Telco sector rivals retail for digital leadership, survey finds

Mobile network operator O2 has ranked second in a list of the UK’s top performing digital leaders while the telco sector also came in second, behind retail, as the best performing industry, a new survey finds.

Looking at the digital word primarily through a martech lens, management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint’s Digital Leaders Survey based on 2022 data, judges the most successful digital firms across four areas: digital marketing, digital product experience, ecommerce and E-CRM (customer relationship management).

The UK study assessed 77 companies across a range of verticals that include banking, energy, insurance, retail (which is split into food, non-food and fashion) as well as telcos.

According to BearingPoint UK practice leader Tony Farnfield, key success factors that companies are graded on included putting the customers first; generating positive emotional responses from customers; delivering value with technology stacks that leverage data; technical innovation as well as strong ethical and sustainability practices.

Out of a possible score of 5, telcos achieved a score of 3.11 behind Non-Food Retail (3.43), Food (3.32), and Fashion (3.28). In terms of individual company rankings, Telefonica UK (O2) scored 3.68 while Hutchinson 3G UK (Three) scored 3.52 and Vodafone scored 3.51. The top ranked company was online electronics retailer AO retail – just ahead of 02 with 3.70.

According to the survey, the UK telco industry performed particularly well in the areas of digital marketing and digital product experience – especially their ability to leverage SEO and search engines as well as to draw customer attention to new promotions through impactful marketing campaigns.

O2 scored top markets in affiliate marketing and search engine as well as its high use of social media platform Instagram as a channel to engage consumers.

Vodafone, meanwhile, gained praise for its strength in display advertising, scoring high in placement, traffic generation and volume.

John Ward, director at BearingPoint praised telcos smart use of CX technologies: “UK telcos performed well in this year’s study, helping take the UK to second in our overall annual digital global rankings.

“Telcos are showcasing a comprehensive and balanced approach to digital strategy, focusing on providing prompt assistance to customer queries by leveraging technologies such as live chat, digital contact forms, and ability to call customer service directly from the mobile app,” he added.