Why Brands Should Create A Roadmap For Growth?

Misha Pabari

August 6, 2020

 4 minute read time
Why Brands Should Create A Roadmap For Growth

Global lockdown measures as a result of COVID-19 have aggressively shifted consumer behaviour, and the transition from offline to online sales is now five years ahead of expectations. As more brands and retailers shift their focus to online sale channels, they should create a roadmap for growth for their digital channles to provide strategic direction.

Added benefit from making such an investment comes from quick-win actions taken from reviewing your online or omnichannel operation that will generate a return on investment.

As experts in providing this type of assessment for retailers and brands around the world, members of our senior leadership team have answered some of the most commonly asked questions on why and how to create a roadmap for growth.

What are the main aims when you create a roadmap for growth?

General Manager for MENA, David Quaife believes your roadmap for growth should first help to build the understanding of the current business capability, what the market opportunity is, what growth can be achieved and what is needed to get there, in order for it to be successful.

This can include an assessment of various areas of your business – such as digital marketing and SEO, site experience, customer service proposition, product, merchandising and omnichannel customer experience.

Discovering what needs to change internally within the business in order to achieve the desired growth targets by examining your operating model and processes – as well as your supply chain and technology – is critical.

How do you go about creating one?

Director for ANZ, Stacey Hyland explains the five deliverables in a roadmap produced by Pattern:

  • CX audit – assess conversion funnel execution against best practice criteria to identify optimisation priorities
  • Digital marketing audit – audit existing digital marketing activity and determine the size of the acquisition opportunity
  • Situational analysis – determine what needs to change in order for the business to be operationally ready for accelerated growth [i.e. platforms, people, process]
  • Commercial plan – develop one-year forecast including fully potentialized digital marketing investments and conversion rate improvements
  • Roadmap – prioritise and define the action plan for the business and agencies to execute against.

Stacey Hyland explains how the five elements work together: “Once existing capabilities have been audited against best practise criteria and market data has been analysed to understand where opportunities lie, a strategic commercial plan can be outlined in agreement with key stakeholders.”

“This commercial plan will provide a one-year forecast including fully potentialised investments and conversion rate improvements, which are then prioritised and defined into an action plan for your business to execute against.”

Where will the ROI on a roadmap for growth come from?

Your pre-determined commercial plan should highlight the potential ROI expected from your improvements.

Principal Consultant Stephanie Firth explains: “This will vary by brand but typically the ROI tends to come from improvements made to the customer journey plus improvements from the effectiveness of marketing and the online shopper experience, as these are the areas that show quick results.”

What should be the split between quick-win immediate changes and longer-term strategic changes to support growth?

Stacey Hyland explains: “It depends on the business.  Some clients have a lot of low hanging fruit but they may not be able to move quickly on because of platform, people or process barriers. On the flip side, some businesses have already implemented the quick wins and need to focus on the longer-term strategic changes in order to make the next leap. Each roadmap is tailored to where the business is at in its multichannel journey and its capacity and capability to execute initiatives.”

Why should a brand or retailer invest in a roadmap for growth in 2020, given the situation with COVID-19 around the world?

Despite the fact that retail stores have reopened, recent consumer surveys show that 42% of people now say that they will shop online more frequently post-lockdown. Brands and retailers must closely assess their online sales channels, to ensure that they are associated with excellent online selling experiences.

Principal Consultant Stephanie Firth explains the importance of investing in a roadmap for growth in 2020: “As many brands and retailers suffer a loss of sales due to COVID-19, it’s more crucial than ever to ensure that your budget is being spent efficiently, that you provide your consumers with a great experience so they continue to return, and that you make sure your roadmap is fit for the times we’re living in.”

“With this in mind, it’s vital that a plan is in place to mitigate the impact of a second wave of COVID-19 as well as longer-term impacts to the economy.”

Stacey Hyland concludes: “A thorough roadmap for growth will not only help to determine how online strategies need to change to meet new customer needs and behaviours, but also how to exploit opportunities created by the new post COVID-19 way of life and acquire new customers.”

To discuss how we can help to define your digital roadmap for growth, please get in touch at UK@Pattern.com

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