Ecommerce Maturity Model Workbook

“Knowing where you are going is the first step to getting there.”
-Ken Blanchard

Where do you belong on the Ecommerce Maturity Model?

It's the million dollar question: how can you scale your business and sustain revenue as the economy continues to shift? If you're working to leverage digital commerce for this growth, first you'll need to know where you stand as a company.

Use the following three steps to (1) identify the six tiers of ecommerce maturity, (2) develop a baseline of where you’re at, and (3) devise a plan for measured growth.

The six levels of ecommerce maturity

LEVEL 0

Ambitious

Strictly informational site without commerce enabled. B2B: basic materials & contact info.

LEVEL 1

Embarking

Commerce-enabled, narrow focus on products. Template or legacy site with manual updating and scaling issues.

LEVEL 2

Evolving

Single channel utilizing third parties to increase sales. Basic B2B behind a login.

LEVEL 3

Proactive

Unified selling across multiple siloed channels. Matured processes, robust B2B portal.

LEVEL 4

Optimized

Selling through multiple, connected channels. Personalization & integration of 3rd party systems & tools.

LEVEL 5

Innovative

Part of a global, connected ecosystem that helps redefine the state of the industry.

STEP 1

Download the full guide

Created from decades of experience in the trenches of digital commerce, the Ecommerce Maturity Model guide provides over twenty unique qualities within five distinct categories, across all six tiers. Explore the guide, then complete the digital exercise below.

STEP 2

Determine your status

ECOMMERCE MATURITY ASSESSMENT

To determine your level, please select the
answers that best match your current state.

Question 1

What's your ecommerce mindset?

We are online because we know we "need" to be
Digital commerce is a “new” channel with minimal budget
Recognized as the long term growth but we are unclear on how to best organize or align cross-company goals
A key component of the overall business strategy
Digital commerce is a primary focus company wide
Pushing the curve and breaking new industry ground

Question 2

What are your current challenges?

Inertia, resources, quality
Scaling, uncharted territory, internal bandwidth
We have sophisticated needs without budget. We need the resources and know-how to fulfill them
We have disparate systems, a significant leap in business operations, and are trying to understand necessary allocations of resources
Building internal teams, rethinking core business models, embracing larger-scale tech & tools
Continuous innovation, pressures of staying relevant, being "on top"

Question 3

Channels?

In-person or conventional sales team
Single-channel
Multi-channel
Multiple storefronts & channels
Cross-channel
Omni-channel

Question 4

How is your inventory handled??

Offline
Manual inventory management
Integrated inventory management
Auto replenished
Planned and forecasted
Actionable, insights-driven

Question 5

How big is your internal team?

Just me, owner-operated
Very small -- I have an administrative assistant
Small -- marketing/ecom manager and a developer
Medium -- multiple developers and Brand/Marketing/Digital Managers
Large -- development team, creative team, marketing team and data analyst
Very large -- multiple, fully staffed teams for various business units

Question 6

Are you using an external team for your web needs?

None, self managed
We use an independent contractor
We're using a boutique agency
We have a full service agency
Our agency is fully integrated and provides most everything we need, including branding, advertising, design, and digital.
We're partnered with a top-notch global agency.

Question 7

What's your Employee Experience?

Heroic owner-operated
Tight-knit, lots of manual work, sharp learning curve
Everyone wears multiple hats and we're spread a bit thin
Team building, specialized
Connected teams
Automated, global engagements

Question 8

How do you handle fullfillment??

It's all handled offline
Single origin, manual pick n' pack
Dropship, end-to-end visibility
We use third-party logistics and an automated RMA
We have multiple warehouses and in-store pickup
We own portions of the supply chain, marketplaces

Question 9

Which more closely matches your current business systems?

Spreadsheet
Accounting
IMS & CRM
ERP & Help Desk
POS & DAM
Globally integrated custom enterprise infrastructure

Question 10

What payment methods do you accept?

Handled offline
Credit Cards, 3rd-party services, purchase orders
ACH, Terms (Net30, etc), BNPL (buy now, pay later)
Subscriptions, loyalty & rewards, international wires
Point of Sale, mobile payments
Internal corporate finance & credit lending

Question 11

What ecommerce platform are you currently on?

None
Bolt-On (Shopify, WooCommerce, Drupal Commerce)
Starter (BigCommerce, Magento Open Source, Shopware Community Edition, Shopify Plus)
Mid-Market (BigCommerce Enterprise, Adobe Commerce Cloud, Shopware Beyond)
Enterprise (Adobe Commerce Cloud, Shopware Beyond, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, SAP Commerce Cloud)
Global Enterprise (Composable, customized commerce)

Question 12

How do you use analytics?

Not utilized
Descriptive analytics -- I know what happened (ex. using basic analytics to track website traffic, such as page views and number of visitors)
Diagnostic analytics -- I know why it happened (ex. mining data to determine what caused a spike in web traffic over the past month.)
Predictive analytics -- I know what will happen (ex. using algorithms and data to predict which most customers are most likely to use a particular marketing offer.)
Prescriptive analytics -- I know how we can make it happen (ex. using algorithms to optimize such things as Revenue Optimization, pricing optimization, routing, utilization)
AI analytics -- I know how to make it happen automagically using a suite of multiplatform touchpoints (ex. using AI bots and services)

Question 13

Which best describes your privacy strategy?

None
No privacy or security rigor beyond basic, native features within our ecommerce platform
We have a basic policy and use manual channels for customer opt-out, but no tooling for privacy & security
We enlist legal counsel to craft comprehensive policies and employ third-party tools to monitor security and privacy
We utilize advanced tools for opt-in and data deletion and conduct proactive audits on privacy and cybersecurity
We use shift-left tooling to automatically identify and rectify privacy & security risks in realtime. Our customers have full control of their data.

Question 14

What types of outbound marketing are you currently doing?

None, it's mostly word of mouth
One-to-all (newsletters, catalogs)
One-to-many (segmented newsletters, social, UGC)
One-to-some (targeted ads), automated
One-to-few (small segments), automated
One-to-one (individualized content), automated

Question 15

How defined is your branding?

We have a logo
We have a logo and color scheme
We have a style guide with logo usage guidelines, primary and supporting brand colors, typefaces and their proper usage.
We have a brand book that includes logo, colors, typefaces, as well as image/photography guidelines, iconography, and brand voice.
We have a brand book and a team that creates asssets and ensures everything is on brand.
We have mutiple, well defined brands.

Question 16

Dealer enablement?

Offline, non-digital.
Largely informational, likely public facing, dealer portal. Request a quote.
Commerce enabled dealer portal behind a login. Ability to order parts, track orders. Personalized pricing terms.
Robust & interactive support & marketing portal. Ability to purchase full range of products and services. Multichannel sales, potentially D2C.
Dealer sales enablement mobile applications, BOM producing product configurators integrated with ERP & CRM, sales calculators, order online & pick up in dealership, fully brandable marketing material housed in DAM.
Holistic support. Personalized storefronts providing dealer-specific end-customer transaction, inventory, branding for each dealer. Business systems provided & integrated. Integrated service & RMA processes, including field support.
Does not apply.

Your Results

Level

Level 0 indicates a strictly informational site without commerce enabled. Your business is barely scratching the surface of its digital potential, with plenty of greenfield ahead. Your B2B channel isn’t able to do much through your website, with some marketing materials and contact info to engage the sales team.

From here you have the opportunity to break new ground and begin to build more awareness.

Level 1 is commerce-enabled, but likely with a narrow product focus. It is a templated, homegrown, or legacy site with manual updating and scaling issues. For B2B, the site is largely informational, likely with a public-facing dealer portal. You may have basic B2B commerce functions, but very likely still using a ‘request a quote’ form.

Your opportunity at Level 1 is to extend your business with new tools and to new consumers.

Level 2 indicates a maturing business, with deeper product and inventory needs. You are still likely single-channel commerce, but utilizing third-party tools and services to increase sales. B2B functionality behind a login should be standard to you now, and you are beginning to add functionality that truly empowers your buyers.

Beginning to personalize digital commerce experiences is a key opportunity at Level 2.

Level 3 provides unified selling across multiple siloed channels. You have become Intentional and proactive with your approach to ecommerce. Your processes are more mature, defined, and integrated, and you are embarking on automation. B2B customers have access to a robust and interactive support and marketing portal, and have the ability to purchase a full range of products and services, potentially across multiple channels.

Digital commerce finally becoming a key component of the overall business strategy opens up a world of opportunity at Level 3.

Level 4 indicates a forward-thinking digital commerce entity. Your in-house team is larger and more mature, you are scaling much more smoothly, and selling through multiple channels that are all connected. Commerce is data-driven, and you possess advanced integrations of 3rd party systems & tools. Your B2B channel is highly enabled with tools, systems and service support.

Growth opportunities abound, as digital commerce is now a primary focus company-wide.

Level 5 brings a holistic, customer-centric approach. You are part of a global, connected ecosystem that helps redefine the state of the industry. You are utilizing all available sales channels, including highly enabled D2C & distribution channels. At this level there is a mastery of AI, automation, and connected systems.

Pushing the curve and breaking new ground in the industry, at Level 5 you are now defining what opportunities are available to others looking up to your lead.

Level Up Reset

STEP 3

Rise up

After you’ve determined where you’re at on the Ecommerce Maturity Model, there are actionable steps for each criteria to help you level-up your business performance. Just know that while battle tested, these steps may apply differently for different businesses.

Want to learn more? Certified Solution Partners such as Above The Fray can discuss how these level-up steps can apply to your business. Give us a shout for a review and some insight, on the house.