Manufacturer creates ecommerce roadmap through data-driven competitor benchmarking

Challenge

EXL’s client, a European auto parts manufacturer, had grown into a well-known brand on the strength of its products. However, the client realized the way it sold its products may need to change with the times in order to remain competitive. While the client maintained an online catalogue where the various parts it manufactured could be seen, customers could not purchase these items through the website.

An increasingly digital world called for a digital sales platform. Before diving into creating an ecommerce website, however, the client needed to map the terrain and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the competition’s online presence. They also sought a partner that could help them take the insights from examining other players in their field and use this knowledge for creating a strategy for the way forward.

To accomplish these goals, the client turned to EXL.

Solution

EXL set out to create an in-depth analysis of both the current the current maturity level of the client’s site and how it compared to its competitors. This was carried out across six key areas:

• Discoverability and relevance: How easily a user can find the site using popular search engines and the first impression made by the relevant landing pages.
• Usability: Whether a user can easily navigate, search, and engage with the website’s content and products.
• Technology performance: How various page elements such as third-party tags, scripts, and other elements affected user experience and the website’s search engine visibility.
• Technology capability: What technology and tools have been deployed for digital targeting and optimization capabilities.
• Content and design: Determining if the information and visuals on the site were appealing, effective, and interactive.
• Customer service and sales: How available assistance, advice, and clear sales options were to current and past customers.

This comprehensive assessment across six key pillars and sixty parameters was performed for the client and its two closest competitors.

EXL’s web benchmarking solution

Results

EXL’s findings were presented to the client in less than four weeks from the beginning of the engagement. The benchmarking exercise was used to create a set of recommendations that would turn the client’s existing website into an ecommerce-enabled retailer.

EXL employs a comprehensive proprietary six-pillar evaluation framework to compare a client’s web assets against their competitors and suggests recommendations so that the client can provide their customers a best inclass digital experience.

EXL's web benchmarking solution methodology

The recommended actions were placed into a roadmap with quick win, mid-term, and long-term milestones. Based on this assessment and suggested actions, the client had a comprehensive roadmap for going from completely lacking the ability to sell products on their site to a future state enabling cross-site customer tracking for better insights, enhanced targeting, and an excellent digital consumer experience.