Navigating the Complexities of Omnichannel Retail Transformation
The Situation
To drive sales and profit growth, a £100M multi-channel fashion company sought to implement a new retail omnichannel software suite, aiming for a seamless cross-channel customer experience, integrated analytics, and a unified supply chain and logistics.
The company operated across a siloed store, ecommerce and wholesale structure, with separate IT systems, management and communication channels.
Business leads were appointed internally to own and manage the separate workstreams, with IT owning delivery of the overall project.
Significant client internal and external challenges and disruption to the omnichannel software implementation emerged during the project which required to be addressed to drive and deliver the project and realise the benefits.
The Task
I was engaged by the Software as a Service (Saas) company to secure the contract for their omnichannel suite, comprising 12 workstreams and lead its implementation across the project life cycle. The ambitious project required organisation wide digital transformation to transition from operational and legacy system silos, processes, skills, communications, data sources and management to a cohesive omnichannel retail environment.
To manage challenges and major disrupters to the project from the client side to ensure successful project implementation to Go Live.
The Action / Approach
- To address the client siloed operation and secure buy-in, I acted as the engagement manager and focal point for the client and software company dialogue, with and between key stakeholders – Heads of IT, Ecommerce, Wholesale, functional teams, and 3rd parties to scope, document, get alignment and sign off on functional requirements and key business processes to be supported by the software, ‘As Is’ and transition to the ‘To Be’ state.
- To address the client internal and external challenges and disruptors, I supported the key stakeholders in providing solutions as issues arose, adapted and re-baselined the project to minimise disruption to the timeline.
- Driving program communication, milestone, and delivery plans I ensured an aligned approach across multiple client stakeholders, the software company and 3rd parties. Validation of the software omnichannel solution design, configuration and user acceptance training, testing and tracking were integral parts of the process.
- Data migration and validation across retail aspects including product, pricing and promotion, stock and customer data were managed in detail to support omnichannel functionality.
- Detailed documentation and collaborative support for integration points/methods with the omnichannel software platform and 3rd parties were provided and managed within the project timelines.
The Result
- Developed and managed the plan that resulted in the completed the roll out of POS software, with 3rd party hardware partner to 100+ stores which replaced legacy system, improved operational efficiency for stores and added omnichannel capabilities.
- Successful sale, POC and implementation of an omnichannel system to Go Live functional readiness for a fashion retailer; as a solution to drive cross-channel growth, operational efficiency and unify customer experience.
- Engaged key stakeholder(s) to ensure alignment cross-channel, smooth data migration, effective communication, resolution of bottlenecks and influence on user adoption.
- Addressed challenges as they arose in a rapidly changing retail environment, ensuring the adoption of proposed solutions to meet evolving business needs.
Focus In On: Responsible for Digital Business Transformation
New Areas of Value:
Increased credibility, confidence and influence across the business
Creating a culture of involvement, empowerment and connection to the business
Improved business agility and ability to rapidly respond to change and opportunity
Digital transformation that drives, moves and resets the organisation’s vision
Improvements around:
Lack of availability of the right people at the right time across both business and technology areas
Lack of transformation, change and agility mindset in leadership
Cynicism, lack of buy-in and resistance to change
Lack of agreement of transformation governance and stakeholder understanding leading to a fragmented approach
Unclear and siloed business strategy leading to misaligned goals across the organisation that conflict with transformation
The IT function is not aligned to the digital business strategy and vision
Lack of clarity around existing operating model, internal business ecosystem or cross-functional teams
Conflict between perception and reality of digital skills, tools, methods and talent required and available
