MVP in Digital Commerce Transformation: Simplifying for Success
The Role of MVP in eCommerce Replatforming
As a business leader, you understand the importance of staying competitive in the ever-evolving digital commerce landscape. Replatforming your eCommerce website may be on your radar, and you've probably heard about adopting an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach. In this article, we'll share our practical insights on what MVP means in the context of digital commerce transformation projects and how to apply it for success.
The True Meaning of MVP in Digital Commerce Transformation
When we talk about MVP in the context of digital commerce transformation projects, it doesn't mean a bare bone functioning website or reducing the features and functionality compared to your existing website. Taking steps back by removing functionality that your customers are actively using is not advisable, except when it concerns rarely used features that are disproportionately expensive to re-create. Instead, we believe that MVP is all about simplifying things and avoiding overcomplication. Adopting this perspective can help you reduce risk and optimize your project timeline and budget.
The MVP Approach: Focusing on What's Important
Let's consider a practical example. Suppose your eCommerce website needs a product comparison feature to help customers choose the right product. Do you require an advanced, complex, and costly solution just because it can be done? Most likely, the answer is no. Instead, opt for a simpler feature that can be developed within hours or a few days instead of weeks. This way, you can allocate resources to more critical aspects of your website that directly contribute to your competitive advantage and value differentiation. Focusing on what's essential for your business is the key to a successful MVP approach. Identify the features and functionality that your customers value and generate significant ROI. Doing so will create a more effective digital commerce transformation project that delivers tangible results.
Mitigating Risk with MVP
A secondary benefit of the MVP mindset is risk mitigation. By keeping non-essential functionalities simple, you make it easier to maintain them and invest in their improvement when it makes sense in the future. Avoiding unnecessary overcomplication reduces the likelihood of potential issues and helps ensure project success.
Making MVP-driven decisions
Let's say you have three viable options for a feature or functionality you want to implement. All three options meet the business objective or the expected customer impact. So which one do you choose?
You choose the one that's simplest to implement. You can always increase the complexity later with a more involved solution when and only if it's warranted.
Choosing any of the other two means ineffective use of your budget and timeline, less flexibility to adapt due to the increased complexity, and higher cost of maintainability. The more of these decisions you have to make, the more significant the impact on your timeline, budget, and the project's success.
MVP Mindset - Streamlining Your Digital Commerce Transformation for Optimal Results
In conclusion, the MVP approach in digital commerce transformation projects is about focusing on what truly matters for your business and your customers. By simplifying non-essential features, you can optimize your budget and timeline while mitigating risks.
At Luminos, we've helped dozens of businesses over the last 13+ years navigate the complexities of their digital commerce transformation journeys. Please reach out to us to discover together if we can be of assistance.