Vodafone has revealed the achievements from its digital investments for improving customer experience and adding revenue.
The world’s second largest telecom operator has developed Digital Vodafone’ program to transform business model, develop and strengthen existing Customer eXperience eXcellence (CXX) initiative.
The main objective of Vodafone was to generate incremental revenue and reduce net operating costs. Vodafone reported 2.2 percent drop in revenue to €46.57 billion with Adjusted EBITDA of €14.73 billion.
Earlier, Vodafone introduced a Digital eXperience Layer (DXL) for cheaper IT development. In addition, Vodafone has rolled out Data Analytics Units across the Group.
The mobile operator has already established Digital Accelerator teams in ten largest markets. It will expand the Digital Accelerator program to all markets with around 2,000 dedicated FTEs by the end of FY2019.
Digital customer management
Vodafone aims to increase the use of data analytics to provide predictive, proactive and personalized offers to customers, optimizing the efficiency of marketing spend, enhancing ARPU, lowering churn and improving direct channel mix.
Vodafone said 35 percent of its campaigns used big data insights in Q4. Vodafone aims to increase the use of big data insights to 100 percent by fiscal 2021.
The strategy of Vodafone is to create MyVodafone app and digital marketing channels to become the main customer acquisition and management platform, representing over 40 percent of sales mix compared to 11 percent in Q4.
Vodafone aims to meet any customer request via automated, digital support. Vodafone will be using chatbots and digital agents – powered by artificial intelligence technologies – in all markets. Currently, Vodafone is are using chatbots in 5 markets, resolving around 1 percent of customer contacts. Vodafone aims to increase the use of chatbots to 60 percent of customer contacts by fiscal 2021.
Digital technology management
Vodafone is installing new middleware on top of legacy IT systems. This Digital eXperience Layer accelerates the deployment of new digital capabilities, de-coupling them from the longer and financially costly upgrade cycles for legacy billing and other systems. Vodafone aims to deploy this DXL layer in major markets by the end of this financial year.
Vodafone will use real-time data analytics for smarter network planning and deployment, as well as more precise ROI-based investment decisions. Vodafone will be in a position to measure profitability of each radio site based on customers’ actual and predicted profitability. Vodafone is also in the process of migrating 65 percent of IT applications to the cloud to achieve significant Capex and Opex efficiency.
Digital operations
There is scope for digitalisation to accelerate the simplification and automation of standard processes, in both operational and support areas. These include IT and network operations, customer management back office functions and all other administrative activities.
Vodafone has already established an automation unit in its shared service centres and around 200 bots are active in Q4.
Fit4Growth has contributed to improving cost structure. 20 out of 25 markets grew adjusted EBITDA faster than service revenue in the year, driving a 1.9 percentage point improvement in the Group’s adjusted EBITDA margin to 31.6 percent
Baburajan K
