eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the ‘Best Fit’ …...eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the...
Transcript of eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the ‘Best Fit’ …...eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the...
#IRCE17
ECOMMERCE TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPJune 6, 2017
eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the ‘Best Fit’and Ensure It’ll stick
#IRCE17eCommerce Platforms: How to Find the ‘Best Fit’and Ensure It’ll stick
IRCE 2017 Tech Workshop 2
Rod ForsytheSenior Consultant
Mike NelsonGlobal Director of Partnerships & Ecommerce
Todd KellyVP, Ecommerce
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When thinking of changing your e-commerce platform, what keeps you up at night?
35%
40%
20%
5%
Not enough time to get it all done
Ending up without all the features/functions needed now and in thefuture
Revenue dropping upon relaunch
Nothing. I always sleep like a baby
Answers
Answers
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It’s Complicated!
How Do You Know?
When is the right time to upgrade technology?
47.2%
Source: Internet Retailer 2016 Ecommerce Survey
Nearly half of the retailers surveyed want to re-platform
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52.8%
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FitForCommerceSpecialized consultancy founded to help businesses accelerate growth by leveraging digital.
Trusted advisor to hundreds of retailers.
Digital Diligence™Our philosophy and methodology based on an investment and due diligence mindset for decision-making to ensure success.
We are the help.
Curated digital innovation tracking and applied market advice to businesses in a CDO-on-demand service.
Benchmarking ofTop 120 Retailers for Web, Mobile, Storecapabilities
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First things first, a look at the market
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ECP OMS
WMS
CRM
Site Search
Ratings & Reviews
eMerchandising
eMarketing
SEO/SEM
Comparison
Engines
Affiliate
Social
Mobile
Web Analytics
Personalization
PinterestTwitter
Rich Internet
Apps (RIA)
Loyalty
Zoom
360°
eCatalog
Searchandising
Quick View
Marketplaces
Payment
CMS
Customer Care
Call Center
CRM
Customer Satisfaction
MeasurementGifting
Security PCI Fraud
Hosting
Logistics
Fulfillment Returns
Inventory
Chat
CDNPerformance
Click-Recording
Digital / eCommerce Galaxy
MCP
Omnichannel
Global
DataWH
ERP
Retargeting
DAM
Photography
Content Mgmt
Geolocation
Apps & Games
Pricing
POSPIM
BI
Clienteling
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CustomerCRM
Marketing
Webstore(ECP / CMS)
Order Mgmt(OMS)
FulfillmentWMS
ERP
CustomerService
Customers/ordersInventory
Shipping info
Tracking info
SalesTracking
info
Inventory
Price/Stock Qty.
MerchandisingCatalog
Pricing
Content
Images
Traffic
Retail(POS)
Mobile store(MCP)
Catalog
Product InfoMgmt (PIM)
Cust/Order
© FitForCommerce
(Over-simplified!)
Key components and integrations
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#IRCE17Time for a change?
Soft Reasons, Initial Assessment:
Falling behind the competition and retail partners
▪ Don’t have the tools?
Missing benchmarks and/or not exhibiting best practices
▪ Can’t do what you want? – Difficult to maintain
Growing platform deficiencies
▪ Too expensive? Low ROI?
Increasing internal costs
▪ Does the platform not fit your current or future needs?
Questioning strategic or future growth
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#IRCE17Strategy before requirements before selection
Strategic Diligence
• eCommerce Strategy
• Business, Merchandising, Marketing, Functionality, Customer Experience, Operations, Organization
• Approach/Model
• Deployment Model: Licensed, On-demand/SaaS, In-house, Open Source
• Support: Managed, 3rd-Party, In-house
• Budget
• Pricing model: revenue share, variable monthly, fixed fees
• TCO: external fees, internal costs
• Other Considerations
• Organizational model: internal skills, culture
• Amount of control
Requirements Diligence
• Follow a rigorous process
• Align with Business Objectives
• Define Functional Requirements in Great Detail
• Know Relevant Best Practices
• Perform Competitive Analysis
• Prioritize and Time Phase Requirements
• Document Use Cases
• Diagram Workflow Design
• Apply Creative Design
• Test and Adjust Requirements …again and again
• Keep Requirements Updated …always
Selection Diligence
• Continue the rigorous process
• Creating a long list (5-10) of same model/approach
• Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Short List of 2 to 5 Providers
• Compare apples to apples
• Demos, tire-kicking, live ex.
• Meet the team
• Review their roadmap
• Background check vs references
• Proof of concept, prototypes
• Ideally, have 2 finalists and review terms with both
• Get everything in writing
• Choose a winner
• Breathe a sigh of relief….
• …. then get back to work!
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Begin with the end in mind….
• Define your strategyLook 3 years out, 5 years out
What is the decision path?
Comprehensive Granular Honest
Lessons learned: The 3 B’s of Strategy
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But, I believe there are 4!
What is the decision path?
Comprehensive Granular Honest Nice
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#IRCE17FitForCommerce Retailer Strategic Directions
Mobile First Omnichannel
•Clienteling / CRM
•Integration with POS
•Enterprise Fulfillment
•360 view of the customer for marketing and customer service
User Experience
•Personalization
•Merchandising
•Enhanced Search
•Engaging and Useful Content
Content Management
•User Generated
•Content Management Systems (CMS)
•Product Information Mgmt (PIM)
Social Media Integration
Enhanced Customer Service
•Customer-Managed Tasks
International B2B, B2B2C
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Compare – Gap Analysis
Moment of truth
Future Needs – Current Systems = GAP
It’s Easy, Right?
Take your strategy and objectives and map them to your systems
and processes
✓ Is the gap big enough to warrant a new platform? ✓ Is an additional point solution needed? ✓ Can the current platform be modified?✓ Is it worth it?
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Uh-oh…. I need to re-platform
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#IRCE17Manage and run the RFP process
Make sure you have the time to devote to a comprehensive RFP process
Strategy
Requirements
Selection
200-800hours
80-120hours
40-80hours
Based on a review of 20 FitForCommerce engagements
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Determine, define, and rank your needs
✓ Rank them in order of priority; classify by need, want, or nice to have.
✓ Determine what front-end features you want.
✓ Identify requirements for managing the site.
✓ Choose the best solution approach and/or model.
✓ Include systems, data and processes your eCommerce system will integrate with in the back end.
Requirements based selection
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Select your participants
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** Not a full listConfusion?
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It gets worse!
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#IRCE17Deployment and implementation models
On-Premise
Hosted
SaaS
On-Demand
Cloud
Licensed
Subscription
Revenue Share
Deployment Pricing Implementation Model
Micro Services
Commerce Led
Hybrid
Content Led
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#IRCE17Run the process!
Perform the RFP process like a funnel with many steps
• Nice long list of providers at the top
• Narrow down based on RFP responses – compare
• Narrow down based on web interactions
• Narrow down based on finalist meetings
Build Requirements
Long List
Request for Proposal
Comparative Results
Short list
FinalistSelection
#IRCE17Make your decision
Functional
✓ Which platform most closely matches my requirements▪ Lower customizations means less risk (schedule / scope / budget)
✓ Look at the roadmap▪ Does it align with your vision?
Financial
✓ Is the 3 yr TCO within your budget?
Cultural
✓ Do you have rapport✓ Does the team seem eager, are they engaged?✓ Do they respond quickly
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✓ How the vendor’s implementation team guides the process.
✓ What didn’t go as expected?✓ What was the timing promised for
implementation?✓ What was the actual time for implementation?✓ If it took longer than expected- Why?✓ Add budget…✓ Ask around the interesting✓ Understand there are always ugly periods, ask
about their experiences around that
Check References!!
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#IRCE17Implementation
Keys to successful implementations
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What to look for:
Strong Project Management
Weekly status reports that
include:
• Budget Analysis with burn down
• Schedule
• More than just Sprints!!
Issues and risk to:
• Schedule
• Scope
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#IRCE17Clear Change Management
What to ask:• How do you manage change?
• Requirements or integration
What to look for:
• Structure process and rules around scope and requirements changes
• Change should be welcomed but not structured
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Data Migration
Readiness – YOU!
YOU must have….
Creative Integrations
Products
Orders
Customers
Attribution
Standard exports
-congruent with platform
What
How
Templates
Style sheets
Business rules
Designs?
What
Internal systems
Data flows
SOR’s
Diagrams!!
What
How
Self reflection: Do you have resources for each of these, include testing, QA and User Acceptance Testing?
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#IRCE17OOPs - Ongoing Operational Process
• Requirements-driven test
• Build requirements in a way they can be inserted into a UAT plan
• Monitor progress of each sprint (determine feasibility) – Don’t let’em fool you!
• Look at velocity
• Compare to next sprint
• Data and creative, top of mind
• Continuous migration of data
• QA
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• Most retailers update platforms every 3-4 years
• Costs to re-platform can range as high as $2 million+ for large enterprises taking up to 12-18 months
– Though smaller projects often range $400K - $1M and can be implemented in 6-12 months
• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as conversion, AOV, SEO, etc. sometimes fall immediately after a re-launch
Re-platforming can be disruptive
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E-Commerce Platforms: How to Find the ‘Best Fit’ and Ensure It’ll Stick
ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS:Optimizing the Selection Process
#IRCE17AGENDA
VISION AUDITING PROPOSAL SELECTION32
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COMPANY HISTORY & SITE
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COMPANY HISTORY: 1973
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COMPANY HISTORY: 1994
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COMPANY HISTORY: 2007
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#IRCE17COMPANY HISTORY: TODAY
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ECOMMERCE VISION
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VisionCurrent
StateRoadmap
ECOMMERCE VISION
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Unique Functions (examples)
• International Tax Laws
• Book Previews & Formats
Needed Functions (examples)
• Responsive Design
• Market-Specific Promos
Current State Future State
ECOMMERCE VISION
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3 Year Roadmap
• Vision
• Incremental demand
• Customer experience
• Effort/investment
Immediate Site Efforts
• Target promotions
• Mobile optimized
• Book previews
ECP Business Case
• Vision, roadmap
• Incremental demand
• Customer experience
• Costs, effort, sequencing, timing
Building a Roadmap and Business Case
ECOMMERCE VISION
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Business
Requirements
Technical
Requirements
Selection
Diligence
ECOMMERCE VISION
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STRATEGIC DILIGENCE
eCommerce Rapid
Site Evaluation
Strategic Analysis
Optional:
Competitive Analysis
EG100 Benchmark
REQUIREMENTS DILIGENCE SELECTION DILIGENCE IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW
Requirements
Definition
Workflow
Definition
Optional:
Design Wireframes
RFP Development &
Long List Creation
RFP Distribution,
Response & Analysis Provider(s) Selection
Optional:
Contract(s) Assistance
Implementation
Coaching
Project/
Selection
Review
Feedback
Into
FFC DB
Project Mgmt
Assistance
LAUNCH !
Site Metrics
Summary Document
Requirements
Definition Grid
Requirements
Definition Summary
System Context
Diagram
RFP(s)
Long List of
Targeted Providers
Short List of
Targeted Providers
RFP(s)
Tracking
RFP(s) Comparative
Analysis
Finalists &
Recommendations
Client SMEs/
Functional OwnersFFC Consultants eCommerce Industry
Best Practices
eCommerce
Technology/Services
Providers
Chosen eCommerce
Provider(s)
FFC DBNew
Webstore
Rapid Site Eval
Strategic Diligence
Document
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ECOMMERCE AUDIT
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…3,000 lines of xls
ECOMMERCE AUDIT
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ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
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RFP Rqmts RFIProceed Decision
RFP Selection
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CriteriaRequest for Information (RFI) Process Request for Proposal (RFP)
Process
Requirements Fit High Level fit against requirements categories Detailed requirements fit; analysis and scoring of vendor requirements match
Vendor Stability
Evidence of vendor size and stability Review of vendor financial statements, credit worthiness, deeper dive on stability, vendor roadmap / investment
Scalability Market proof points demonstrating scalability / reference implementations
Reference checks and written documentation of scalableimplementations
IntegrationCapabilities
Evidence of integration experience / capabilities Detailed description of integration approach specifically for client; assessment of project management capabilities
Implementation Time
Typical implementation timeframes Proposed timeframe specifically for client; ease of implementation
Cost Range of implementation and maintenance costs for similarly sized projects
Detailed quote (typically a range) based on clientRequirements / Integration Points
Partner Ecosystem Evidence of broad ecosystem Detailed investigation of partner ecosystem
Cultural fit Not assessed Assessed through vendor meetings, reference checks
ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
RFI
vs.
RFP
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Company
• Co. History
• Client Base
• Typical Client Revenues
• Team (SI) Background
• Location
Product
• License or SaaS
• Code Base
• Typical Build
• 3rd Party plugins
• Necessary Skills
Features
• Missing Features
• Competitive Advantages
• Data Integration
• Staging & SEO
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Presentations
• Preparation
• Ease of Use
• Complications
• Critical Functions
• “Custom”
Weights
• Functionality
• Integrations
• Custom Work
• Expertise
• Business knowledge
Decisions
• Pricing
• Time to Build
• Client Feedback
• Ongoing Support
ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS
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Program Management
Pick the right partners
Build project top down
Block diagram key components and data
Challenge your System Integrator
Assign ownership of major work categories
Over communicate internally and externally
Create both working and published schedules
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Re-Evaluate Your Platforming Goals
Review and update your
main goals for re-platforming
Ensure all players agree and “buy-
in” your goals are achievable
Earmark key goal-achieving
milestones
Link payments to milestone
achievements
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Create a Thorough, Accurate, Usable SOW
• Ensure all RFP data flows into SOW
• Update with any recent requirements
• Sign off on vendor assumptions and requirements
• If SOW is time & materials cap all estimates
• Keep SOW a working reference document
• Link document to above-created milestone markers
SOW
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Establishing Key Milestones
KickoffCreative design
acceptance
Customer data
migration
Product data
migration
Enterprise subsystem integration
Staged system testing
Throttle testing
Go Live
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Schedule and Budget Allocation
• Partner with your SI to create your schedule
• Allocate time and resources per major milestone
• Define milestone testing and buy-off procedures
• Identify and highlight areas of highest schedule/budget risk
• Do multiple schedule review cycles for all-party input/buy-in
• Give yourself some wiggle room in the published schedule
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Team Creation and Management
• Exec sponsor, project manager, IT, ops, creative, marketing, merchandising
Internal Team
• Engagement manager, project manager, creative lead, data architect, development team
System Integrator
• Site search, social tools, personalization, product reviews, etc.
Point Solution Providers
• OMS, ERP, WMS, CMS, etc.
Existing Enterprise Vendors
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Staff Training
• Do not skimp on training, it will pay off
• Never believe “it’s easy to learn”
• Formal hands on classroom training is best
• Have all system users participate
• Execute old workflows and update to fit new platform
• Ensure ECP vendor has follow-on system learning resources
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Mistakes to Avoid
• Insufficient testing
• No roll-back plan
• Not using 301 redirects where needed
• Insufficient staff training
• Not accounting for changes to previous workflows
• Forgetting about editorial content
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Rod Forsythe
Sr. Consultant
FitForCommerce
Mike Nelson
Global Director of Partnerships & Ecommerce
Lonely Planet
Todd Kelly
VP, Ecommerce
Kaltex North America
For additional questions:
Q&A
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