The digital world is dynamic and allows businesses to push the limits and seek continual improvement. The entire industry moves at a breakneck pace, meaning you can't look backward even for a second if you want to keep up. To help you move past your competitors, we’ve curated a list of the top digital transformation insights from 2016 that could shape the world of digital in 2017.

1. Ecommerce re-platforming

We encounter this often. The survival of an ecommerce business requires re-platforming. Essentially, re-platforming is migrating from a current ecommerce platform to another with the objective of creating competitive advantage in an increasingly disrupted and complex digital marketplace.

2. Mobile moments

Mobile moments are short-but-frequent instances of need when customers reach for their mobile devices to get what they want as quickly and accurately as possible. It’s these moments that marketers must capitalize on because many of these moments are I-want-to-know, I-want-to-buy, I-want-to-go or I-want-to-do moments, where you can engage with prospective customers in a one-on-one transaction.

3. Customer journey maps

A customer journey map is one of the most powerful methods of identifying and understanding the needs of your customers. By mapping out each and every step of interaction between a customer and your digital product, you can ensure that your offering always meets or exceeds their needs and desires.

4. Gamification

Gamification can inspire renewed energy and motivation in the office. Gamification is a scientific, technology-driven process that motivates employees via point scoring such as a game, thus creating a personal challenge. The method of gamification involves badges, leader boards and points that can be used for rewards, achievement and recognition.

5. Personalization

Instead of bombarding every buyer with the exact same message, such as information about your latest tropical plants, there are methods of advertising being cultivated that directly market to a customer based on their needs, such as people who have an Australian native garden. Retailers are now able to advance their offerings from mapping past shopping choices to predicting shopping decisions by assessing big data information and insights. This makes way for a personalization strategy to ensure you market the right messages to the right audience segments.

6. POC vs MVP

There is a fundamental difference between a proof of concept (POC) and a minimum viable product (MVP). A POC is largely used to determine technical and design challenges. An MVP, on the other hand, is a concept that not only defines the product design but also answers almost all technical questions and tests fundamental business strategies.

7. Conversational chatbots

Bots are the conversational agents that live inside messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and Slack. We’ve already heard the term "conversational apps," and bots are everywhere now. New avatar bots with intelligent context have made them the best bet to succeed apps & websites. Consequently, Microsoft has tried to get ahead of this trend with Microsoft Bot Framework.

8. Data visualization

Visualizing data using appropriate techniques can reveal insights for decision-makers to make informed, data-driven choices.

There’s many more topics we could have covered such as remote workforces, augmented and virtual reality, big data, the internet of things and artificial intelligence, which are all worth keeping an eye on in 2017. There is no question that digital transformation has become a necessity, but these tips can help you build an agile, adaptable business model that is designed to thrive long into the future.