Marketing Week recently published an article by Alison Millington covering the benefits of focusing on digital tech rather than digital advertising. Using the example of Starbucks and Domino’s, the article argues that brands should be moving away from plowing money into digital advertising and moving towards investing in digital technology.

According to Marketing Week, Domino’s ecommerce sales were up by 24.4% in the UK in its half-year results, while its app now accounts for more than half (52.4%) of its online sales. Domino’s CEO David Wild attributes this success to the brand’s investment in ecommerce technology. Wild explained that the focus on tech has made it far more simple for customers to place orders, which means that they unsurprisingly order more often.

“Our success in the UK is a result of the investment we have made in market leading e-commerce initiatives. Our app has now been downloaded over 10 million times and our app sales have overtaken desktop sales for the first time,” said Wild.

Wild also mentioned that the company has more ecommerce initiatives coming up, including trials of one click orders for customers with a standard order.

Millington goes on to look at Starbucks’ success story. The company’s third quarter results, which saw global sales rise by 18% to $4.9bn, mean that its continued investment in “more than just digital advertising” was working. Part of this success is attributed to the Starbucks digital payment app, which is resulting in “shorter queues, faster service and more efficient in-store operations” according to CEO Howard Schultz, who says it will look to launch the service into its international markets “in the months ahead”. The focus on improving the in-store experience through mobile technology and through the company’s digital loyalty programme has given Starbucks a significant boost in sales.

Millington goes on to say that Schultz was dismissive of other brands that have concentrated on digital advertising instead of investing in techology, saying that  “Many traditional retailers and consumer brands have responded to the seismic consumer shift in bricks and mortar retail by substantially increasing their digital advertising budgets, significantly driving up their cost of customer acquisition and producing little to show for it. We on the other hand, took a very different approach.”

Other brands are starting to catch up with this trend. Millington highlights KFC and McDonalds, which are both planning to implement click-and-collect mobile payment technology in an attempt to improve customer satisfaction and waiting times. Similarly, Gourmet Burger Kitchen launched a digital order and collect services through its app in early 2015.

The effect of the success of brands like Starbucks and Domino’s, and the increasing trend of other brands following in their footsteps, seems to be that commerce brands are coming to the conclusion that making digital technology a central part of their ongoing strategy can result in an increase in profits and loyalty, much more than digital marketing alone. Millington does not dismiss digital advertising entirely, but maintains that it should exist to supplement the use of technology to improve customer experience.

Millington points to the likes of Procter & Gamble, who “could benefit from focusing more on ways to get closer to its customers through apps and ecommerce as well as through digital ad spend. That’s something rival Unilever understands as it tests ways to make online retail work for its products.”

In order to remain at the cutting edge of customer experience, commerce companies should take their lead from Alistair Macrow, McDonald’s UK and Northern Europe CMO, who explains “if we can find ways of using the technology that people carry with them to help enhance their McDonald’s experience then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”