Digital is a major issue for the Group.
When I joined Haulotte two years ago, the “transactional” approach associated with digital was not a major area for deployment. We rapidly progressed to develop a business model allowing additional sales to be made, notably in “Services”, and particularly, though not exclusively, spare parts!
A digital product depreciates very quickly. It needs to constantly evolve, as usages are also constantly evolving. The team of Product Owners who work on these subjects have a specific roadmap defined with the Marketing department for each product, whether they are machines (e.g. the HMI), services or second-hand machines, to offer the most fluid customer experience possible.
The goal is to generate value whilst reducing what is called “friction” as much as possible. Friction refers to all the difficulties which may lead the user to abandon their purchase.
We are therefore working on our ecosystem to create a meaningful customer journey. This ranges from clarification of the delivery arrangements in collaboration with the Supply Chain to matching fault codes on our machines with the parts to be changed, with the possibility of purchasing them directly on the Haulotte website.
All these optimizations have a tangible effect on our overall digital offer. For example, we generated 500 additional orders for spare parts in one month!
In reality, behind each digital product always lies the central issue of the user experience (UX), which is key to create value and improve performance. This is why we work with all the departments to define customer expectations and the marketing vision in order to create mockups and synchronize all the needs.
But that is not all! It is essential to take into account the habits of the end users of each market. For example, the majority of French people use desktop computers, whereas the Chinese prefer mobile browsing.
Our goal now is to apply these same principles to all digital projects, particularly on the Group’s website network (22 websites to date), integrating the technical characteristics of each method of use to maximize the value generated.
We are entering a key phase in the Group’s digitalization, in which we present a common service, adapted to specific usages. This is the challenge facing our team: develop transactional digital tools adapted to each market, offer a fluid, relevant user experience and create value. It also means being part of a culture of change.
