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“Every function should be living and breathing ecommerce — that's not even the future. That’s now.” — Rachel Tetreault, VP of Sales and Marketing Digital Commerce at EastPoint Sports
Winning in today’s competitive ecommerce environment requires businesses to be strategic yet agile. It also requires leaders who are skilled at identifying moves that will help their organizations build their competitive advantage — especially when examining ecommerce KPIs.
Rachel Tetreault, VP of sales and marketing digital commerce at EastPoint Sports, a leading manufacturer of home recreational products, has been laser-focused for years on how to create the right organizational structures, processes, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for a thriving ecommerce business.
Tetreault, who’s also served in leadership roles at global confectioner Ferrero and consumer packaged goods (CPG) leader Procter & Gamble, joined a recent episode of the Unpacking the Digital Shelf podcast, “People, Process, and KPIs: Using a Competitive Mindset to Win the Digital Shelf.”
Tetreault shares the lessons she’s learned about ecommerce KPIs in the trenches and how other leaders can apply them to win on the digital shelf.
As a manufacturer of home recreation products that heavily relies on imports, EastPoint Sports is intensely focused on sales planning to ensure goods are constantly flowing in.
This means having the right discipline within the organization to avoid disruption in the sales funnel. The right infrastructure and organizational structure are also crucial.
Tetreault says identifying the right structure for your ecommerce organization will depend on several considerations.
“It really depends on a few factors — the categories we play in, the penetration of the businesses by channel and priorities, what are the goals or the objectives, and the existing strength and resources within the organization. I look at it more as a puzzle piece. We really have to match all of those key factors to determine the right structure,” she says.
Tetreault says even with the right structure, the mindset of the people within the organization is probably even more important.
“You can build the best structure, but if it doesn't align with where the overall vision is of the company from up top, then the organization could see some headwinds,” she says.
When Tetreault comes into a new organization, she likes to bring in new talent to balance out the existing talent on the team. She looks for people with what she calls a “revenue-generation mindset,” or those with a strong sales background, to balance out the digital marketing experience on her team.
All of this requires effective change management, communication, and executive-level support to break down organizational silos. It also requires sales and marketing teams to think holistically about the customer journey.
“It's important to have the teams understand the connection between how you drive and convert traffic into dollar sales. That’s something I'm constantly pushing within the organization — that they’re not just running each of the functions in silos, but that it goes back to connected commerce,” she says.
Along with cultivating a revenue-generation mindset in team members, leaders also must develop a digital-first mindset, Tetreault says.
“I have seen, in my experience, where leaders will put in a head of ecommerce, and they think that's checking a box, and that's it. The job is done,” she says. “The reality is, putting in a head of ecommerce is just the start of a new journey in building the infrastructure of how to go to market.”
Instead of this approach, it’s important for leaders to have a clear understanding of the impact of ecommerce on their organizations and business. They then can set the strategic vision and align the organization’s resources with efforts to support this channel.
This also gives other members of the leadership team outside the C-suite a road map to focus on the strategies, tactics, and other components that will enable them to drive sales within this channel.
“Ecommerce should be top of mind at any organization. It should not be an afterthought anymore, regardless of the size of the business,” Tetreault says.
Organizations also must track their progress and measure success. Identifying the right ecommerce KPIs and driving the right incentives is crucial to building a thriving business.
Though metrics will differ by organization, Tetreault says her team looks at a wide range of data points:
On the sales side, metrics to look for include:
On the marketing side, Tetreault’s team looks at:
Additional metrics to look for include:
Tetreault adds that her team also looks at retailers’ scorecards, but they balance these metrics with their own internal KPIs to ensure EastPoint Sports delivers a cohesive experience across all platforms.
As long as your ecommerce organization gets the fundamentals right — including product availability and creating a solid campaign strategy to ensure your brand gets the best ad placements — you can build from there, Tetreault says. Then, you should continually test, learn, and use these lessons to drive innovation.
Tetreault has spent years bringing people, processes, and KPIs together to help her organizations improve their operations and transform ecommerce into a significant driver of growth. That competitive mindset has allowed Tetreault to position her teams to win on the digital shelf.
“We have to go beyond the status quo. It's just non-negotiable,” she says. “We have to win. Otherwise, why else are we doing it if we’re not going to play to win?”
You, too, can play to win by listening to the full podcast episode to gain additional insight on how to create a thriving ecommerce organization.
