advancingthe customer experiencethrough ecommerce leadership

data point—the weather—to
tailor its recommendations, touting ice cream during heat
waves and coffee during cold spells.

to overcome these obstacles so e-commerce leaders can help
their organizations achieve excellent CX.

The Secret Behind Great CX:
Understanding Customers
What customers do online provides huge clues as to how
a company’s CX is working and where it can be improved.
For example, if a customer regularly buys a product,
e-commerce leaders can experiment with offering
discounts or even creating a mechanism so the customer
gets the product automatically without having to log in.
Tools like artificial intelligence (AI) can also recommend
complementary products or help online buyers see what
they’ve previously purchased.
B2C organizations aren’t the only ones focusing on
improving CX through e-commerce. Increasingly, B2B
companies are using customer behavioral data to help
wholesalers and distributors quickly order (and reorder)
the products they need. In fact, many B2B businesses are
now providing partners and distributors with the option of
buying from them online and getting rid of email, phone, or
even fax ordering. Many B2B companies are also providing
quick-order templates on their home page, where buyers
can simply enter a product name, number, and quantity
and then check out.
“It’s about capturing data to improve CX, and the benefit
should be clear and apparent to the customer,” says Rob

Birse, head of global B2B and B2B2C e-commerce for Battle
Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg’s. Kellogg’s, for instance,
is using digital commerce fueled by AI to help wholesalers
and distributors pick the right products for their retailers.
The company’s ultimate goal is to have its wholesalers and
distributors and their customers, namely retailers, provide
sales information directly to Kellogg’s so it can analyze the
data with an eye to optimizing CX and thus revenue.
“The customer is the golden goose,” says Birse, explaining
that by sharing purchasing data throughout the organization

The Challenge of Sharing Information
Sharing insights is critical to improving CX, but exchanging
information across an organization can be difficult. This
challenge is especially true for companies built through
multiple mergers, where each acquisition brings with it
its own legacy technology system. It is also difficult for

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Many companies have successfully broken down data silos using
customer relationship management (CRM) systems, internal

communication tools, application programming interfaces, or
cloud computing.

organizations in specific industries like insurance, where
technology systems were designed for a specific purpose
such as underwriting. Brands relying on nondigital processes
and companies operating with a lot of regulatory oversight
may also face obstacles.
The exchange of information between companies can
be tricky as well, particularly if they haven’t shared data
previously. Kellogg’s is considering creating an online
marketplace for consumer product companies, retailers,
wholesalers, and distributors to improve B2B CX and bolster
sales. For Birse, this initiative depends on gaining trust
from all parties. “There is a deeply established fear factor
to overcome when trying to encourage the sharing of ideas,
visions, and information,” he says, adding that the challenge
to be surmounted is convincing all parties that sharing sales
information is a winning proposition for everyone when it
comes to CX.
Another challenge is that many companies designed their
e-commerce systems for the web only. But digital commerce
is rapidly expanding beyond the web to mobile apps, social
media sites, voice-activated assistants, digital kiosks, and
connected devices, which can include home monitors or
even cars. Consequently, many companies are hamstrung and
potentially risk their ability to provide exceptional CX because
they haven’t broadened their digital selling channels enough.
Of course, diversifying digital selling channels further
complicates a data issue—customer privacy. New and everevolving laws are requiring companies to rethink their

e-commerce strategies because of the penalties for not
securing the data or for using that data in a way that invades
customers’ privacy. For example, many companies are moving
away from the once-widespread cookies that track customers’
movement online. Companies will need to make it worthwhile
for buyers to share data voluntarily—and to do more with the
data they are legally able to collect and analyze.

communication tools, application programming interfaces,
or cloud computing.
“Traditional companies sometimes struggle to work crossfunctionally. They tend to have teams devoted to a specific
purpose, like IT,” says Phimmasone. To provide a stellar CX
via e-commerce, companies should have teams that include
people from multiple departments, from e-commerce to
marketing to IT to design to operations, she says. These
teams should be empowered to make decisions and iterate on
ideas quickly, which may mean deviating from a business’s
organizational chart, Phimmasone notes.
Refining new ideas quickly may become increasingly
important as e-commerce moves beyond websites and into
other digital channels. Companies are likely to develop
multiple ways to reach customers and personalize each
CX. But determining the best channel or method to reach
customers could take some trial and error. Some customers
may react best to a nudge on social media, while other
customers may prefer email, text, or a reminder via a
digital personal assistant, like Alexa. Technologies such as
artificial intelligence pick up on communication patterns
to determine the digital channel most likely to garner the
biggest customer response.

For companies trying to move their e-commerce initiatives
beyond their websites, CB Insights’ Sineau suggests they go for
headless architecture, which is aptly named because the front
end (the interface customers see) is separated from back-end
databases that contain information from sources including
CRM systems, payment-processing systems, and inventory
platforms. The structure allows companies to experiment and
iterate with new e-commerce channels without rethinking
core functions.
And to ensure an organization meets regulatory and privacy
laws, Phimmasone says, that a best practice is to have local
legal teams in various jurisdictions tracking the evolution
of consumer data privacy regulations, whether it involves
California’s Consumer Privacy Act or Europe’s General Data
Protection Regulation.
Meanwhile, companies need to be transparent about their
data policies and practices. Companies should tell their
customers in simple terms what data they are using and
why they are using it. More importantly, companies should
highlight the benefits the customer might receive by sharing

How to Move Forward with Exceptional CX
There are digital solutions that can help companies share
data across their organizations, even if that data is locked
into different systems or departments. Many companies
have successfully broken down data silos using customer
relationship management (CRM) systems, internal

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Technologies such as artificial intelligence pick up on communication
patterns to determine the digital channel most likely to garner the
biggest customer response.

But for this and other digital initiatives to be successful,
companies likely need the ability to see buyers’ interactions
all in one place, whether they are purchasing in person or
digitally. Organizations then have to act on that information
by creating more personalized experiences so customers
have a better overall CX and keep returning to the company’s
website, buying apps, or brick-and-mortar operation.
“It’s not about getting someone to buy something once,”
says Birse. “It’s about having them come back five, six, or
seven times until it’s habitual.”

their data. “If you capture customer data, you better act on
the data you are asking for and give them the experience the
data dictates,” Birse says. “You don’t want to capture data
just because you can.”

CX Front and Center
Many companies whose business model was challenged by

the pandemic are now turning to e-commerce as a way to
rethink their business. Kellogg’s is working with independent
retailers struggling during the pandemic to improve their CX
and revenue by helping them make the most of shelf space
and pick the right products. Birse believes that better data,
artificial intelligence and machine learning will help home
in on key buying trends and identify patterns that could help
shape consumer behavior and ultimately even encourage a
trip to the local store.

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