A heatmap visualizes business areas with easy-to-achieve results as well as pressing pain points. In contrast to the PoC method, a heatmap enables the rapid rollout of a usable product. To do that, it’s necessary to first focus on a limited and clearly defined set of requirements, e.g., specific customer segments or individual processes.
Instead of completely replatforming the existing e-commerce solution, the new platform is only deployed in areas where the existing system no longer meets the needs of users. Any processes on the old system that are still usable remain in operation, so the old and new systems run in parallel and communicate with each other as required.
Follow these steps:
1. Create a business matrix
The first step in the heatmap method is to put the digitalization team together (representatives from IT, Sales, Engineering and Marketing) and conduct a workshop to create a business matrix. In such a table, each column represents a specific customer segment. The segments are subdivided and defined using combinations of key attributes that are relevant to the company, e.g., scale (small, medium,
large), market (manufacturing, distribution, logistics), geography, and business relationship (partner, sales partner, direct customer).
The left-hand column of the table lists the most important features of the current e-commerce platform as well as those the company wants to introduce. The data cells in the body of the table indicate the importance of the various features for the respective customer segment. To keep it simple, this can take the form of relative values, such as “not very important”, “quite important”, and “very important”.
Ideally, the company should use empirical data from its business intelligence (BI) resources, i.e., the data cells will have percentage values indicating the relative importance of each segment and features. This matrix (or heatmap) is a valuable tool to help companies identify priorities or new areas to develop.
2. Find the pain points
The next step is to determine the pain points for customers in the various categories. The digitalization team should select two or three typical customers from each of the segments and conduct a workshop with them to identify the main pain points. The goal is to find out what can be improved, what would make life easier, and what the customer likes or dislikes about the existing e-commerce platform.
Ideally, the company should also hold workshops or surveys in all internal departments that are directly or indirectly involved in the sales process, such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Acquisition, Logistics, and Accounts.
When these internal and external pain points are added to the matrix, you can see the course of action at a glance. Cells with high pain point values (i.e., dissatisfaction with existing platform features) that also have high business impact are the ones that should be addressed first. After completing
this step, it can also be useful to identify areas with significant growth potential, although addressing pain points should remain the immediate focus.
3. Migrate gradually based on priority
The heatmap results can then be used to specify a partial replatforming project that focuses exclusively on a subset of critical features or customer
segments while omitting all others. A limited project of this kind is much more
affordable and much quicker to implement than a complete replatforming. By eliminating specific problems or pain points and opening up new opportunities, the project will pay for itself from day one. The old platform can be retained for all low-priority features and customer segments, thereby saving time and money.
After completing an initial heatmap project, the company can repeat the exercise, using the matrix values to identify the next most important customer segments and features. The new solution will be expanded step by step until the entire platform has been migrated.