Background: A multi-channel specialty retailer had a wealth of transactional customer data, but lacked a marketing database. The company recognized the necessity of having a consumer database to enable targeted marketing efforts through traditional retail, direct mail, online and partner channels. MSA was retained to provide strategic marketing direction; define appropriate needs and goals; develop business rules and system requirements; assess alternative database providers and their capabilities; and recommend the best solutions to meet the client's needs.
Key challenges: Our client's business had grown organically – and through acquisitions – over many years, and had come to include a brick-and-mortar retail network; a complex matrix of marketing partnerships; multiple brand names; direct mail and catalog orders; and an increasing emphasis on e-commerce. Major challenges included understanding and aligning the marketing needs of different groups within the enterprise; integrating existing historical and current transactional data from disparate sources; and ensuring systems integration between a new database solution and existing order processing and customer service systems. And of course, doing it all within a retailer's budget, and without disrupting operations.
Our methodology, solutions and recommendations: The first phase of our project was to interview the various user groups within the company. We had to first understand and then integrate the needs of departments including e-commerce, direct mail and partner marketing, retail chain operations, fulfillment, information technology, accounting and customer service. We then developed a high-level enterprise data model, validating it with the various user groups. MSA developed a comprehensive RFP, performed due diligence to select an initial field of appropriate database providers, managed the RFP process and evaluated proposals from a field of five finalists. The platforms presented included a range from vendors who would build an in-house solution, to utilizing an entirely ASP approach. Each option was evaluated on its appropriateness for the client's objectives, compatibility with the client's IT standards and advantages and disadvantages both short-term and medium term.
Actions and results: Our report to the client provided analyses of the potential
database providers' proposed solutions, evaluating each on the bases of cost, timing, comprehensiveness, scalability, flexibility, ease of use, reliability and a number of other key criteria. We made recommendations that ranked the database providers and also provided alternative, out-of-the-box solutions for consideration, along with more traditional vendor solutions. Our client is now working to implement our recommendations.
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