Case Study: Chemical Industry Digital Journey

Cracking the Code on Digital Experience in the Chemical Industry

THE CHALLENGE		QUICK INSIGHTS
In today’s digital world, customers expect options. They want to research, compare, and buy on their own terms — anytime, anywhere. Companies that make it easy to self-serve during key moments of the buying journey not only win customers but keep them. The evidence is clear: customers who have a better experience are more likely to pay more, forgive more, and recommend more. Yet in the chemical industry, digital adoption lags far behind other sectors. For many suppliers, the question isn’t why digital matters — it’s where to start. Leadership teams know they need to modernize the customer experience, but the path forward often feels unclear.		1.  A clear understanding of where the industry stands is the first step toward meaningful digital transformation. 2.  Benchmarking highlights not just gaps, but what good looks like. 3.  Progress doesn’t require perfection — it starts by focusing where it matters most.

THE AMBITION		THE ACTION		THE ACHIEVEMENT
To help chemical producers understand how to modernize the customer journey and build a roadmap toward a seamless, digital-first experience.		We benchmarked the digital experiences of the world’s largest producers, developed evaluation criteria based on digital best practices, and identified examples of success at key moments in the journey.		The resulting guide gave chemical industry leaders a practical blueprint for building a modern digital experience, grounded in real examples and actionable insights.

THE SOLUTION

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We set out to provide chemical industry leaders clarity about where to start to improve the digital journey. We conducted a digital experience benchmarking study of the world’s largest chemical producers.

Using our expertise in digital best practices, we developed a set of evaluation criteria and assessed how leading companies performed across key stages of the customer journey.

While no company offered a fully seamless end-to-end digital experience (2020), we discovered practical examples of excellence — points in the journey where some producers had found innovative ways to simplify, personalize, or accelerate the buying process. These became valuable models for others to follow.

THE BENEFIT

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The benchmarking effort gave a clear, data-backed picture of the industry’s digital landscape — including where the biggest opportunities lie. It helped reframe the digital challenge from overwhelming to actionable, showing that even small improvements at high-impact touchpoints can significantly enhance the customer experience.

The findings will empower teams to prioritize efforts and design a digital journey grounded in both customer expectations and proven best practices.

THE RESULT

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We delivered a comprehensive guide to creating a seamless digital journey for chemical product innovators. The report outlined the ideal customer experience across four stages:

• Discover – finding and learning about new solutions

• Analyze – evaluating options and technical data

• Select – narrowing down the right fit for the application

• Buy – transacting easily and confidently

The report highlighted best practices from leading producers, identified gaps in today’s digital landscape, and provided a roadmap for delivering a modern, customer-centered experience in an industry ready for transformation.

In the end, the path to digital excellence wasn’t about matching other industries — it was about learning from the best, reimagining the journey, and setting a new standard for what digital can mean in chemicals.