By Jessica Bergmann, Demandware
Although it missed top session billing, the subject of organizational culture received significant airtime in nearly every session I attended at
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Leading retailers acknowledge that even the most perfectly laid omnichannel plans derail without the right team and culture. Or as Travelocity Founder and keynote speaker Terry Jones so aptly quoted: “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” To help you consider and cultivate the right culture in your omnichannel journey, here is a summary of advice from top retailers at this year’s show:
- It starts at the top; the omnichannel officer role and executive buy-in:
Panelists from Macy’s, Lowe’s and The Limited underscored the importance of executive sponsorship and the newly established Omnichannel Officer role. Lowe’s and Macy’s placed generalists in the role, promoting individuals with strong management skills and experience across multiple functions within the company (stores, e-Commerce, services, fulfillment, etc.) This broad background contributes an understanding of all of the levers of the business and how each channel satisfies the needs of the customer, while also ensuring a sense of impartiality and lack of bias for particular channels within the company. - Omnichannel is everybody’s role: It starts at the top, but omnichannel must be perceived as everyone’s job. To move up in the company, team members must be willing to act as change agents, putting aside territorial boundaries to collaborate and move the business. Capturing “a-ha” moments, like when Staples in-store employees realized the impact of digital kiosks on customer service, can also energize culture. And when silo mentalities or old versus new conflicts resurface, unite teams by putting the focus back on the customer and winning against the Amazons of the world.
- Coffee, bagels and camaraderie; Developing training and operations:
Of course, aligning goals and putting them into action — day after day — are two different things. Saks/Hudson’s Bay Group created thoughtful training programs and an omnichannel operating committee to get business silos actively speaking the same language. The first step was to run a pilot program in one category, observing the team closely to see how they collaborated. Once it was clear what was needed to get over points of difference, multiple trainings were developed and implemented. As a training follow-up, checklists and job aids ensured nothing fell through the cracks. And one final component was the 8 a.m. breakfast club — a cross-channel operating committee that gathered representatives from corporate, digital, inventory, etc. every morning to discuss KPI deliverables. Over breakfast, the team talked about what was working and what levers to adjust for the next day. - Pilot and A/B/C/D test: The rules of the game have changed, so it takes experimentation to determine what works for each business when it comes to omnichannel. Multiple retailers shared that piloting initiatives with small, nimble teams was the best method to innovate faster, without the pressure of putting money and resources toward one big risk. And to really understand what initiatives and channels should have priority, make your data and analytics a spectator sport. True Religion places a large LED screen in the middle of the office with real-time Google analytics on display. This helped convince executives that mobile should come first and brought insight into how the use of mobile in malls and stores influences in-store behavior. It also turned Cyber Monday into an analytics watch party.
Did you also attend the conference this year? What advice resonated with you?
Jessica Bergmann is Worldwide Marketing Content Manager at Demandware.
