Choosing a new eCommerce platform has become a lot more complicated these days. As Chris Langway discussed in a previous post, the rise of Omnichannel has drastically altered the way we conceive and build an eCommerce experience. Underestimating the impact of Omnichannel is one error that many business leaders are making when undertaking an eCommerce re-platforming, but there are a number of other mistakes that can slow, stall or completely nullify the intended effect of implementing a new eCommerce platform.
1. Skimping on up-front planning
Let’s start with the basics. A re-platforming project is a big deal. It takes considerable planning, strategic vision and resources. Many business leaders going through this for the first time are struggling with the growing complexities and are overseeing projects that are running late and over budget. In fact, according to a 2013 Forrester study, 43% of eCommerce solutions have significantly higher costs than anticipated. Why is this happening? Most often this results from inadequate planning, lack of organizational alignment and unrealistic timeline expectations.
It is more expensive to make changes once development work is underway. If new stakeholders or requirements are introduced midstream, it can lead to delays, costly rework and even complete reversals in strategy.
Another issue that stems from this lack of planning is a failure to account for future expansion needs that will inevitably be critical to online revenue growth. Companies need to look beyond their current requirements to ensure that their technology choices will scale or they’ll be facing another replatform challenge before they expect to. One example of such growth is the move that U.S. online retailers are making abroad. According to a recent study from OC&C Strategy Consultants, international eCommerce will jump from a $11 billion market today to a $50 billion market in 2020. If globalization will be a need in the next 1-3 years, it should be part of the current re-platform discussion. (Get more info on going global here).
2. Picking the wrong technology and partners
Many companies will vet technology based on analyst reports, industry buzz and the latest bells and whistles touted by the platform providers themselves. Sometimes these new innovative features are just what they need. Often times, this isn’t the case and companies end up investing for functionality they don’t need and will never use. In fact, close to 40% of platform features are never used. Avoid this by planning around your customer, not the technology. A great place to start is by building a profile of your customer and how they interact with you within and across channels. Where do they do research? What content do they trust? How are they using channels separately or together? Are they purchasing on mobile? These all need to be answered before you can even talk to a technology vendor.
We live in the age of the educated buyer and this doesn’t just go for consumers. Businesses need to know exactly what their customers want and effectively communicate this to potential technology partners in order to build an eCommerce presence that will both delight customers and scale over time.
This goes the same when choosing an eCommerce service provider. Often overlooked, the services partner is the critical link between your customer needs and the technology required to get there. Companies like Optaros, configure, customize and integrate technology to deliver the brand-relevant customer experiences that meet consumer needs and drive business results. Many traditional integrators are still too technology focused and overlook key design and user experience elements that bolster your brand, marketing capabilities and in the end, conversions. An eCommerce services partner should be able to bring together the design and user experience skills of a top digital agency with the deep technology skills of a top systems integrator.
3. Not thinking about mobile from the get-go
If you’re considering re-platforming, I’d venture a guess that a primary driver is a shortfall in your current mobile commerce capabilities. This time around, you need to consider a “mobile-up,” or “mobile-first” implementation. Transactional mobile shopping is growing twice as fast as traditional commerce and it’s been suggested that by 2017, mobile will triple in revenue to $113.6 billion, capturing 26% of all online sales. You can’t miss out on this.
Moreover, simply having a mobile commerce presence isn’t enough. New mobile capabilities are drastically altering the mobile shopping experience, such as location based merchandising, loyalty applications, mobile coupons, etc. Planning for smartphones alone isn’t enough either. Tablet shopping accounts for 55% of mobile sales and is only going to continue to grow.
So, when going mobile – many companies ask whether they should roll out a fresh responsive website or develop a mobile shopping app. This is where we need to loop back to two previous points; your customers’ profile and the services partner you choose. The right partner will help you better leverage your customer insights to choose the right strategy and technologies. In many cases, having an app may be too much technology. A website designed specifically for mobile sees 62% more sales, according to Retrevo, and this could be enough to meet your goals. On the other hand, some customer may be seeking certain features, such as location-based services that can only be delivered via a mobile application and giving them this experience can be a boon for business.
There are many things to take into account when considering re-platforming and this is a great place to start to avoid making critical mistakes out of the gate. However, the road to a successful implementation can be long and arduous without proper guidance and the industry know-how to address new complexities. Check out our latest white paper for even more best practices and pitfalls to avoid.