The Insider’s Guide to Successful
Site Launches and Redesigns
sponsored by Lyons Consulting Group
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Housekeeping
Housekeeping
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Housekeeping
Lauren Freedman
President
the e-tailing group
Craig Dooley
Lead Project Manager
Lyons Consulting Group
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Lyons Consulting Group
Founded
• 2003
Footprint
• Chicago-based, with national and
global delivery capabilities
Approach
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eCommerce Best Practices + Strategy
Creative Design + User Experience
Implementation + Integration
Software as a Service + Support
Clients
Nationally Recognized
• Inc. Magazine: Fastest growing
firms in the U.S. in 2008 & 2009
The LCG Difference
• We guarantee our work
• Lucy, Sanrio (Hello Kitty), Lifetime
Brands, Warner Bros., Seat Exchange,
Reader’s Digest, Ruud Lighting
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The Voice of Cross-Channel Merchandising
Straight talk from “in-the-trenches” online
merchandising experts
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15 years e-commerce consulting
Author, It’s Just Shopping
50+ years traditional retail and
catalog experience
Fortune 500 client projects
ranging from strategic planning,
merchandising, marketing, to
technology development and
messaging
Cross-category projects spanning
specialty retail to departments
Proprietary research studies on
mystery shopping, merchandising
and consumer behavior
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Today’s Agenda
A. Introduction
B. Six Secrets to Success
1. Start with Strategic Business Thinking
2. Develop a Well Designed Project Plan
3. Structure a Winning Organization
4. Partner Smart
5. Perfect Project Management
6. Demand Adequate Testing
C. Lessons Learned
D. Checklist To Successfully Replatform And Redesign
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49% merchants plan to change e-commerce platforms within 3 years vs.
44% last year
When do you anticipate changing your e-commerce platform?
45%
42%
23%
21%
18% 18%
14%
8%
6%
5%
Less than 1 year
1-2 years
2-3 years
2010
Q32
No plans to change
Don't know
2009
9th Annual e-tailing group Merchant Survey, 2010
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Switching platforms is driven by inadequate functionality (45%) and/or having
outgrown existing platform (40%)
Why would you look to switch platforms? Check all that apply.
45%
Inadequate functionality
40%
Outgrew existing platform
Not looking to switch or just recently
switched
32%
23%
Needed more control
40%
39%
19%
20%
Poor account services
14%
14%
In-house model no longer working for us
12%
Seeking a new business/financial model
10%
Long-term security/PCI compliance
Q33
50%
39%
Back-end systems are not adequate
Wanted less control
55%
0%
1%
16%
15%
2010
2009
9th Annual e-tailing group Merchant Survey, 2010
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6 Secrets to Success
1. Start with Strategic Business Thinking
• “You are not just re-platforming for
the web but re-platforming for the
entire business”
• “We would still be stuck with all of
our existing providers and would not
necessarily be seeking out partners
who could give us the best deal, the
best service or both if we hadn’t
switched platforms”
• “Don’t purchase a one-bedroom
house when you’re planning a
growing family”
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Encourage Big Picture Thinking
• Ensure that the customer experience is driven by a
retail mentality
• Focus on the business needs and don’t worry about
what technology can do at the outset
• Determine the level of control your company needs
• Design and build in a way that allows you to grow into
the future needs of the business
• If you’re in it for the long haul you can scale cost
appropriately
• Consolidate functionality into one software package
• Identify point solutions that will be required to support
your new platform
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Discovery Should Solidify Business Requirements
• Know the ins and outs of your business
– Gather input from everyone but ultimately
don’t design by committee
– Understand your customer and only
prioritize functionality that truly matters
• Cut to the chase on best practices and
incorporate them into the discovery phase
• Be specific about what you use on a daily basis
and discuss day-to-day operations from both a
customer facing and administrative perspective
• Cut through hype quickly to come to consensus
about what’s ideal for development
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2. Develop a Well Designed Project Plan
• Leave no stone unturned; lay the groundwork with
sound planning including numbers/processes
• KISS (Keep it simple stupid); fight the tendency to
overcomplicate things
• Prioritize determining what you can wait on; don't
overemphasize the sexy stuff; nail the basics
• Do the design with the replatform as it saves heartache
and pain
• Be realistic about what your development team can
deliver and know that narrowing the scope may be wise
in early stage site development
• Before you talk to vendors defining everything you want
both textually and visually is imperative
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Money Makes the World Go Round
• The notion of working on a fixed cost basis and being
aligned to a statement of work gives you peace-ofmind
• Understand that this investment is long-term and
amortized over time
• Have a rainy day fund as things come up last minute
where you will need both time and money
• When asked for your budget, share a number that is
$20,000 less than the actual budget
• Budget for hardware needs when running two sites as
this will be needed when working through a redesign
or replatform
• When hiring new developers to rewrite the platform
build in a buffer for double-dipping as you will be
paying both old and new developers
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Timing is of the Essence
• Don't get too ambitious or you will lose track of
details when you're trying to get everything done;
it will then be difficult to attribute your success to
any specific element you may have altered
• Phase it in as it’s less risky
• It’s often better to address ecommerce changes
on a project by project basis as doing it all at
once can mean costs spiraling out of control
• Set realistic deadlines and never try and deliver
for Christmas
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The Devil is in the Details
Data
• Be in the know about the data that you house and
how it will be used
• Define data requirements and how information will
be reported back to the enterprise to ensure a
platform selection that accommodates those
needs
Integration
• Keep the team updated often on integration
requirements and development status given
implications for overall site development
• Take a hard look at necessary internal needs as
anything can be done - it just costs money and you
may want to table internal integration until the
ecommerce front-end is complete
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3. Structure a Winning Organization
• “Refrain from using a hybrid organization model that was
very matrix managed as you may find yourself with
merchants who couldn't agree on the merchandising
direction and too many chiefs”
• A flat organization has worked well as everyone is
involved; at the core we have marketing and
merchandising and the COO is the driver
• As a manufacturer with no ecommerce we were fortunate
as we had the opportunity to build the organization right
from the outset; we wisely didn't separate digital
marketing from ecommerce and that team was focused on
building the brand beyond sales
• Put a structure in place keeping your team small and tight
so you can then move fast and make quick decisions
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Build the Right Team
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Assess real resource needs using people's best skills to
direct assignments
Pick and choose what the experts should do and what you
can handle internally
eCommerce platforms must be run by users so learn the
tool to control your own destiny
“Our core team consisted of VP IT, Marketing, ecommerce individuals and an
executive sponsor; throughout the process we reached out to individuals outside
that core team as they felt they were not being heard”
View this process similarly to launching a new business where your day-to-day
team is tactical and your new business group forward thinking individuals who
are more strategic and sophisticated in nature
“For smaller merchants, many will have a very flat org structure consisting of 1-2
individuals who may be the primary leads on decision-making and execution;
paying first for the redesign and then learning how to do the rest on our own was
imperative; we needed to know how to run the site in the absence of being able
to afford consultants to do the day-to-day maintenance and adding of products”
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4. Partner Smart
• Ensure that you have someone who truly understands web design
including what you can and can't do
• Match the size of company you hire with your own size and
cultural dynamics
• Include legally binding terms on delivery dates with subsequent
penalties for nonperformance
• Do your due diligence by reading industry publications,
talking to peers, and attending trade shows
• Move beyond vendor references to get an objective view from
unhappy people who have left a platform or designer
• Word-of-mouth should not be underestimated and maintaining a
core group of industry peers is ideal to gauge performance,
general satisfaction, and disappointment
• Serendipity can play an important part in the selection process so
be around and aware
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5. Perfect Project Management
• Include a hard stop-date for project completion
and project manage to that date
• Allow enough time to get the project done and
don't shave time without reducing scope
• If the project manager is not enabled, you won't
be successful; keep things on time removing
every road block in place
• Project management individuals should have
“skin in the game” so consultants are not
always right for this part of the development
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The People and the Process Must Be in Sync
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Put in place a dedicated full-time person at a senior level who
owns the project
The best project managers know your business
Be incredibly organized about the effort and what needs to be
done; document and understand the ramifications of decisions
Project management should know about ecommerce technology
to talk to individual stakeholders
Enable the project manager to make decisions on what to keep
and what to cut
Know what your company’s role is and rather than imposing your
will and taking the reins let the firm you hired drive the process
Make an effort to develop personal relationships with external
project managers very quickly and get their mobile phone
numbers
Ensure that the team is trained in how to use the site and all
administration tools
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6. Demand Adequate Testing
• Build testing into the work stream
• Ensure testing is part of the contract with your
developer
• User testing should run concurrently to evolve
site design
• Invest adequate funds in quality assurance
• Take advantage of friends and family to save
money on testing
• Ensuring that the site works across multiple
browsers must be taken into consideration
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Lessons Learned with LCG
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Lessons Learned
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Building the Business Case
– If you can’t answer WHY you need it, you won’t be able to figure out
WHAT you need
– Takes time, money, focus, discipline
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Internal Champion
– Needs to be a business person – could have an understanding of tech,
but needs to truly understand the business
– Focuses on ROI
– Focuses on the customers, not internal systems
– Not your web developer or systems guy
– 80% of their time should be focused on the project
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Lessons Learned
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Requirements
– Facilitate a real discussion internally to truly capture your requirements
and the scenarios that support them
– Not just getting the what, but the why
– The solution is the how
– Creates your selection criteria (eliminates candidates)
– Requirements will be strong in some areas, weak in others, so once you
do that initial round, you’ll need to revisit for deeper understanding
– Establish budget
– Team assembled – subject matter experts, not necessarily people who
will be on the project team
– Requirements ultimately drive the SOW
– Internal requirements + discovery = Detailed SOW
– Surprises are minimized in discovery
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Lessons Learned
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Change Management
– Start thinking about it the moment you make your selection
– Don’t wait until the end of the project – worst possible time
– The new site will effect people in core functions: Marketing, IT, CSRs,
Finance
– Introduce a couple new features and the ramifications grow exponentially
– Identify, discuss and understand how these new features and interactions
impact the individual, the department, and the company
– What will I do differently tomorrow than I do today? How will I think
differently?
– Conversations about capabilities – application capabilities early on in the
project
– Everybody sees the demo, but it’s not reality
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Checklist To Successfully Replatform & Redesign
1. Be strategic in your thinking by covering all bases from the big picture to the
basics, taking the time to complete an extensive discovery process
2. Design a plan that will serve as a guide to initiate and sustain the project that is
detail-oriented addressing both front and back-end needs
3. Ensure that your organization and team are solid and appreciate the challenge
ahead of them
4. Pick the right partners that align with your organization’s needs
5. Select a project manager internally that can drive the effort and work both
internally and externally to swiftly deliver the desired site on time and on
budget
6. Allocate enough time to adequately test the site from the
customer’s perspective building scenarios from your statement of
work
7. Training in site usage, particularly the administrative aspect
of your business, is important to control your selling and site
destiny
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QA/Thank You
Lauren Freedman
President
the e-tailing group
e. LF@ e-tailing.com
p. 773-975-7280
Craig Dooley
Lead Project Manager
Lyons Consulting Group
e. cdooley@lyonscg.com
p. 312-564-3176