‘Big picture thinking’ and ‘super analytical’: The capabilities in high demand in ecommerce

At Econsultancy’s Marketing Capability Leaders Forum last week, C-suite figures from Barilla, Karo Healthcare and Nectar360 discussed the evolution of ecommerce at their businesses and the skills needed to cope with increasing complexity.

Guy Keeling, Vice President, Digital Commerce at Barilla Group, shared how the pasta producer has developed its approach to ecommerce over the last 12 years, moving from a “first phase” of “building belief” and “creating pockets of capability all over the world,” to setting up a digital centre of expertise in London four years ago, in order to standardise and support ecommerce in 35 markets.

“All of that foundational block, if you like, is going very well. The next phase is to [go] from thinking about ecommerce as a sales channel to step into ‘digital commerce’. So, thinking about ecommerce as an influencing channel, a marketing opportunity, which it surely is. And how do we build brilliant brand experiences through ecomm?” said Keeling, who also sits as a director on Barilla Group’s in-house accelerator driving digital skills.

Karo Healthcare CMO Anna Hale described her own task in digital commerce as “two-pronged”. “For the majority of our brands… they solve consumer healthcare conditions… and [are] traditionally very bricks-and-mortar driven,” said Hale, highlighting that these are often brands that Karo has acquired and now need “modernization and digitization”.

“So, for those ‘problem-solvers’, like E45 or Multi-Gyn in [the intimate health category] or Proct in digestive health, it’s about taking those brands offline to omnichannel, or ‘O2O’ as we call it internally, and that’s very much a mantra and a big corporate priority that we have – the O2O agenda.”

“We then also have our VMS (vitamin and mineral supplements) brands, which are digitally native brands, one born on Amazon… and now a very significant business on Amazon UK and across European marketplaces, and then the other one born through Facebook communities, through D2C. So, for those digitally native brands, it’s about scaling across D2C and [third-party platforms], and how we bring more consumers into the funnel.”

The omnichannel challenge: “there are so many moments, you can’t afford to serve them all”

All the panellists were united in their description of increasing complexity in the consumer path to purchase.

“It’s very usual that a consumer within the same category, for the same brand, looking for the same product, will move from offline to online – particularly if it’s a second purchase or a subsequent purchase,” said Hale, adding that online, shoppers will also “move across different platforms… from a pure play to Amazon to a dotcom and then potentially move back again to offline, particularly if it’s a distress or urgent purchase they need to make.”

Hale referred to this type of journey as O2O2O, “moving backwards and forwards” and often involving online search as well as offline engagement with a pharmacist.

“Now we see consumers standing in front of a physical shelf, and that could be in a pharmacy or a drugstore or even a grocer, …searching on their mobile and reading ratings and reviews. But often [on] a different online retailer than they’re even standing in, and then the purchase may not even convert there,” said Hale.

“For us as marketeers we need to figure out how we navigate that; how we really understand in granular detail, the path to purchase and the moments that matter most for us, because there are so many moments, you can’t afford to serve them all. I challenge anyone to be able to afford that,” added Hale, saying that the challenge is “working out the ones that you’re really going to serve and then serving those in a way that’s consistent for the brand. Because the consumer doesn’t know that different teams in an organization are doing different parts of the mix. They just want one seamless brand experience with integrity.”

…what looks authentic on TikTok is completely different to what looks authentic on Ocado.

 

-Anna Hale, Karo Healthcare

Highlighting trends such as social commerce and the rise of retail media, Hale zeroed in on the importance of brand consistency and “how you serve these moments in a way that’s authentic to that specific environment. Because what looks authentic on TikTok is completely different to what looks authentic on Ocado.”

Designing for those touchpoints is a “pretty detailed job,” said Hale.

‘A constant state of learning’ and diverse hiring

Barilla’s Guy Keeling, recently returned from a trip to China, referenced the scale of social commerce in the country, with “enormous numbers” being “very, very active” buying through influencer activity.

“Within food that hasn’t really kicked off yet here in Europe, but we do see it in other sectors… maybe more trend-related products. Is that coming into the food arena? I wouldn’t bet against it,” said Keeling.

“We can learn from some markets and reapply that learning to others,” added Keeling, who said, “being constantly curious” and showing “willingness to learn is crucial in this area.”

“None of us know the answer and if anyone says they know the answer, they’ve probably not understood the question… We’re in a constant state of learning.”

Barilla is looking to bring in talent that is “effortlessly in touch” with this sort of digital change, said Keeling. “We are doing our very best… to bring people into the organization who come from very, very diverse backgrounds… in order to try to stay up to date with this rapidly changing arena.”

A “blend of entrepreneurial mindset and deep analytical specialism”

Amir Rasekh, Managing Director at Nectar360, described his simple philosophy for hiring the right talent, asking, “Are they nice? Are they smart? And are they obsessed with our customers?”

“In terms of skills, we are looking for individuals, as you would expect, that are data and digital savvy,” said Rasekh, highlighting the importance of this skillset in connecting customers across the Sainsbury’s and Argos estate.

Karo’s Anna Hale called for a blend of “entrepreneurial mindset and deep analytical specialism”, saying the right profile is those that are “outward looking, curious” and “want to experiment… to be inspired and inspire others,” whilst “also being super analytical and focused on ROI”.

The CMO also painted a picture of what some might call a T-shaped marketer, saying, “It’s really important that people can see the big picture. [Ecommerce] is such a technical, specialist area, I think it’s quite easy for talents to get quite head down in the area of specialism.”

The role of dcomm can only succeed if collaboration happens well with brand, with content, with creative teams, with supply, the bricks and mortar teams…

 

– Anna Hale, Karo Healthcare

Hale added that teams need to understand brand objectives, namely “profitable sales growth and value market share gain,” as well as the “brand growth model”, including “the role of innovation, the role of content, the role of brilliant brand positioning and killer claims”.

“Understanding where digital commerce fits within that set of levers, I think that helps contextualize the job of the dcomm or ecomm specialist in terms of where they fit in. Because, you know, these roles are a blend of sales and marketing,” said Hale. “The broader marketing skill set really helps from a performance perspective.”

“Collaboration [is] just so important,” said Hale. “The role of dcomm can only succeed if collaboration happens well with brand, with content, with creative teams, with supply, the bricks and mortar teams… that really determines success.”

“It has become much easier to track talent”

One plus point for those hiring in digital commerce is that, “It has become much easier to track talent,” said Nectar360 MD Rasekh.

“Retail now is known as having a cutting edge when it comes to all things data, digital commerce, and technology. So, I think that’s a draw.”

“And what I think, particularly Sainsbury’s has done well over time is to be very clear on their EVP (employer value proposition) and that manifests itself in really framing a great technology and data capability… but also really thinking deeply about how do you build an environment and a culture that people want to come and work at.”

Rasekh highlights flexible working policies, onboarding programmes, such as Nectar360 Navigator, which runs for 12 weeks, bespoke training in digital and data, coaching and mentoring, as well as remuneration that ensures the business is competitive in the market and drives retention.

“And guess what, we’re seeing talent coming from the big tech players,” said Rasekh.