchpoints. Renders explains that eliminating data silos enables business decision-makers to better understand the 鈥渋nterrelationships that exist throughout the customer journey so that they can create highly-personalised, seamless omnichannel experiences.鈥� By consistently addressing a customer鈥檚 evolving needs and preferences, it can help businesses build a long-term relationship with the customer. Take the case of , for example. The Singapore online fashion retailer initially found it difficult to personalise digital communications across each stage of the customer lifecycle as it was using disparate IT tools. By implementing 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement platform to remove organisational silos, Love, Bonito managed to create automated personalised customer journeys across email, on-site and paid channels. This resulted in a 67% increase in lead to first-time buyer conversion, five times higher spend from active customers and a 32% increase in average order value.

Fostering Customer Loyalty Through Mobile Apps

With over 90% of adults in Singapore owning a smartphone, mobile apps are becoming crucial for customer engagement and loyalty. But to do so, businesses need to first understand the user journey 鈥� like how, where and when users use their product or service 鈥� so that they can optimise the user experience.

Data analytics, such as funnel analysis, should be utilised to determine friction spots in the user journey that need to be targeted and resolved.

Dave Dabbah

Next, businesses should enhance their mobile app鈥檚 customer onboarding process 鈥� such as through an easy-to-use user interface and by offering incentives 鈥� to create a good impression on first-time customers and get them to use the app frequently. 鈥淭he key to successful onboarding is ensuring new users experience the app鈥檚 unique value as soon as possible. Users will not explore the app further if they are not impressed by their initial experience, with research showing that more than one-third of users in Asia Pacific quit an app after just one use,鈥� Dabbah adds. He also urges businesses to focus on building user habits. 鈥淣o matter how exciting a user鈥檚 first experience with an app is, the novelty will wear off eventually. [This is why businesses] need to help users create new habits around the app until they no longer need a reminder to use it and keep coming back on their own,鈥� he says.

In line with that, he advises businesses to 鈥渒eep refreshing the users鈥� perception of their app as a must-have in their daily lives鈥�. This can be done by asking for customer feedback, continually adding new features and enhancing the user interface, and personalising every customer interaction. Becoming customer-obsessed requires putting the customer at the centre while ensuring alignment with the brand鈥檚 purpose, as well as transforming operations and continuous innovation to win the hearts and wallets of customers. While this is no easy feat, Singaporean businesses that can do so will be poised to remain relevant in a future filled with uncertainties.

This article was first published on .

The post Solving the Customer-Obsession Puzzle appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.

It鈥檚 clear that superior experiences increasingly form the foundation of sustainable growth, particularly in the very dynamic and diverse Asia Pacific region. It is this foundation from which other key ingredients 鈥� customer acquisition, talent attraction and retention, next-generation technologies and data-driven decision making 鈥� come together to fast-track growth.

Just like my favourite food, beef rendang, every single ingredient offers a unique flavour to the palate to make it an outstanding dish. Experience can the element that seals the recipe for long-term success for SMEs in the region. Let鈥檚 look a little more closely at this.

Customer Experience as the Main Ingredient

The nature of work and business has changed because of the pandemic. As a result, building trust with customers, which smaller firms tend to see as their inherent competitive advantage, has changed fundamentally. In fact, showed that enterprises in the region identify customer experience as a strategic imperative for survival and growth, with more than a third (34%) saying service excellence is now their primary source of value and differentiation. Positive customer experiences have become the foremost strategic consideration for businesses, with key factors being personalisation for the customer (58%) and providing high-quality products and/or services (54%).

SMEs need to experiment and innovate with new technologies and business models that will deliver better experiences. The accelerated pace of digital transformation over the last year gives them a golden opportunity to experiment and scale new innovations and engagement models to better enable resiliency and growth.

Perfecting the Craft by Organising for Agility

If customer experience is the main ingredient, then agility and being data-driven are key condiments that will unleash the full flavour of the perfect dish we want to serve up. Taking the first steps to establish a digital backbone is crucial to enable greater agility. This digital backbone will enable SMEs to maximise their operational efficiency to ensure business continuity, and expediate decision making processes in the face of disruptions.

The tectonic shift in consumer behaviour has major implications for SMEs in the region. 40 million people in six countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, went online for the first time in 2020 鈥� pushing the total number of internet users in Southeast Asia to 400 million 鈥� or nearly 70% of the population. Digital engagement models are no longer a good to have, but a must-have, and digital platforms must no longer be constrained to just marketing channels, but instead, must serve as a conduit for businesses to reach and engage more users.

A Generous Serving of Growth

In my conversations with customers, many understand the importance of having a digital backbone. However, some are still hesitant to jump all into digital. My humble advice to them is to take small steps, but don鈥檛 delay those small steps. In a region like Southeast Asia with an increasingly digital-first citizenry, relatively youthful demographic, and a growing middle class 鈥� the prioritisation of experience will place SMEs firmly on a long-term growth trajectory.

What are your thoughts on customer experience? Do you think it is a foundational ingredient for business success?

Claus Andresen is senior vice president and head of Midmarket for 麻豆原创 APJ.

The post A Recipe for Long-Term Success in a Distributed World appeared first on 麻豆原创 Southeast Asia News Center.