- The client is made up of 3 unique businesses in different verticals, each selling made-to-order as well as stocked inventory.
- Customers include both businesses (schools and teams) and individuals (family members and students), with a layered relationship between the two driving account, product, and order complexity.
- Each school/team has own price list and catalog of products available for sale.
eCommerce Platform Vendor Selection
LOCATION
Dallas, TX
INDUSTRY
Academic apparel, sports equipment, cheerleading accessories
PLATFORM DETAILS
The Challenge
The client is a leading manufacturer, competition organizer, and distributor of academic apparel, sports equipment, and cheerleading accessories. They recently embarked on a complete overhaul of their enterprise-wide digital ecosystem, of which an eCommerce platform serves as a foundational component.
Recognizing that the process of selecting an eCommerce platform would be difficult due to the complexity of their ecosystem, the client engaged Avatria to facilitate the process. Core complications included the following factors:
Avatria was tasked with ensuring that the vendor to be selected could accommodate their immediate objectives and the remainder of their multi-year roadmap.
Project Details
Avatria began by working with the client to understand the factors that makes their business unique. We used this information, combined with our extensive eCommerce experience to craft an RFP that required the vendor to provide:
- A company overview and product roadmap to determine the best long-term fit
- Case studies related to specific topics
- A narrative exploration of topics related to bespoke functionality and technical guiding principles
- Broad functional coverage using a self-evaluated requirements matrix
- Live demonstration based on specific scenarios
In addition to facilitating the entire vendor selection process, we supported the client in key decision points along the way. These tasks included:
- Adjusting vendor-provided input on the coverage of functionality to consistently align with our scoring rubric for a quantitative apples-to-apples comparison
- Clarifying certain elements of RFP responses and demonstrations so that the client could understand how features and functionality aligned with requirements
- Rationalizing quantitative analyses to build a vendor short list for qualitative analysis
- Preparing information sheets for each shortlisted vendor; these were used by the client to facilitate qualitative analysis sessions, resulting in the selection of a vendor for procurement
- Using our expertise of the platforms, industry, and previous license negotiations to assist Procurement in negotiating the vendor quote to a favorable discount
Results
With Avatria’s help, the client was able to complete the entire vendor selection process in just 8 weeks.
Our insights and aid in negotiations helped the client achieve a 60% reduction in vendor license fees over the original quote.