Context

Our client, an international global retail brand, needed to create the conditions to catch up with the competition in digital share of sales.

Opportunity

Like many leading retailers, the legacy internal focus was on physical stores as the most important ‘shop window’ for the brand. This had resulted in direct digital sales that trailed other channels, lost margin and a high cost of sale.

Solution

Working with the board through lockdown we created a plan to first evaluate procurement options, then implement a new operating model to drive commercially focused teams through a bespoke eCommerce development process.

We began by reviewing the build v buy decision for the eCommerce platform, applying a set of principles and criteria to arrive at objective choice to - in this instance - continue with the internal development of a bespoke codebase.

Working alongside the functional leaders and digital stakeholders, we then co-created a new operating model (’how we do digital’) to drive efficient and commercially effective ways of working. This was done as an intensive, focused piece of work that never the less needed to protect the time and focus of team members during a critical trading period.

The model is comprehensive and designed as a working document that leaders can iterate on with teams, covering: people, capability, governance, porfolio, planning & process, and digital metrics & measurement.

Outcome

Our approach to the challenge ensured that all levels of the organisation were bought into the solution.

The board had made an informed choice, then had mechanisms through the governance model to monitor and scrutinise performance and commercial outcomes.

The process of co-creating the operating model ensured that teams were fully engaged in the process and that the model was fit for purpose for the bespoke needs of the organisation.

Functional leaders had a new set of processes and frameworks to drive best performance from their teams and tools.

Impact

The result of our engagement was that an internally-developed bespoke eCommerce build delivered on time for the peak trading period. Teams had the mechanisms to rapidly test & learn, and to integrate with other commercial functions (eg marketing, trading). Digital teams were able to provide customers with a series of rich new customer experiences that better reflected the global brand.