Winning Back the Digital Shelf in E-Commerce

In an increasingly competitive online retail landscape, traditional players are under pressure to differentiate themselves against major digital marketplaces and international competitors. In Western Europe, marketplaces accounted for 42% of retail e-commerce in 2022, up from 35% in 2014, according to Euromonitor. 

A leading European retailer specializing in household appliances and electronics, facing competition from online giants, recognized that to remain competitive it needed to reassess its digital strategy, improve the online customer experience and optimize operational efficiency across its e-commerce ecosystem. It wanted to identify growth opportunities and build a roadmap to regain its e-commerce edge.

The retailer wanted to understand its e-commerce performance and what it would take to regain its edge online. It needed an independent, strategic audit to: 

• Measure the market potential for online sales and how its online market share had evolved. 
• Identify its unique selling points against online competitors. 
• Understand the customer journey and its pain points. 
• Assess its digital marketing operations, organizational setup and technology effectiveness, including the alignment between marketing, technology and operations teams. 
• Define a clear path to regain its e-commerce edge. 

Sia conducted a data-driven audit of the retailer's e-commerce performance, structured around five areas: 

• Market analysis: an assessment of market potential, the evolution of online market share and the retailer's unique selling points. 
• Customer journey: an analysis of the current journey, identification of pain points, and definition of a future 'to-be' journey. 
• Digital marketing: a review of operations across SEO, SEA, social media and content strategy. 
• Organization: an assessment of the organizational setup. 
• Technology: an assessment of technology effectiveness. 

Based on this diagnosis, Sia recommended to: 

• Define a unique positioning. 
• Optimize the assortment. 
• Implement a new organizational model without silos. 
• Establish clear governance. 
• Foster a customer-centric, data-driven culture. 
• Develop a customer-first technology roadmap. 

The audit gave the retailer a fact-based view of its e-commerce position and a set of recommendations covering positioning, assortment, organization, governance, culture and technology. Together they formed a roadmap to rebuild its online performance and compete more effectively with digital players. 

By combining market and data analysis, a deep understanding of the customer journey and a pragmatic view of organization and technology, Sia helps retailers turn digital competition into a springboard for renewed growth.