The eCommerce Consulting Process

To evolve from a Digital Laggard to a Leader requires an eCommerce Consulting Process designed to activate the correct type of change.

"Forensics" describes a proven scientific methodology for solving crimes and accounting negligence. The eCommerce Consulting Process, seen below, is a proven forensic approach to solving poor-performing eCommerce websites.

Greg has perfected this process from decades of working with hundreds of eCommerce websites, making changes and analysing the data once the changes have been made. This post-analysis discipline has given Greg rare insights into those eCommerce changes that work and those that do not.

Below is a high-level summary of this process, which consistently produces client success.

Step 1: Let's Get Strategic

Greg first engages with the C-Suite to understand the business-wide growth plan.

Research proves when an eCommerce website aligns with business-wide strategy, it drives overall growth.

This strategic context sets the tone, defines what the business needs from the eCommerce channel, and influences decision-making.

Click here to learn more about the eCommerce Strategic Planning services.

Step 2: Customer-centric Data Analysis and defining the Gap

Considering the strategic context, Greg understands how the eCommerce channel must look and behave to support growth. The next challenge is defining how close (or how far) the current state of the eCommerce website is from business needs.

This step analyses customer-centric data to define the website's current state and compares it to the desired future state, illustrating the gap.

Customer-centric data enables the customer voice to be heard, capturing behaviours, and explaining the pain they are experiencing when trying to engage with you.

Step 3: Auditing the current eCommerce website

Now that Greg understands the customer-centric data and can see the pain points from the customer's perspective, this creates empathy. Greg now has a perspective on what is not working on the site.

These issues are documented to ensure the business understands why the current website version is underperforming.

At the end of this step, a document is produced defining all findings, the future state, and the short-term priorities that need to be activated.

The short-term priorities form a Phase 1 change project that moves a business from laggard to leader.

Step 4: Phase 1 Change - Customer Experience Design - the "Secret Sauce"

While every step of this process is "secret saucy" this step is the sauciest. Greg constructs the new customer experience design plan through wireframing and supporting commentary that defines how each new page needs to look and behave to drive customer engagement.

The Customer Experience Design process relies heavily on three information sources...

Business needs (strategic context)
Customer-centric data
eCommerce best practice

Finding the issues and constructing a plan is one challenge. If change is not implemented correctly, no value will be seen for the business.

The Customer Experience Design plan becomes the "Change Bible" for a Phase 1 change project.

Step 5: Phase 1 Change - Plan Execution

This eCommerce Consulting Process transforms eCommerce technology into an engaging system that enables consumers to gather information and make buying decisions. To do this, eCommerce technology must be highly tuned.

Think of an F1 Race Car with a driver who does not know how to drive. Greg becomes your experienced F1 Race Car driver.

Greg is heavily involved in all aspects of project implementation as part of this change process because hundreds of micro-adjustments are needed in a single project.

Without this "policing", the plan will not translate to success for the Retailer/B2B.

This is where Greg collaborates closely with eCommerce Agencies.

Step 6: Monitoring NEW customer-centric data

Once the project is completed and the changes are live, a new "digital salesperson" is born. Congratulations on moving from a Digital Laggard to Leader!

New journeys and experiences bring new engagement behaviours and critical new data requiring monitoring and defining.

Monitoring data is necessary for the following reasons...

It confirms ROI is being achieved.
The business sees the impact of the "Process" in driving revenue increases.
This new data informs decision-making for future changes and enhancements. This is how a Phase 2 project is formed.

If you want to learn more about how the above process can impact your business, contact Greg on his mobile at 0477 723 474 or by email at greg@commaconsulting.com.au.