World Passenger Festival 2023 - questions part 6

In advance of the World Passenger Festival 2023, I was asked to answer a few questions. These were published in a document for those attending. (Question 1 is here , Question 2 is here, Question 3 is here, Question 4 is here and Question 5 is here)

If you had one message for the public transport industry, what would it be?

Transport is no longer about regional applications, platforms or even modes.
It is about making data F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable & Reusable) across entire mobility ecosystems, to quickly take advantage of new technologies and achieve Net Zero.

World Passenger Festival 2023 - questions part 1

In advance of the World Passenger Festival 2023, I was asked to answer a few questions. These were published in a document for those attending.

In the next few posts, I will publish those questions and my replies. Here's the first...

Can you share your background work with us?

I’ve been working across the Digital sector for 30 years. This includes being the Tech Director for a start-up in the dotcom era and now running Ideal Interface, a technology & online marketing consultancy based near Glasgow.

My love of transport started back in 2005, when I joined P&O Ferries as their Head of eBusiness. Since then, we’ve provided digital and technology assistance to a range of public and private organisations across the transport and mobility sector.

Until recently I was the Architect & Technology Lead for the Rail Delivery Group’s [RDG] Rail Data Marketplace, a great project that provides a single data sharing platform for rail related information.  And currently I am back supporting several start-ups in the race to make sense of data and integration technologies across both the mobility and Net Zero markets.

I’m also the founder of The Open Transport Initiative (the Open Standard that enables customer account data integration & interoperability across the sector – best explained as the ‘Open Banking for Transport’). Plus I’ve just been invited to join the Steering Board of MaaS Scotland, where I regularly contribute to their Data & Governance Special Interest Group.

What question are you really trying to answer?

Agile

Digital Transformation
Self-service technology
Faster delivery
<yawn>

Heard it all before? Yes, so have I... numerous times and across many different clients.
Each is craving to "move to become a digital organisation" or "reinvent their online proposition to embrace change" and other similar modern and (to be honest) pretty meaningless statements about themselves.

But I think they are approaching this the wrong way. 

On the basis that each company exists to provide a product or service to another (person or company)... why the heck are they not focusing on asking more questions about what their customers need? Or questioning what stops their valuable users buying/using/engaging more? And more fundamentally... why aren't more people tasked with trying to answer those questions with the creation of better products and services, increasingly delivered as software?

So rather than saying "we need to redevelop our website to improve our KPIs"...
You need to ask "why don't we make it easier for customers to convert?"

And rather than stating "we need to reduce the number of clicks in our online booking process".
You need to ask yourself "why do customers seem to have a problem getting past the 4th page?"

It is only then that you get to the creation of an insight-based hypothesis to change a process or product. 

A Digital Product or Proposition

Are you struggling with the difference between a Digital Product or a Digital Proposition? I was for a while, but think I've now found the best way of explaining each:

Product
A product is an item, idea or service for sale that satisfies a need (or want)

Proposition:
A proposition (or value proposition) is an explanation of why your customer should purchase your product. It should answer the question “what’s in it for me?”.
It should therefore ideally:

• Be relevant - answer the question "why me?"
• Communicate key benefits -  - answer the question "what will it help solve?"
• Provide differentiation -  answer the question "why not buy something else?"
• And.... It is NOT a slogan or a positioning statement

Common eCommerce questions I've been asked

The other day I quickly posted that I was mentioned as one of seven UK eCommerce consultants to know in the UK by directorsof.com .... So I took time out this evening to consider what it actually means to be an eCommerce consultant and I’ve put together a few questions and answers based on things I’ve been asked in the past:

1. It’s all about technology isn’t it?
No. Sure without the technology you wouldn’t have the platform to transact online (e.g. the web), but don’t be fooled into thinking that the IT part of it is the most critical part.

2. So what is about then?
It is all about selling to the customer and making money. The 4 P’s of retail still apply when selling online: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion…

3. Why are some retailers in the same market so good at it compared to others?
This is a more tricky one to explain, but simply put… they have the right support (management) & culture (drive, learning, etc.), plus have made some great choices in hiring the right staff and picked the best tools & techniques to use along the way.

4. What’s the biggest mistake online retailers make?
I was recently at a presentation by Paul Coby, the CIO of John Lewis. His quote of “if you outsource your brain, you outsource your wallet” really struck a chord with me. It reminded me of the times when I’ve seen clients depend too much on the advice of external consultants or agencies and not have even a decent understanding of what they are buying and implementing. This is so very relevant in the fast-changing world of eCommerce, where its incredibly easy to buy the latest and greatest in the race to stay ahead of the competition.