Comma Consulting is your Digital Transformation partner, guiding your business through technology-driven change to drive...
For a business to digitally transform, it embarks on a strategic journey to integrate digital technologies across all business areas.
Watch the informative video below explaining why digital transformation works when collaborating with Comma Consulting, or read on to learn more.
The purpose of this is to evolve how organisations operate and deliver a higher standard of experiences to customers.
This is a planned business evolution that is done in bite-sized chunks that matches the pace the business leaders want to take.
This is because it also requires a cultural shift that cannot be rushed, balancing people, processes and the introduction of new technologies.
Expertise and Industry Experience
Greg Randall, founder of Comma Consulting, has over 20 years of experience digitally transforming businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Research and industry analysis prove an eCommerce replatform is the ideal starting point for digital transformation because it serves as a customer-centric "nerve center" that defines data standards and drives immediate commercial value.
Starting with the eCommerce platform replacement forces an organisation to modernise its backend systems and data architecture to meet real-time consumer demands, creating a scalable foundation for broader transformation
This approach also drives immediate revenue growth, making the business feel more comfortable with the digital transformation journey.
Digital transformation relies on effective execution, which is why it remains a key topic. Although transformation is crucial, poor execution prevents most businesses from realising its benefits.
For eCommerce replatforms, applying three core execution principles at a high standard is essential for success.
These are summarised below...
The process of customer experience journey mapping connects the dots between customer needs and the business's evolution.
Journey mapping illustrates the new customer experience and ensures it aligns with the business strategy.
Only once this is clear can a business consider introducing new technologies.
This becomes the business blueprint to transformation change.
Only once you see the journeys that must be created can you consider the technologies that must be in place to enable them.
A great analogy for selecting eCommerce technology before defining customer journeys:
"Buying a custom-built, Formula 1 racing engine before you’ve decided if you are building a sports car, a delivery truck, or a tractor."
The technology (the engine) might be powerful, but without knowing the destination or user experience (the vehicle type), it is costly, inflexible, and won't serve the intended purpose.
When you increase sales both online and in-store without preparing the wider business, you degrade profitability.
While the eCommerce channel is being enhanced, the business workflows and ways of working must be enhanced as well.
Greg calls this "Business Preparedness".
The process of diagnosing workflows that will be affected by the digital transformation and introducing new ways of working to scale the business sustainably.
For those who are interested in understanding the end-to-end process of transforming the eCommerce channel, below is a high-level summary of the key stages involved.
1. Understanding Future State of the Business
This stage involves collaborating with business leaders to define the business's future.
The aim is to clarify long-term goals and objectives that will guide the transformation.
2. Current State Assessment
A thorough review of existing business capabilities is conducted to identify pain points and opportunities. This assessment is approached from two perspectives:
This provides a clear account of the gap between the current and desired future states, and highlights "low-hanging fruit" opportunities that can deliver significant wins when addressed.
3. Phase 1 Transformation Scope
Utilising the information gathered, a document is developed which outlines the gaps and defines the scope for the Phase 1 transformation project. The project aims to:
4. Solution Selection and Vendor Evaluation
This selection process is critical and should only commence once information gathering and planning are complete. At this stage, the business can confidently enter an RFP process to make the correct vendor and technology selections.
5. Phase 1 Deeper Technical Project Planning
Once the eCommerce technology is selected, the next layer of detailed planning begins.
This includes mapping the customer experience journey and defining how this new eCommerce technology will interact with existing business systems.
Collaboration with cross-functional teams is essential. And this is led by Greg, who specialises in communicating at this level of detail.
Greg ensures the integrity of the business needs are protected throughout this step
6. Digital Transformation Project Implementation
A disciplined project management and agile delivery process is led by Greg Randall. This stage requires both technical proficiency and the ability to respond to cross-functional team queries.
Technologies are configured to be customer-centric, requiring numerous micro-adjustments throughout the project. Maintaining agility, while adhering to timelines, budgets, and quality standards, is critical.
7. Phase 1 Goes Live – Data Capture Plan
Once the project is live, a rigorous data-capture function is implemented to:
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