“Why are we just doing this now?”

These are words no one ever wants to hear from an executive.

Partnering with an outside company on eCommerce can be intimidating and feel risky. There is a false sense of security in maintaining the status quo. Especially in organizations where the core focus is elsewhere, eCommerce can feel like an afterthought or even worse, a necessary evil. Many distributors who were founded 50+ years ago feel they are logistics and brick-and-morter companies whose sole focus is increasing the number and quality of branches. Often the pervasive mentality toward eCommerce is “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” or “let sleeping dogs lie.” But without investing in eCommerce, or their digital branch, they won't make it another 50+ years.

Some companies or employees have read the articles and heard the experts sounding the alarm and rightly feel the pressure to act but struggle with where to allocate their scarce resources. Often, the state of their eCommerce is in such disarray battling a hydra of sub-par product data, organizational issues, a search not returning the results, general functionality issues, and more, that it can feel petrifyingly daunting. Most respond by just trying to do more and putting out the fires with little to no strategy informing what activities will drive their efforts' quickest and biggest returns.

The right answer is to bring in a consultative solutions partner like Layer One.

However, the natural compulsion for many is that they’re not ready yet. They look at the formidable quagmire in front of them and say “We need to get our house in order and some things cleaned up” before they bring in an outside party (and the cost associated with it). While that feeling is natural, it’s no different than saying “I’m going to get fit before I hire a personal trainer” or “I’m going to learn to swim before I get an instructor.”

What’s intimidating for some is what we do every day; most of our clients don’t feel ready when we begin an engagement.

The time is now, and here’s why:

We’ve been there before, many times
We have deep experience with distributors (and manufacturers) and the nuanced challenges they face. Chances are we’ve seen something similar and have the expertise to guide you through it.

We know what the right things to do in the right order
We bring the knowledge and understanding of both the technology and the industry to prioritize what to do next driving the highest efficiency and largest returns.

We’re not adding, but taking work off your plate
We work behind the scenes as an extension of your team. From blocking and tackling to building new features, we get results for eCommerce and produce a multiplying effect with our clients.

We bring alignment to internal obstacles
Bringing in an outside party with years of experience will help align internal goals and plan for success. Often, we are a catalyst for internal change and processes.

You don’t know what you don’t know
Sometimes your inferred solution doesn't address the root cause. Without the experience of doing it before it’s hard to know what’s waiting. We know.

In many areas of life, we hear the mantra: “You never feel ready, just start.” This journey is no different. From small consultative sessions, assessments, and audits to more comprehensive engagements, we can right-size a solution to meet you where you are now.

Let’s chat about how we can help.