Strategy Implementation: Building an eCommerce Platform
In 2014, I led the concept, development, and implementation of a company’s first eCommerce site as part of a new go-to-market strategy. The platform was intended to capture a new demographic for the organization: aftermarket customers.
Change Management
Vendor Management
Technology Solutions
The Business Challenge
The leading manufacturer of standard oil-cooling products had traditionally operated through a B2B distribution network. To grow market share, the company wanted to transition its go-to-market strategy to include selling direct to aftermarket customers without requiring the expansion of its salesforce.
The Solution
Deliver a comprehensive, online, self-serve eCommerce platform serving standard catalog products to aftermarket customers. This new revenue stream could supplement fluctuating demand from distributors driven by original equipment manufacturers (OEM) timelines and marketing factors.
Actions Taken
- Wrote and administered an RFP for potential eCommerce vendors with selection process
- Developed project requirements for the vendor SCRUM development team
- Managed collection of data deliverables for platform migration
- Lead client User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Developed and trained new internal processes for managing online orders
- Tracked project budget and timelines.
Results Delivered
- An online ordering platform was launched in April 2015 that was searchable by part number and with checkout capabilities. Here is a link to an article published by Hydraulics & Pneumatics discussing the site’s capabilities and providing a visual of the homepage.
- Projected ROI of $1M over first 36 month timeframe.