Digital Commerce Expansion

ONLY SUCCESS CAN FAIL US NOW

The digital commerce group at the world leader in sports apparel was facing a great “problem”: unprecedented growth. The focus on direct-to-consumer within a traditionally wholesale company drove a 300% budget increase for the new fiscal year. But the digital side wasn’t ready to scale up so quickly. In addition, this massive scaling effort could not interrupt the ongoing operations of a 24/7 online retail business, currently diving $250M in sales. Therein lay both the problem and opportunity: turn the group from a small player into an industry giant as quickly as possible. ACME was happy to help.

This exponential growth demand new processes, new management, and new staff – all of which needed to be implemented rapidly and in parallel. So we started developing portfolio management capabilities, which would establish reliable and repeatable decision-making. We created a new management framework, create a risk-measurement system and develop processes to adapt the organization as it grew. We brought in best practices and fresh ideas – both much needed at the critical juncture called “change.”

But change is never easy. Despite the obvious need for a redefinition of the department, it had been allowed to operate without much corporate restraint. A good thing for a small group focused on innovation; a bit of a bear for a key player in a major organization.
ACME tamed the bear with good, old-fashioned experience. By working closely with key management players, we were able to establish an effective, trusting relationship, thereby neutralizing resistance to the project. In addition, we worked to create relationships across the operations to ensure no disturbance to the day-to-day activities of managing an online brand.

We didn’t just stick to the top, though. We worked with vendors, executives and department staff alike, crafting a solution for growth as unique as the client’s culture. We established the needed capabilities and transitioned ongoing management to the internal team. All while not sacrificing one percentage point of growth.