MCm2

Based on an experience of 17 years partnering with some of the world’s leading multi-channel retailers, IVIS Group has developed a methodology for assessing the maturity of an organisation in achieving multi-channel success.

The IVIS ‘Multi-Channel Maturity Model’ (or MCm² for short) simplifies the complex journey of transitioning from a single channel to a multi-channel retailer by providing a systematic and proven step-by-step approach.

MCm² consists of three phases: Envisioning; Assessment; and Transformation

Envision

At the outset, a clear and quantifiable vision for the multi-channel initiative is needed. Typically, this is not a straight forward task, particularly when the organisation is not clear about what can be achieved, over what time, and lacks a basic vision of “what does good look like?”.

To help with formulating and capturing the vision, an iterative approach based around the customer journey is used to identify what is important to make the experience ‘memorable’ to customers. It is also important at this stage to define the strategic targets and vision within the context of any known challenges and constraints. This will include any known constraints within the business itself as well as across the suppliers and partners that will impact the achievement of the multi-channel vision.

Assesment

There are three aspects of the assessment: who, what, and how

Who: examines the target customers today and the potential segments in the future.  This is a key step in the process and one where many businesses fail to understand how to map the multi-channel initiative to a clear customer target.

What: examines the five competencies of multi-channel and examines the current capabilities from a single-channel perspective and evaluates the effectiveness in extending the capabilities to support multi-channel.

How: examines how the business is operating, focusing on three main areas – people, process and technology. Analysing this allows us to understand how effectively your strategic objectives are being achieved; how focused your business is on the customer; and finally how cost effective investments are being in providing business benefit in different areas of the business.

Transformation

In the modern business world, it is no longer enough to be agile; you need to be focused on tactical implementations of transformation. By definition, therefore, business transformation is a continuous process, driven by vision and operational imperatives.

Within the MCm² consultancy approach, transformation focuses on three main areas: Business model; Approach; and Organisation.

Business model: Customers target and segmentation will be confirmed for the early and subsequent phases of the project.  The channels used to inform, attract and convert browsers to buyers will also be identified.  Product range selection and prioritisation will be made for the various phases of the programme.  Finally, the appropriate fulfilment model will be selected.

Approach: A three-year roadmap will be outlined with clear milestones and phases of delivery. Recommendations will be included on changes for the information and technology systems and on a departmental level to enable the delivery of the multi-channel vision.

Organisation: Recommendations on changes for the organisation would cover the structure needed to deliver the vision by highlighting the departments needed and the interactions between them. Based on priorities identified during the envisioning phase, relevant capabilities per department are identified with the relevant departmental KPIs. Recommendations on process changes needed to support the multi-channels vision are also provided.