Deloitte Digital has teamed up with customer experience consultancy MashUp, to expand Deloitte’s brand and spatial design capabilities within its customer practice.
Deloitte Digital Managing Partner Frank Farrall says the partnership is all about creating a smart physical environment for the consumer, who is increasingly expecting a seamless physical and digital experience.
“Our clients are experimenting with the ‘internet of things’ where in-store sensors communicate with consumers’ apps to provide unique and convenient engagements,” he said. “MashUp’s capability brings the vital perspective of how the physical environment will need to adapt to this multidimensional landscape.”
MashUp owner and founder Robbie Robertson will become a Deloitte partner and brings his team of 10 design professionals to Deloitte.
“MashUp develops, builds and executes customer-experience strategies that fuse digital and physical channels and create purpose-led brand engagements impacting the bottom line,” he said.
“Collaborating with Deloitte Digital will give us the opportunity to provide more innovative and holistic customer engagement across a range of spaces for our clients.
“It puts design thinking at the top table, ensuring integrated customer experience becomes a C-suite conversation. Merging our practices sets a global precedent that gives design a leading role in business strategy.”
MashUp General Manager Karen Spear says shopper marketing and retail experience is undergoing intense transformation in Australia, led by digital innovation.
“Brands are getting more savvy about integrating digital into in-store experiences and creating relevance around customer touch points to increase engagement, loyalty and share of wallet,” she said. “We’ve always been focused on fusing offline and online retail experiences and this partnership will help us extend our value to broader audiences.”
Recent research from Deloitte, ‘Navigating the new digital divide – digital influence in Australian retail’ indicated that digital influences more than 40 per cent of store visits, which could mean a customer visiting a website or using social media before, during or after their visit.
